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A few days ago, I wrote about the Canadian House of Commons Speaker, Peter Milliken’s, upcoming, historical constitutional decision. Milliken has had to rule on a request by the opposition parties to find the government of Canada in contempt of Parliament for refusing to release documents relevant to the on-going scandal surrounding the possibility that Canada was complicit in the torture of Afghan detainees. Effectively, there’s a charge that Canadian troops handed over detainees to Afghan authorities knowing full well that they’d be tortured. The government’s refusal to release full, un-redacted documents relevant to that charge has been seen by the opposition to run counter to the procedures of Parliament.

Basically, what it comes down to is a decision on who has privilege, and whether the executive would still be accountable to the House of Commons. If Milliken ruled in favour of the government (that is, that the documents won’t need to be brought forward), it would have repercussions not only for Canada, but would set a precedent for Parliamentary systems worldwide. continue »

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It wasn’t long ago that we were talking about Lady Gaga’s “Telephone” video on hyper-consumption, and now we’re faced with another nine-minute music video from British alter-hip hopper M.I.A. Using a sample of Suicide’s 1977 track “Ghost Rider,” for her new single “Born Free,” she’s offered up a video/short film that explores an alternate reality kill-the-gingers discriminatory military campaign. And while it’s somber content hints at a more socially necessary message than that of Lady Gaga, what it reveals is equal vapidity wrapped in gravitas.

Watch the video after the jump (warning: pretty much NSFW) continue »

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This might have been inevitable. Gizmodo writer, Jason Chen, the man behind the Apple iPhone 4 leak (that included photos, video and a rather lengthy review of the phone) has had his home searched by police. They cops apparently took his computers, hard drives, and any documents “and/or notations pertaining to the sale and/or purchase of the stolen iPhone prototype and/or the sale and/or transfer of trade secret information pertaining to the iPhone prototype.”

Chen apparently presented the police with a letter from Gawker media COO and legal rep, Gaby Darbyshire which outlined the legalities (or illegalities, as it were) of taking possessions belonging to a journalist, but, seemingly, to little avail.

The iPhone leak from Gizmodo had obviously generated a lot of attention, and there was a lot of immediate speculation as to whether Apple would retaliate with legal measures. The iPhone prototype had been left in a bar by an Apple employee and then sold to Gizmodo. That the response from Apple was so delayed led many to believe that the leak had been intentional. That latter theory seems to be settled for the time being.

The full warrant, letter from Gaby Darbyshire, and an account from Jason Chen are posted at the Gizmodo site linked above.

Update:

As pointed out by Foster Kamer at the Village Voice, a quote from a Washington Post article on Gawker may now be of some significance to Jason Chen. As described above, Gawker’s Gaby Darbyshire was quick to point out California’s laws in regards to seizing journalist’s property, but Gawker founder Nick Denton might have scuttled that argument last year when he talked to the WaPo’s Howard Kutz. Denton described Gawker’s usual scathing language and said this:

We don’t seek to do good… We may inadvertently do good. We may inadvertently commit journalism. That is not the institutional intention.

So, is Gizmodo writer Jason Chen a journalist? That, and perhaps the future designation of other bloggers, might  be one of the many things to come from the fallout of this unfolding technodrama.

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Just over a year ago, British MP George Galloway was about to come to Canada for a short, four-city speaking tour. That tour never happened – at least not in person, anyway, as he was barred from entering the country by the Canadian Border Services Agency. Now, a Federal Court hearing will determine whether that decision should be overturned, and Canadians ought to be paying attention.

The problem with Galloway – that is, the reason he was banned from Canada in the first place – is that the Canadian government considers him to be a supporter of a terrorist group. That charge stems from a financial donation (approximately $40,000) that Galloway made to, as he put it, “the ministry of health in Gaza to pay for the salaries of the doctors and nurses who hadn’t been paid… it’s a symbolic donation.” However, the Canadian government has attributed that to financially supporting Hamas, the governing party of Gaza, a group that it considers as a terrorist organization. continue »

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Information is power, right? Or something like that, anyway. And information about sex isn’t just powerful, it’s also apparently pretty scary – at least, according to the vocal opponents to Ontario’s proposed changes to sex education courses for public schools. The details sparked a fairly strong public reaction this week, and forced the Ontario government to step back from its plans to introduce the new curriculum changes in September. The about-face came after opposition that ranged from simple doubts about how much information kids ought to have at a young age, to accusations that the province was trying to push a homosexual agenda. Let’s discuss. continue »