China Bans Posters And Signs From Olympic Games

[Daily Telegraph] The book, published by Olympic organisers and available to ticket holders, said banners backing individuals and teams were “tendentious (and) violate the fairness principle of an Olympic event”, state media reported.

So, banners with messages such as, “Go Tomkins”, “Aussie Aussie Aussie” or even “Stephanie Will You Marry Me?” will be prohibited under the new edict.

The ban, which includes posters and pamphlets, has prompted Australian Games chiefs to issue a “please explain” to the International Olympic Committee.

“I have to say I am surprised, but they’re China’s Games and we will have to abide by the rules,” said Australian Olympic Committee spokesman Mike Tancred. “I have asked the IOC for clarification on the issue.”

The rest.

Didn’t Get The Memo?

Emphasis ours.

[CNW] “The federal government’s single-minded determination to deny the legitimacy of conscientious objection to what is plainly an illegal war rife with human rights abuses is abhorrent. Robin himself has been harassed by authorities by being arrested for violating a deportation order of which neither he nor his counsel were ever advised,” says Lee Zaslofsky.

vs.

[National Post] On his arrest he received a deportation order. The process was delayed by various immigration applications and legal appeals. After his application for refugee status was denied in February, 2007, Mr. Long asked for protected person status. That was also refused.

Earlier this year, he received a negative pre-removal risk assessment by Citizenship and Immigration Canada, which led to his final deportation order. Mr. Long was apprehended in Nelson on July 4 and has been in custody since.

…

He did not attempt to seek conscientious objector status with the military. Instead, Mr. Long deserted and entered Canada.

Court: Yankee Go Home

[National Post] A federal court judge has ordered the removal of a U.S. Army deserter from Canada, a decision that signals this country is no longer a safe haven for American soldiers who decide to evade military service at home and abroad.

The rest.

Important To Concentrate On Things That Matter. Like Pole Vault.

[Metro] If you’re waiting for one of Canada’s Olympians to take a stand on China’s human-rights record, don’t hold your breath.

It’s not that the Canadian Olympic Committee has issued a gag order, as Britain has done with its athletes. It’s just that Canadians are trying to stay focused on the task at hand — representing their country at the Games in Beijing — and getting caught up in politics will only serve as a distraction.

The rest.

Bemoaning The Idiots In The Broader Culture

We can assume good ol’ Rod isn’t part of the “broader culture.”

[Rod Dreher] If The New Yorker doesn’t want Obama to get elected, it’s done a bang-up job with its new cover. Of course subscribers to the New Yorker will appreciate it’s ironic humor. Barack is a closet Muslim and Michelle is a closet terrorist! Ha-ha! Aren’t the people who believe such things koo-koo?! But they have no idea how irony-deficient the broader culture is, or how irony gets lost outside of context.

The rest.

Right. Which Human Rights Activists Have You Been Listening To?

[Times Online] The message of the human rights activists seems clear: while the West occasionally makes “mistakes” – in Iraq and Guantanamo, for example – the East is more naturally wicked. Consider the words used to describe Chinese officials who abuse human rights: they are “evil goons”, “thugs”, “robots”, even “retards”.

In short? “Our” human rights abuses are blunders; “their” human rights abuses spring from a culturally ingrained (a PC term for “racially driven”) wickedness.

Human rights campaigners are unwittingly rehabilitating the White Man’s Burden in relation to the East. That might allow Bush and Brown to feel momentarily superior, but it will do precisely nothing to develop democratic rights in China.

vs:

[OpEd News] In the meantime, North Korea has been waving nukes at us – nukes that could potentially reach U.S. soil. Bush responds with gratuitous rhetoric, but it’s clear that North Korea — the one nation in his “axis of evil” that really does have WMDs — isn’t so high on his list of priorities.

Could it be that tough-guy Bush is afraid to deal with real WMDs?

Or could it be that North Korea isn’t sitting on quite enough oil?

–  Mary Shaw is a Philadelphia-based writer and activist, with a focus on politics, human rights, and social justice.