...now been blocked rather than being deleted.  For the rest of us, profile deletion seems to be on the way.  Here is what is currently being displayed.

Profiles: About profiles

A Google profile is simply how you present yourself on Google products to other Google users. It allows you to control how you appear on Google and tell others a bit more about who you are. With a Google profile, you can easily share your web content on one central location. You can include, for example, links to your blog, online photos, and other profiles such as Facebook, LinkedIn, and more. You have control over what others see. Your profile wont display any private information unless youve explicitly added it.

At the bottom of the page, you will also find the following, which seems to be new:

You may also be interested in

Other helpful articles:

• Profiles: Deleting a profile
• Profiles: Receiving messages through your profile
• Profiles: About the My Links section

Although the Deleting a profile page at the moment suggests you will find a link at the top-right of your Profile Edit page to delete a profile, that is not currently the case.  Presumably that will be corrected shortly.

The last link is of interest since it introduces the Google Social Graph (API).  Here is how that page starts:

Build critical mass on your website

With so many websites to join, users must decide where to invest significant time in adding their same connections over and over. For developers, this means it is difficult to build successful web applications that hinge upon a critical mass of users for content and interaction. With the Social Graph API, developers can now utilize public connections their users have already created in other web services. It makes information about public connections between people easily available and useful.

Its all fascinating stuff.  Very much Work-in-Progress, but the best advice seems to be "Watch This Space".

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