The iPod tariff/tax debate has heated up into a convoluted partisan war, not only between parties but media outlets. And the answer is that, well, there is no real answer to whether or not the tariff applies given the measures currently in place as they are being interpreted differently by CBSA and Canada Post, and the exemption cited by Jim Flaherty’s office may not actually apply because iPods don’t plug into computers on a continual basis, which leaves this as an unresolved mess.

The Toronto Star catches up with the third radicalised Canadian, who is currently in prison in Mauritania on terrorism related charges, where he refused Amnesty International’s aid.

The government has launched an advisory council about getting more women in the business world onto corporate boards, and 16 of the 23 members of this council are women, including Sheila Fraser and Arlene Dickenson. Part of their unspoken mandate is likely to try and find means of boosting that female participation without resorting to legislative quotas, as some have pushed for before – which is, of course, what the NDP are demanding.

The Supreme Court reference on Senate reform continues to go poorly for Harper, as the Court has now decided to appoint an amicus curiae or “friend of the court” to argue points that the government left orphan, which makes it all the more difficult for Harper to get his own way and get a speedy answer to what really is a challenging series of questions that cannot be taken lightly.

Canadian Special Operations Regiment troops placed third in a global competition of counter-terrorism skills. Go us! (And for the record, two teams from China – one commando and one police – took the top two spots). Meanwhile, renovation costs for the former Nortel campus in Ottawa, where National Defence plans to relocate their headquarters, continues to climb, and others in the area question the logic of the move when it will have an adverse effect on the area.

The CBC catches up with Peter Penashue in Labrador, where he takes credit for a local announcement – because he did ALL THE THINGS for Labrador. And Penashue then lashed out against the CBC for “not treating him fairly,” and accused the CBC of being in bed with the Liberals – because that’s a winning strategy for a candidate who was caught breaking the rules and is possibly better off playing the contrition card. (And it was noted that it is a former CBC employee who is working for the Liberals – just as a former CBC employee also worked for him).

It’s the “showcase” – or mini-convention for the Liberal leadership this weekend, which is basically their big video presentation and final speeches before voting commences. Unlike the NDP leadership, where the majority of the ballots were already cast before they had their final presentations, these might actually have an effect on how people will vote. And hopefully there won’t be any drum lines this time. Also unlike the NDP, the Liberal candidates get thirty minutes each for their presentations! Sweet Rhea mother of Zeus that’s going to be crazy! And possibly crashingly dull. The voting process is explained here, as well as a primer on what could go wrong. Steve Murray offers an illustrated video guide to that process. PostMedia compares Justin Trudeau to his father on a variety of different metrics. Trudeau was at an editorial board meeting of the Toronto Star yesterday, where he called out Thomas Mulcair for playing “divisive” domestic politics in Washington and “dangerous” politics inside Quebec. He’s also raised a whole bunch more money in the past week, while Joyce Murray’s fundraising has also surpassed that of Martha Hall Findlay.

Here are the three things you need to see from last night’s political shows, including Mark Adler condescendingly giving talking points rather than answering questions on the poor job numbers released by Statistics Canada.

And Sun Media offers their Muppet equivalents of Canadian political figures.