Banned Again from Right Wing News?

[UPDATE THE SECOND: Thursday, June 24, 2010: 5:45pm CST: After posting the last update, I sent an email to the blog owner explaining the situation. He very promptly and kindly wrote back asking a few questions and letting me know that he had no knowledge of any ISP blocks of me or the ISP that I'm using. I replied, thanking him for his quick response, and gave him some of the information he asked for; and I presume he will be checking into it. It could be something on my end, but the problem still persists. When I'm in my room, I can't post comments; but when I'm accessing the site through another ISP, I can post comments. One thing I'm thoroughly convinced of now is that there was no intentional ban/block going on -- at least as far as the blog owner himself is aware of. And that's all that matters, really.]

[UPDATE: Thursday, June 24, 2010: 12:35pm CST: I'm happy to report that I am able to post comments at Right Wing News at another location with a different ISP. Therefore, the only logical conclusion I can draw is that some overzealous moderator blocked comments coming from the ISP that I am using in my apartment/room here in Guadalajara. What is a bit unsettling is that the comments that I posted under my usual moniker via that ISP were very mild. It does make me think that someone at RWN has a happy "trigger finger" in banning mildly critical commentary when it comes from a source with which they may not be familiar. What I wish had happened is that the person who blocked this ISP thinking someone had maybe hijacked my account would have at least written to me seeking clarification. As it stands now, with the ISP in my apartment/room blocked, the place where I most regularly access the internet is now off limits to commenting on RWN.]

Not sure if I'm having a bit of blog banning deja vu, or if it's just a browser issue here in Mexico; but I can't seem to be able to log into, nor am I apparently able to post comments to, the conservative blog Right Wing News. I find it strange because I was able to do so just a few days ago; but seem not to be able to now. A few years ago, also while I was in Guadalajara, Mexico, I was banned from Right Wing News. Nothing I've posted in the comments this year even approaches any kind of bannable offense. And I frankly care much, much less now than before, simply because I don't find myself drawn to the site as much as I used to be. And I imagine that, with the blog's new comment management program, the reason for my inability to log on to the site and post a comment to it is probably much more innocuous. It could be that the ISP from which I am accessing the internet, since it's from Mexico, was flagged as suspect. And, of course, I don't usually post from Mexico, so maybe someone at RWN who is tracking these things is under the impression that the user name under which I normally post comments has been hijacked by an unfriendly person from Mexico. It seems to me that this would be very easy to do through the new commenting system at RWN, so I wouldn't blame an over-vigilant moderator who doesn't know that I'm currently in Mexico. Oh, well... I plan to take my laptop to another location where I can access the internet via a different ISP, and we'll see what that brings. Otherwise, I'll just have to wait until I return home from Mexico to truly test out whether the ban/block applies to my account at RWN or whether it's just someone blocking an unfamiliar and foreign-originated ISP from commenting. Honestly, my criticisms at RWN so far this summer have been so mild that I can't believe it would have warranted any banning or blocks. It could also be that my use of a new browser (Safari), which I've started using instead of Internet Explorer since I recently made the switch from a PC to a Mac laptop, when coupled with the foreign ISP location, raises even more questions of legitimacy. When you add all those things together, maybe some moderator over there at RWN thought it all seemed too fishy and moved to block access to RWN's comment system for the ISP that I'm using. Anyway ... I'm making no accusations just yet. I'm just noting something interesting. Let's see how it plays out.