Hmmm, that's interesting. You and I differ in our interpretation, though; I don't see this as evidence of editing through proxy. For all we know they're talking about the person, as a matter of interest, or about some publication one of them is trying to get done completely unrelated to Wikipedia. I will say that Martin himself has brought up editing by proxy before. At any rate, the way I see it is that it's not all that appropriate to post on his talk page, and I encourage you to seek the better venue.I really have no comment/opinion right now on either the block or the topic ban, let alone on a possible unblock/unban request. I'm all for bringing banned editors back into the fold but this will, of course, be for the community to decide; I would like Martin to present his case in the best possible way, and that includes an insight into past mistakes and how they are to be remedied. Enjoy your time away from the wiki, and let's hope it won't break in the meantime.