Padilla Lite A CBS news Iraqi cameraman wounded by U.S. forces as he videotaped clashes in Mosul in northern Iraq in April 2005 was detained by the U.S. military for over a year without charge or evidence. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalistssays that kind of thing has been happening a lot. more inside

Coingate! How does a politician with a love of rare coins use big-money influence to become chairman of the brand-new US Treasury Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee, only to lose $13 million in state funds in a failed coin venture and be charged with 53 felony counts for theft and corruption as well as federal money-laundering charges stemming from raising $100,000 for the Bush-Cheney campaign and $200,000 for the GOP in general? Um, well here's one way. more inside

Count me out. The 2006 Census for Canada will happen in a couple of weeks, and all Canadians are asked to give minimal cooperation. Pourquoi? Seems as though data collection has been farmed out to the subsidiary of an American corporation (and not a particularly nice one at that). Add one Patriot Act, and the U.S. gov't can find out lots of nifty information about you and yours. Info they don't already have, I mean. Now, start workin' on your tinfoil touque!

Mr. Happy, who really isn't. "Mr. Happy, aka John Long, is a very angry man indeed. I thought this raised some interesting questions as to the extent of free speech. more inside

Most viral marketing schemes work as stealth; they trick you with something cute (branded) that people pass along to others, receiving nothing in return but perhaps a smile. This one is an in-your-face bribe in which the price drops (and becomes FREE) if mentioned on so many blogs by a certain time. Is this an advertising wave of the future? Is "viral marketing" just a dirty "word" or can your web site make good use of it in the future? more inside

Death by Smiley Face: When Rivals Disdain Profit. New York Times article: "There is another breed of rival lurking online for traditional media. . . . These are new-media ventures that leave the competition scratching their heads because they don't really aim to compete in the first place; their creators are merely taking advantage of the economics of the online medium to do something that they feel good about."