Tag: Russia

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News Round-Up: March 3, 2020

Some news items you might have missed: • Super Tuesday: Fourteen states are holding primaries or caucusing for the Democratic presidential candidate today, so make sure you get out and vote! Interesting factoid: CBS News reports early exit polling shows slightly more voters in Super Tuesday states want a return to Obama’s policies rather than more liberal policies. • The Advocate: Donald Trump’s Justice Department is weighing in on the side of a Kentucky photographer who doesn’t want to provide services to same-sex weddings, continuing its history under the Trump administration of supporting discrimination. Chelsey Nelson, a photographer in Louisville, filed a preemptive lawsuit in federal court against the city challenging its LGBTQ-inclusive Fairness Ordinance. Note – has never been asked to photograph a same-sex couple’s wedding. • NowThis News: Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) signed a bill Monday banning conversion therapy for minors. According to the Movement Advancement Project, a nonprofit that tracks LGBTQ+ legislation, Virginia will become the 20th state — and the first in the South — to ban the controversial therapy for minors. • The Verge: Apple has tentatively agreed to a $500 million settlement after admitting to slowing down older phones. It covers people who bought any product in the iPhone 6 and 7 lineup — which Apple secretly throttled to conserve battery life. By default, Apple will offer $25 to any current or former owner of a covered iPhone. Named class members will receive $1,500 or $3,500. • NewNowNext: Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted a number of new amendments to the country’s Constitution, including one that would define marriage as between “a man and a woman.” Last month, he said same-sex marriage will not be permitted in the country as long as he is president. • KHOU: After Pete Buttigieg announced he was ending his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, Joe Biden told reporters he would definitely approach the former mayor of South Bend to take a role in his administration.

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Report Showing Russia’s Preference For Trump Gets Intel Chief Fired

Donald Trump

And now we know why Donald Trump suddenly fired his acting director of national intelligence and moved German Ambassador Richard Grenell (who has zero experience in national intelligence) to the post. From the Washington Post:

Shelby Pierson, the intelligence community’s election threats executive, participated in a classified briefing on election security last week for the House Intelligence Committee.

Pierson told the lawmakers — Democrats and Republicans — that according to the intelligence gathered by U.S. agencies, Russia had “developed a preference” for Trump in 2020, according to an official briefed on the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a classified briefing.

Following that, Trump grew angry at his acting director of national intelligence, Joseph Maguire, in the Oval Office, seeing Maguire and his staff as disloyal for speaking to Congress about Russia’s perceived preference.

The intelligence official’s analysis and Trump’s furious response ­ruined Maguire’s chances of becoming the permanent intelligence chief, according to people familiar with the matter who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.

Trump says he’s considering Rep. Douglas A. Collins for permanent DNI post; Collins says he doesn’t want it

Trump announced Wednesday that he was replacing Maguire with a vocal loyalist, Richard Grenell, who is the U.S. ambassador to Germany.

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Tulsi Gabbard Files $50 Million Defamation Lawsuit Against Hillary Clinton

L-R Hillary Clinton, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard
From MSN:

Democratic presidential candidate Rep. Tulsi Gabbard filed a defamation lawsuit Wednesday against Hillary Clinton, seeking $50 million in damages and claiming the former Democratic presidential nominee “carelessly and recklessly impugned” her reputation when she suggested in October that one of the 2020 Democratic candidates is “the favorite of the Russians.”

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, says it aims to hold Clinton and other “political elites” accountable for “distorting the truth in the middle of a critical Presidential election.” It also says Gabbard suffered an economic loss to be proven at trial.

Clinton made her comments during a podcast appearance on “Campaign HQ” with David Plouffe in which she didn’t mention Gabbard’s name.

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Trump Says He Warned Russia Against Election Meddling, Foreign Minister Says No Elections Discussed

(image via Twitter)
Conflicting reports coming in today as Donald Trump tweeted he warned Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that Russia should beware meddling in the United States’ 2020 presidential election. Trump says he raised the subject, but Lavrov “No, we didn’t haven’t even discussed elections.” See how Russia works to divide Americans…?

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Podcast: Sexual Battery In Football Locker Room; New Drug Approved For PrEP; Man Says He’s Gay Because iPhone

The Randy Report podcast delivers the week's top stories in a quick, convenient podcast - 'the 60 Minutes of gay news - only shorter'

In this week’s podcast: • Allegations of sexual battery have led to the cancellation of a California high school’s football season • A federal judge has struck down Tampa Florida’s ban on so-called conversion therapy • The FDA has approved a second drug to be prescribed for PrEP • A Russian man is suing Apple for $15k because his iPhone made him gay? • And a Tennessee teen honored as part of his school’s homecoming royalty, graciously accepted in a sequin gown All that and more in this episode of The Randy Report

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WaPo: Trump Told Russian Officials He Was ‘Unconcerned’ With 2016 Election Interference

And the shoes continue to drop…

Three former White House officials tell the Washington Post that Donald Trump assured senior Russian officials in a 2017 Oval Office meeting that he was ‘unconcerned’ with Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

President Trump told two senior Russian officials in a 2017 Oval Office meeting that he was unconcerned about Moscow’s interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election because the United States did the same in other countries, an assertion that prompted alarmed White House officials to limit access to the remarks to an unusually small number of people, according to three former officials with knowledge of the matter.

The comments, which have not been previously reported, were part of a now-infamous meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, in which Trump revealed highly classified information that exposed a source of intelligence on the Islamic State. He also said during the meeting that firing FBI Director James B. Comey the previous day had relieved “great pressure” on him.

