I just received this email from John Birke (or, from his email address):
Dear Mr. Goldberg,
I was reviewing my mail and discovered to my horror and dismay emails sent to you from my computer address. I cannot begin to tell you how sorry I am. A friend of mine was working on my computer because I have been having problems with the email system. His idea of a joke was to send these messages to you because I have spoken very critically of you and your mother in the past. He, like me, is very left politically, and knows of my reputation for sometimes over the top commentary. Please accept my sincere apologies for the inexcusable personal attacks. I don’t know what else to say.
John Birke
Me: I’ll take Mr. Birke at his word. Apology accepted with my judgments about his choice in friends remaining reserved. This is probably another reason to throw on the pile for why it’s not a good idea to post peoples’ email addresses in situations like this.