Creepy, cuddly Olympics

Cute, cuddly and deeply disturbing. In a mix-up of legendary proportions, a Polish newspaper has identified a new mascot for the Vancouver 2010 Olympics—“Pedobear.” Earlier this week, the Gazeta Olsztynska illustrated an article on the Games with an image of its plush ambassadors. But the drawing—taken from the Net—includes not only the official mascots Quatchi, Sumi, Miga and Mukmuk, but a fake one as well. “Pedobear,” a tasteless web sensation, started out as a way to satirize creeps who troll chat rooms looking for young sexual partners. The drawing of the bear standing alongside the Games mascots, was created by a Canadian graphic designer and posted on his blog as an act of protest. Yesterday, he received 120,000 hits.

The Telegraph