In response to the remark posted by the charming Bo Cowgill, I am not the author of the spamming comment referred to by David Pennock. Being a smart and investigative researcher, David Pennock understood that already, and aimed at analyzing that strange spamming process. (Others prefer wasting their time analyzing the “-flow of information”-.)
UPDATE: David Pennock has just said in a comment on his blog that the spamming comment was made from an IP address from “-New Dehli, India”- —-which is obviously not my location. So, I can now sue Bo Cowgill for defamation and collect a good bundle of $$$. 
PS: If the charming Bo Cowgill refers to my very occasional sending of mass e-mails to the registered members of my group blog, Midas Oracle .ORG, I don’-t think it should be qualified as spamming, but I am ready to listen to contrarian opinions from veteran Internet users.
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We’re all spammers of a sort — it’s just a matter of degree.
Sending an occasional mass email to registered members (or friends, family, colleagues) seems within the bounds of decent behavior.
Manufacturing an intelligent-seeming comment and attaching an irrelevant link for the purpose of funneling link juice seems to cross the line.
You and I would agree that a website has the right to send occasional e-mails to its registered members. However, the Internet etiquette has precise rules about mass e-mails, and Midas Oracle doesn’t respect them fully, because of the technicalities of sending messages to blog members from the blog platform itself. I am aware of that, but there is nothing I can do right now. (Maybe WordPress and/or the plugins I am using will evolve, later on.)
We’re all spammers of a sort — it’s just a matter of degree.
Sending an occasional mass email to registered members (or friends, family, colleagues) seems within the bounds of decent behavior.
Manufacturing an intelligent-seeming comment and attaching an irrelevant link for the purpose of funneling link juice seems to cross the line.
You and I would agree that a website has the right to send occasional e-mails to its registered members. However, the Internet etiquette has precise rules about mass e-mails, and Midas Oracle doesn’t respect them fully, because of the technicalities of sending messages to blog members from the blog platform itself. I am aware of that, but there is nothing I can do right now. (Maybe WordPress and/or the plugins I am using will evolve, later on.)