Eureka...I found it...!!! Apparently I cannot post..

[Jackie]

Sounds like a little glitch is occuring and I am betting the problem is the ampersand. Whenever a message is posted, a "string" is created for the server to process. The string consists of several parts held together by ampersands. If you use an & in the topic name, the systems thinks that the & is separating parts at that point -- and gets confused. So, the moral is to not use ampersands when naming a new thread topic. It's not an issue for replies, obviously.

Jackie