Category: Another Viewpoint || By

In the interest of fairness, here are two emails I received in the past few days. I have slightly edited them.

I originally had posted a rebuttal to them, but I decided they didn't require responses. Instead, you can take them for what they're worth.

The background is this: I have incorrectly deleted comments from someone who calls himself "Shadango." At least one of those comments came in from the same IP address as a former city councilman who is running for mayor.

That former city councilman is currently banned from commenting, and has attempted to comment here under multiple aliases, using several different computers with different IP addresses.

"Shadango" has now come forward. Based on the email address he sent me, he is not that city councilman. Tube City Almanac regrets the error and I apologize for deleting his comments.

In answer to the accusation being made that I'm either stupid or a liar, it is possible that two different people, both in McKeesport, both using the same Internet service (in this case, Comcast), could wind up posting comments here with the same dynamic IP address. It's unlikely, but it is possible.

To prevent any future confusion or misidentification, I am now banning all anonymous comments.

Beginning immediately, you can withhold your name from publication at Tube City Almanac, but you have to give me a real name and a real email address and/or phone number. If I don't know who you are, I will ask for your real name before making your comment visible.

This is a similar policy used by most newspapers that accept letters to the editor, and which require verification before publishing those letters, but will withhold names upon request.

And I will continue to delete or remove comments and to ban commenters for any reason, especially when the same handful of people are monopolizing this forum.

Emails after the jump.

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From: Paul Shelly Jr.
Date: Wed, Dec 8, 2010 at 3:04 PM
To: Jason Togyer

Dear Mr. Togyer,

You have every right to ban me from your site as you have editorial discretion to bias your message anyway you see fit. That being said, you have made a serious error on this issue of banning someone known as "Shadango".

On my Father's grave, I have never posted under the name Shadango. I will swear to this FACT in any court of law and upon any Bible.

If you would have taken the time to do some real investigative journalism, you would read that Shadango, a person whose identity is unknown to me, has been an open critic of mine on Topix ever since I made the mistake of endorsing the same State Senator that you have such an affinity for. I seem to remember that person positing from a Monroeville IP location at times in the past. I never have connected from Monroeville under that name or under ANY alias for that matter.

Since you drew first and misguided blood, please follow the following Topix link and read ALL of the comments concerning you, pro and con. (link deleted)

I defended you somewhat but called it like I see it, UNDER MY NAME ONLY. If you look at the variety of posters who hit you from different IP's , you will get a better feel for the word about you on the street. You have lost quite a bit of your credibility with your slant in the former Mayor's direction. It is unfortunate to see. You have the golden opportunity to provide McKeesport with a fair and balanced approach and you are, in my honest opinion, dropping the ball.

I hope that you wake up someday and see the obvious error of your ways. I suspect the more you really get to know Brewster and his cronies, you will.

As it is, you have once again made scurrilous accusations against me and have taken that even farther by involving a third party whose identity is unknown to me, you or the public.

I used to expect more from you.

Paul

p.s. Here is a Wiki Definition you should check out to see on who the shoe fits:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_hack

Paul Shelly
"Transforming McKeesport"

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: xxxxx@xxxxxxx
Date: Sun, 12 Dec 2010 13:20:36 -0500
Subject: Way off
To: jtogyer

Your comment that I am using the same IP address as Paul Shelly is COMPLETELY and utterly unfounded and frankly impossible. Short of saying you are lying, there really is no way for this to happen, so you can only be making this up. I choose to remain anonymous on your site and on topix that's my right....all you need to do is look at my post on Topix to figure out that I am decidely NOT Paul Shelly.

This email will certainly prove it if you truly do know how to look at IPs correctly.

If you decide to not allow anonymous posts at all any longer, thats fine...I can live with that. However, censoring only me would be wrong and not what a true journalist would do. I am providing my email address with the distinct understanding that my email address will not be published or in any way linked to my comments here , on your site, on topix or anywhere. I expect you will honor that.

In the end, you will believe what you want to believe. I only you hope that you are in fact a true journalist that has ethics.

Censor all anonymous posts or none at all.

Also, I feel you do owe me a public apology for erroneously linking me to someone else, especially to someone with such a strange and public record, with no evidence whatsoever. Publicly saying what you did was unfair and unfounded.

The only things I can think of is if Paul Shelly used MY handle when posting something to your site, or that it was a sheer coincidence. In either case though you should have taken the high road.

Shadango

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