They got the Olympics. Mission accomplished. The rest is details.

[Concord Monitor] Isolation only hardens totalitarian regimes, so the gamble the International Olympic Committee took when it awarded the Games to China was worthwhile. But it’s a gamble that the committee, the athletes and China will lose if the story of the Games becomes not one of athletic accomplishments and international brotherhood but repression, censorship and violence.

The rest.

[Spectator] Ten billion contraband cigarettes are smoked in Canada every year, depriving governments of taxation income of up to $4 million a day.

vs.

[National Anthems] The survey found that the average price of five mid-range cars was, on average, 19 per cent higher in Canada. Discounted books were still 21 per cent more expensive.

A sample of eight point-and-shoot digital cameras found a 26 per cent price gap between the two countries ($374 in Canada versus $297 US south of the border.)

A Maytag washer and dryer was 21 per cent more expensive in Canada than in the U.S., while a Nintendo Wii was 12 per cent more expensive here.

The only good news in BMO’s sample survey was in the cost of the Grand Theft Auto video game. It cost $59.99 in both countries.

[And then they tax you].

[Standard Freeholder, Peter Worthington] Since then a campaign has been mobilized on Omar’s behalf — a support team consisting of couple of Edmonton lawyers, military defence lawyers, opposition MPs (led by Bob Rae who sounds more than Liberal), Amnesty International and human rights groups, the CBC, Globe and Mail and Toronto Star.

The only ones unimpressed with the “free” Khadr movement, or at least the “bring him home” campaign, are the Canadian public.

The rest.

Just the type of guys we’d want to be seen negotiating with, preconditions be damned.

[Telegraph] Eight women and one man convicted of adultery are set to be stoned to death in Iran, according to activists and lawyers.

…

A man is usually buried up to his waist, while a woman is buried up to her neck. Those carrying out the verdict then throw stones until the condemned dies.

Stoning was widely imposed in the early years after Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution. But in recent years, it has seldom been applied, though the government rarely confirms when it carries out stoning sentences. The last stoning death confirmed by the government was in July last year.

The rest.

[BBC] TV soaps EastEnders and Coronation Street stereotype ethnic minorities, according to a report.

But talent shows like The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing represented the UK’s diverse ethnic mix, it said.

The report’s leader, Trevor Phillips - head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission - said TV companies remained “hideously white”.

…

Mr Phillips, who wrote the report in a private capacity, said its findings highlighted the need to “change and to embrace diversity”.

“Everyone knows that if we don’t we are headed for oblivion,” he said.

DWE didn’t have to wait long for the real reason Phillips was making static. Never forget that “education” means “lots of cash.”

[BBC, same article] Mr Phillips, presenting his findings to a meeting of television executives at Channel 4’s London headquarters on Wednesday night, called for a levy on all major productions to establish a diversity fund.

The fund would be used to finance schemes to improve diversity.

“These might include training, content development, shadowing schemes, or any other programme that would encourage and deliver greater diversity,” Mr Phillips said.

From the Keep The Business Booming file.

[Holiday Lettings] New EU legislation has been introduced to give disabled travellers more rights. Disabled air passengers will receive more help when using EU airports.

…

A recent survey by the charity revealed that 61 per cent of respondents had experienced difficulties when boarding a plane. Disabled passengers will now be able to voice their concerns with the Equality and Human Rights Commission to ensure that the new legislation is properly enforced.

The rest.

[Huffington Post, Allan Miller] We have seen the volume rise steadily recently for intervention of various kinds in Zimbabwe, however if one looks back over the past recent history it becomes apparent that many of the issues at the forefront currently are because of western interference in some fashion.

The rest.

[IOL] Durban-born Navanethem Pillay has been notified of her nomination as the new UN Human Rights Commissioner, despite American reservations.

…

Arbour put pressure on the US State Department and the White House to close down Guantanamo Bay prison camp. But when she did not get results, Arbour spoke out against the UN’s most powerful member. She also implicitly criticised Israel’s conduct in its 2007 war against Lebanon.

Pillay, on the other hand, is seen to favour a quieter approach to put pressure on governments to end human rights violations.

The rest.

[AOL] An archeological dig at the site of the future Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg has unearthed a rare find: a footprint estimated to be 800 years old.

…

It’s not clear if the footprint was made by a man or a woman, but it was probably left in the mud around 1200 A.D., Kroeker said. Pieces of pottery and fish remains were found underneath it, he said.

The area appears to have been a popular campsite around the time the footprint was left, he said.

“Somebody was camped there, a group of people. By the style of pottery, they were from eastern Manitoba. But they were also being visited by another style of pottery, people from western Manitoba,” he said.

“The two groups were sitting there, probably fishing because bison and venison are very lean meats so you need the fat from catfish to round out your diet.”

The rest.

[Chronicle Herald] What more can be said? The jury is out. The iPhone petition was strong and loud. Oh, the plastic, the shine, the downloads. How many 15-year-olds will be spending time with their new tech-toys as Omar Khadr, a Canadian, waits for justice? Justice in this case must be operating on a 14 kbps modem. Justice was supposed to be blind; but as she miraculously regains her sight, our consumer lusts are making us the blind ones.