John McCain fought with the New York Times to stop it from printing this story, such is his sense of privacy for his family, but what it shows is very much to his credit. His son, a Lance Corporal of the Marines, who rejects all special treatment, and is fighting in Iraq is a hero. I think some people assumed the story would reveal some deep, dark secret and would be harmful to McCain’s candidacy, such was the ferocity with which he asked the editors not to print it. That he didn’t want information out that would help him because he would rather keep his son out of the spotlight is commendable.

It’s so commendable, I don’t want to violate his privacy either. But the story is in the New York Times, so it’s pretty much out. I’ll link it.

HT: Nathan Martin

Condoleezza Rice Is Pursuing the VP Spot. She is denying, though, that she wants the office.) Hey, I wanted her to run for president! But would she be a good candidate?

Have you seen the website Wikileaks? People from all over the world can post documents that governments, businesses, and the like do not want public. A bunch of embarrassing documents about the Scientology religion have been posted. Scientology, Inc., has sued, as is their wont, but the court upheld what the site is doing.

The site is a “wiki,” which means its readers put it together. Anyone can post any document on the site, without identification and fear of reprisal. It exists in many different languages, and its biggest use seems to be from people in small countries living under corrupt and oppressive regimes posting documents that expose the evils they live under.

Wikileaks is a remarkable example of the freedom of information that the internet makes possible. Is this a good thing, or is its damage to private and confidential communication that institutions arguably need sometimes too harmful?

HT: Nathan Martin

China just sentenced human rights activist Hu Jia to 3 1/2 years in prison for writing this article. Here are some excerpts:

China has consistently persecuted human rights activists, political dissidents and freelance writers and journalists. The blind activist Chen Guangcheng, recipient of the 2007 Ramon Magsaysay Award and named in 2006 by Time Magazine as one of the most influential 100 people shaping our world, is still serving his sentence of four years and three months for exposing the truth of forced abortion and sterilization. . . .

China still practices literary inquisition and holds the world record for detaining journalists and writers, as many as several hundred since 1989, according to incomplete statistics. As of this writing, 35 Chinese journalists and 51 writers are still in prison. Over 90 percent were arrested or tried after Beijing’s successful bid for the Olympics in July 2001. For example, Shi Tao, a journalist and a poet, was sentenced to ten years in prison because of an e-mail sent to an overseas website. . . .

Religious freedom is still under repression. In 2005, a Beijing pastor, Cai Zhuohua, was sentenced to three years for printing Bibles. Zhou Heng, a house church pastor in Xinjiang, was charged with running an “illegal operation” for receiving dozens of boxes of Bibles. From April to June 2007, China expelled over 100 suspected U.S., South Korean, Canadian, Australian, and other missionaries. Among them were humanitarian workers and language educators who had been teaching English in China for 15 years. During this so-called Typhoon 5 campaign, authorities took aim at missionary activities so as to prevent their recurrence during the Olympics.. . .

China has the world’s largest secret police system, the Ministry of National Security (guo an) and the Internal Security Bureau (guo bao) of the Ministry of Public Security, which exercise power beyond the law. They can easily tap telephones, follow citizens, place them under house arrest, detain them and impose torture. . . .

Chinese citizens have no right to elect state leaders, local government officials or representatives. In fact, there has never been free exercise of election rights in township-level elections. . . .

Please be aware that the Olympic Games will be held in a country where there are no elections, no freedom of religion, no independent courts, no independent trade unions; where demonstrations and strikes are prohibited; where torture and discrimination are supported by a sophisticated system of secret police; where the government encourages the violation of human rights and dignity, and is not willing to undertake any of its international obligations.

Please consider whether the Olympic Games should coexist with religious persecution[,] labor camps, modern slavery, identity discrimination, secret police and crimes against humanity.

Meanwhile, the Olympic torch has made it, after going out several times due to protests along the way, to the United States.