The Joy of Spam?

Comment moderation is in effect on this page and on page one of this blog. That means I look at any comments submitted before deciding whether to post them. Most of the comments I've published on judicial posts have been thoughtful or at least civil. But I've also let some pretty mean comments through over the years, not because I agree with them, but because, for better or worse, they too are reflective of the state of political discourse in this country. Every now and then, though, I have to 'flush' a comment that is totally inappropriate. Thankfully, these are relatively rare.

A more common problem, especially of late, has been a deluge of spam comments. The number of spam comments varies; some days there may not be any, but there are days when I log on and find well over 100 "comments" in queue, all asking to get published.

Some of these contain embedded links to porno sites, but the majority of the ones left here of late have carried links for other merchandise -- Ugg boots, Timberland Boots, Louis Vuitton handbags, NFL jerseys. (Just between us, I have my doubts about the authenticity of the designer goods hawked by these spammers.) There are spam comments with links for generic Viagra and other medications. I've seen some for pipes and cigarettes too. Most of these are just 'commercial' comments are just link chains; sometimes they come embedded in nonsensical text.

Sometimes the spam comments seem topical. Remember a couple of weeks ago when none of us won the $550 million Powerball drawing? I found this comment waiting for me one morning during that time:

• Imagine what if there was found guide which teach win a lottery 98% of time. See this website if you wish to win lottery almost every time you play....

Why, though, did the spammer think it a good idea to try and put this comment on a 2008 post?

There are also a lot of spam comments with links for other websites, often for "loans," but sometimes for law firms. Beware what you get when you buy 'visibility' on the web: What benefit would 'drunk driving lawyers in Tampa' or 'personal injury lawyers in Topeka' hope to get from leaving comments on a Chicago lawyer's site? Even if those comments were in standard English -- and they are not.

Cases in point:

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• It's truly very complex in this active life to listen news on Television, so I only use internet for that reason, and take the latest news. Look at my web site....
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• I do not concur with the text. But one has an opinion. Tranquil, this is the internet and then everybody has the right to a note whatever he thinks and wants. And in community this plot is acutely good. I choice stumble upon here all the time....
• Howdy. I am not steadfast if I coincide win the previous arguments. I entertain a migraine.

(I'm not mentioning any sites by name in this post, but this last one was plugging a pain relief medicine.)

One spanner tried a very friendly approach:

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This spammer tried reverse psychology:

• Do you have a spam problem on this blog; I also am a blogger, and I was wondering your situation; many of us have developed some nice practices and we are looking to trade techniques with other folks, be sure to shoot me an email if interested. Check out my web-site....

Some of the spam posts can be quite flattering:

• Its like you read my mind! You seem to know a lot about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you can do with some pics to drive the message home a bit, but instead of that, this is magnificent blog. A fantastic read. I will certainly be back. Also see my web site....
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• I have been surfing online more than three hours nowadays, yet I never discovered any attention-grabbing article like yours. It is pretty value enough for me. Personally, if all site owners and bloggers made excellent content as you probably did, the internet will probably be much more helpful than ever before. Also see my site....

These would have been even more flattering if the spammers hadn't attempted to put these on posts that were merely notices about a candidate's fundraiser or a reposted North Town News Magazine video.

When an obviously spam comment is both flattering and proposed for a substantive post, I admit I have been tempted to let the comments through:

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• I do not even know how I ended up here, but I thought this post was good. I do not know who you are but definitely you're going to a famous blogger if you are not already ;) Cheers! Also visit my blog....

Almost.