whatson - 10:14 pm on Oct 2, 2011 (gmt 0)

@seoskunk I did my first re-inclusion request the other day, and received the disappointing reply informing me that my site was not in violation. i.e. Panda is not a penalty.

As for external links, I think it is good, and important for us to discuss each theory, if I recall correctly, after the first Panda, people even had theories on white text on black backgrounds.
But in my opinion, I don't think external links are a factor.