They are already running ads, but they are quite discrete, text-based ads which don't get in the way of any tweet streams. And they've been doing so all week.

Given that they're practically invisible, however, it's likely that they will eventually either become more intrusive, or be removed in favour of other monetization schemes. Such as selling positions in the recommended users page.

When someone retweets a retweet, does that count toward the original tweeter, the first retweeter, or both?

Sorry for not properly replying to your comment, Paul, but IntenseDebate is providing me with some rather pronounced FAIL at the moment. (Also, its JavaScript is trying to murder Firefox.)

Anyway, I never even considered the oil. Alberta would fight the idea of adding Alaska to Canada because of it, though, seeing how extracting oil from the tar sands provides them with their economic power base. However, having Alaska would halve the worries of maintaining our Arctic Ocean soverignty; it's easier for us to fend off Denmark and Russia than the two of them and the USA on top.

Personally, I think that Alaska would go to Canada, possibly annexed to Yukon (which would finally get upgraded to full provincial status). Then again, I'm Canadian.