Cactuseaters versus the Spam Robots: why I have comment moderation on this blog

I don't like having comment moderation on Cactuseaters.  It makes it difficult  and annoying for people to write in. Now, when someone attempts to comment on any blog post, a sequence of headache-inducing numbers comes up on the screen, along with scattered letters. The would-be commentator must sit there at his or her keyboard and  reproduce those numbers and case-sensitive letters perfectly to leave a comment on my blog. Trying to be responsive to your needs (all four of you people, who only write into this blog once every Hale-Bopp anyhow), I changed the comment settings in February, allowing any carbon-based life form to comment on my posts without my having to approve the content. It was all-comers, complete freedom for everyone. How easy. How convenient. What a nightmare.  You would not believe the garbage that flowed into my blog that week! I received a small avalanche of nonsensical, surly, whiny comments about the most innocent blog posts on Cactuseaters, along with tons of ads, spam attacks, queries from people trying to sell me stuff, and whack-a-doodle manifestos from people who should not be allowed to manifest anything. A lot of the "messages" were anonymous and seemed to be generated by a Spam robot. (see photo above.)  So it looks like I'll have to fall back on the author-approved message system for a while until this all blows over. Sorry about that. It will have to suffice until I think of a better system. Meanwhile, keep those comments coming. In moderation.