That is until today, when I got this second comment from the same IP.
Anonymous said...
Everyone already knows that the Wildrose Alliance is radical, extreme right wing, redneck, and far right. Now add petty to the list.
July 8, 2009 1:32 PM
Clearly a comment with no evidence to support their claim and likely intended to stir things up. Well, be careful what you wish for.
Upon further digging I have discovered that since late March this person has been all over all of my blogs. Here is a screen shot of the IP in question. (You can click on the images to them full size)
As you can see there have been multiple visits over more than one day; also no referring link, so they likely have my blog bookmarked. None of this is unusual. The interesting aspect is the source, Alberta PWSS. Which is short for Public Works Supply and Services.
Now I get a lot of hits from the Legislature and the House of Commons. However, none of them have taken the risk of posting from their publicly funded offices while they are supposed to be earning their salary. (Also courtesy of the taxpayer)
For the heck of it I Googled the IP address, it netted several results, most simply showing stats for this IP. One did confirm this IP is registered to the Government of Alberta.
Another caught my attention, I recognized a very familiar name, Kevin Taft. Of course I had to click on it and it appears to be his constituency website. Here is a close up of the relevant information.
A search for “Rebecca” within Taft’s constituency website nets 22 results of posts made from (coincidently) March to as most recently this week from the same IP.
I have tried to find exactly what they "do" at Alberta PWSS, but no luck so far. It does seem odd though that their tasks would include updating MLA’s constituency websites. I would think that task would more likely be done by staff within their own office, by an independent webmaster or even by a volunteer. (The latter being most likely for the Liberal Party)
Of course the more interesting question is why is someone from Alberta PWSS spending their workday surfing and posting on blogs at the taxpayers’ expense?
Come on Jane - a constituency office is a pretty political place so hardly a goverment office. Not as abusive as the 10%er propaganda the CPC sends out but that is another issue.
ReplyDeleteDid a blog post commentary on WRAP leadership candidtes today. Check it out.
I was referring to the PWSS office. Is it the same as a constituency office? I am not sure. I could not find anywhere exactly what that office entails. It has a different address than Tafts' office.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have read it. I am under an impartially agreement (understandably), so I cannot comment.
Thanks though. :)
Any IP address ending in .1 is likely assigned to a router that's using NAT (Network Address Translation) to service multiple computers.
ReplyDeleteThat external IP address could literally be the internet face for every constiuency office in the GOA, depending on how their network is setup. So I wouldn't jump to any conclusions about who wrote which posts. Just FYI.
Hi Neal,
ReplyDeleteI agree it likely can be attributed to more than on computer.
But it is definitely coming from PWSS, which as per the IP address record is the GOA,
What I am not clear on is, exactly what they do at that office.
More evidence of our taxpayer dollars hard at work, I see.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that am a staunch social moderate who supports the Wildrose Alliance shoots down the 'radical, extreme right wing' crap, doesn't it?
As far as 'redneck' - no one shows more bigotry than a scared leftwinger.
A constituency office is paid for by the taxpayer, it is part of the office budget of the elected official. It may be a political place but in essecence it is supoosed to be there to help serve the public and bring them closer to their rep.
ReplyDeleteNonny,
ReplyDeleteYou need to read a bit more carefully, I did not suggest the posting was coming from a constituency office.
Hi!
ReplyDeleteI came upon your post while researching visitors to my blog. I have hits from PWSS as well. Did you ever figure this out?
According to webboar there are 35 websites hosted at pwss...http://www.webboar.com/isp/ALBERTA%20PWSS%20TELECOMMUNICATIONS%20DIVISION/
ReplyDeleteJust to let you know I can verify that PWSS serves most of GOA including smaller offices of the gov't as I work as a Systems tech in one of those offices. They have a huge fiber network terminated at the brownlee building in Edmonton and have just gotten into the business of scanning traffic at the protocol level of their clients with very little details as to who and why they are doing it. In any case this could be anybody from GoA whether it be a political frenzied rank and file to a VP with nothing better than to spout ridiclous rhetoric that could have only been dreamed up in the States.
ReplyDelete