My hunch is that the 'gremlins' probably tag the http:// and declare anything following it (without spaces) as the link. So a space in the address - http://www.bbc.co.uk/ newsnight - would break it; equally failure to put a space after the link - http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsnight_like_this_example - would end up with a 404.
The "Being discussed now" order has also been amended (again): seemingly it's back to listing blogpost in order of the latest comment added. For a while listing was by date of blogpost and older ones simply disappeared, new comments added or not. This had already been 'fixed' a few weeks ago when a new comment on an old post would make it reappear at the bottom of the list - a clever solution that looked pretty too. But guess newest version is more intuitive and should make following 'active' blogposts easier.
McElroy's piece reads like an eyewitness account. So if we are to accept the Russian version that they didn't bomb the pipeline, what did McElroy see? Is the police officer's quote fictional? Who else would have bombed the area, why, how and what would have been their target?
As for the overall picture, yes of course Georgia 'started it'.. However, there is also a principle of proportionality in self-defence. While I'm certain that the US/British combo is biased, I'm straining to see how recent Russian military and Russian-supported para-military activities could be justified given the apparent randomness of their actions, their targeting of civilians and civilian property, and the disarray in the Georgian military since Monday afternoon.
One of the earlier comments on that blog links to Radio Free Europe's pages, more specifially Yulia Latynina's take on the fighting and more on Russia's endgame.
It does look like some have been playing Chinese whispers with Georgia..
