re: With/without quotes links the same way . . .
I never use quotations at Habitable Zone. It never mattered before and, as far as the Current Events page goes, nothing appears to have changed -- HTMLwise.
The equal sign is aparently just one of those annoying little characters that won't let you link to someone'[s special page without rooting through all his other special pages. The break at = has always been a problem for me.
Checking the page source on you initial post, though, there was no URL associated with your "this little bit" phrase (dunno if you got that or not).
Dan