I think we have a predator for you to catch, Chris Hansen!

Someone get DTCP up in here.

Ghost acres are acres that the attacker gains from an attack, but that the defender does not lose. Ghost acres don't always just all come from buildings anymore.* Therefore, the boxcar news doesn't always correlate exactly to the unbuilt acres gained and buildings gained that are reported to the attacker ingame. The boxcar news shows acres lost by the defender and ghost acres gained.

*This is because of the new grabbing formula that helps to protect smaller countries:
http://hosting.boxcarhosting.net:8080/...45&time=1269901778938

Personal opinion:

1. VERY tempting if you have more than one tag, but I think for the sake of the server, tags should try to stay as independent as possible. If two tags have both been bothered by another alliance, then I think it would be appropriate to work together. I'm being idealistic in saying this ;)

2&3... Generally, treat them as separate tags. Maybe this needs to be done on a case-by-case basis, though. Are the tags ACTING as separate tags in other respects? Is this a pattern? Etc.

archaic, I think you are talking about Unleashed. I think it might be useful for you to know that that tag is not affiliated with the anti-x-retal group. It is Unleash's policy not to accept retals, according to their FA contact.

DTCP: I dunno about the TeamAB RoR, but DTCP's posted policy is 3:land, so maybe you need to retract or revise your policies if they aren't what you intended. The message TeamAB sent does seem kinda douchey, but I don't have any further info (e.g. other messages exchanged), so I can't really judge if that was merited or not. :)