Want to earn $$$ from home?

Don't do it on my site. In the last couple of days, paid comment spammers have started showing up on Dome.

You might recognize them from the odd links they shoehorn into generic-sounding blather:

Yes, I am very upset about this latest political development. We all need to address this kind of issues. PERSONAL INJURY LAWYERS ONLINE. 

These folks are getting paid for every time they pollute some innocent Web site's comment section with their idiotic links.

We here at Dome find this as annoying as we presume that you do. Henceforth, we're deleting the comments and shutting down the commenters' accounts. 

If you notice one, please point it out in the comment thread or e-mail us at rbeckwit@newsobserver.com. Thanks! 

Are most North Carolinians spammer?  

Among the more interesting statistics mentioned at Friday's meeting of Gov. Mike Easley's e-mail retention panel was the fact that the state's firewall blocks about 95 percent of all messages addressed to state workers as spam, Michael Biesecker reports.

A skeptic could wonder if that's why some administration employees seem so difficult to get in touch with. But George Bakolia, the state's chief information officer, assured the group that the blocked messages were the usual solicitations to participate in get-rich-quick schemes in Africa or ads for erectile dysfunction pills.

Bakolia admitted that on occasion, however, the firewall had barred legitimate attempts at communication. Specifically, he said he used to get complaints from former Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Carmen Hooker Odom.

It seems the spam-blocking software took exception to her middle name.