A memorandum summarizing the meeting was limited to a few officials with the highest security clearances in an attempt to keep the president’s comments from being disclosed publicly, according to the former officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters.

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US Extracted Covert Agent In Russia Due To Trump’s Handling Of Intel

Nervous over early mismanaged handling of classified intelligence materials on the part of the Trump administration, the United States reportedly felt the need to extract a covert agent inside the Russian government before Donald Trump might slip and mention the operative. From CNN:

A person directly involved in the discussions said that the removal of the Russian was driven, in part, by concerns that President Donald Trump and his administration repeatedly mishandled classified intelligence and could contribute to exposing the covert source as a spy.
The decision to carry out the extraction occurred soon after a May 2017 meeting in the Oval Office in which Trump discussed highly classified intelligence with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and then-Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak. The intelligence, concerning ISIS in Syria, had been provided by Israel.

The disclosure to the Russians by the President, though not about the Russian spy specifically, prompted intelligence officials to renew earlier discussions about the potential risk of exposure, according to the source directly involved in the matter.

(image via Flickr/White House – public domain)

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Heavy Metal Band Defies Russia’s Anti-LGBTQ Law With Onstage Lip Lock

Richard Kruspe and Paul Landers of Rammstein (photo: Jens Koch)

Two members of the German heavy metal band Rammstein shared an onstage kiss in defiance of Russia’s anti-LGBTQ policies during their concert at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow Tuesday night.

While performing their song “Aüslander,” which means “foreigner” in German, guitarists Richard Kruspe and Paul Landers slowly walked towards each other. After briefly catching each other’s eyes, they leaned in for a quick kiss.

And the crowd goes wild!

The kiss took place just days after a prominent LGBTQ activist was found murdered in St. Petersburg.

The band posted a photo of the kiss by photographer Jens Koch on their Instagram account with the caption, “Russia, we love you.”

A post shared by Rammstein (@rammsteinofficial) on Jul 30, 2019 at 10:23am PDT

Since the band was formed in 1994, Rammstein has scored two Grammy nominations, six number-one albums on German and European music charts, and had dozens of Top Ten singles across Europe.

While the kiss itself was a quick peck, it’s clear the bold moment was inspired by Russia’s 2013 ‘gay propaganda’ law which bans promoting “non-traditional sexual relationships” to young people.

The passage of the legislation has increased hostile pressures on LGBTQ people in Russia.

In 2017, the European Court of Human Rights ruled the law “had reinforced stigma and prejudice and encouraged homophobia.”

Foreigners found to have violated the law may be fined up to 5,000 rubles ($78) and deported, or detained for up to 15 days before being deported.

Rammstein is well-known not only for spectacular stage shows but also for standing up for LGBTQ rights while on tour.

The Washington Post notes that just last week, during a concert in Chorzów, Poland, the band waved rainbow Pride flags while crowd surfing in inflatable rafts.

Photographer Jens Koch snapped the moment and shared it to her Instagram with the caption, “Wow, this means a lot to me. My favorite band standing up for equal rights in Poland this week. #LIFAD#lgbtqpoland#lgbti#rammstein”

Here’s a video of the kiss that rocked Russia:

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News Round-Up: July 29, 2019

(image via Instagram)

Some news items you might have missed:

• InstaHunks: Broadway hottie Jim Newman (above) finds he has his Fire Island pool all to himself with no one to play with his beach ball. I’m sure he’d have no problem finding company… 🙂

• NewNowNext: A man has been arrested in connection with the murder of Russian LGBTQ activist Elena Grigoryeva. Officials do not intend to pursue hate crime charges, claiming the murder was not motivated by her activist work, nor her bisexual identity.

• Instinct: In its series finale, Andi Mack served up Disney’s first gay couple.

• Gr8erDays: If you love entertainment/pop culture info from days gone by, follow this Instagram account for daily infograms about celebrity birthdays and more from TV, movies and more.

• Politico: Kamala Harris on Monday unveiled a plan to achieve universal health care coverage by growing Medicare with the help of private insurers, an effort that splits the difference with her chief Democratic presidential rivals and equips the California senator with her own signature health care proposal ahead of this week’s debates.

• Roanoke Times: A small number of Republicans tried to have Rep. Denver Riggleman censured for having the nerve to officiate a same-sex wedding for two of his supporters. p.s. The attempt failed…

• Out Music: Kelechi drops his latest bop, “Forever Tonight,” with an upbeat 1980s vibe complete with fat beats and pop/soul roots. I’m hearing a little Human League groove in there perhaps…?

“I make romance pop music,” Kelechi recently told Out.com. “I want people to fall in love with the feeling they get when they listen.”

I have to say I like the simple approach to the video. Lately, I find overly-complicated music videos can get in the way of listening/enjoying the music.

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Russian Authorities Remove Adopted Children From Gay Dads

(stock photo of two dads and son via Depositphotos)

After two dads in Russia took one of their adopted children to a Moscow hospital for treatment, doctors notified Russian authorities and the children have now been taken from the couple.

Gay Star News reports that the men took the child to the emergency room on June 19 for a suspected case of appendicitis.

But when hospital staff realized the boy had two dads, they were reported to the Investigative Committee of Russia.

Adoption by gay couples isn’t allowed in Russia. One of the men legally adopted the two boys, now aged 12 and 14, back in 2010 as a single parent.

The committee ruled the adoption violated the country’s 2013 ‘gay propaganda’ law which prohibits any positive portrayal of LGBTQ people in the media. The government says the law is necessary to protect children from ‘unconventional’ identities.

“A man has been raising two young adopted boys since 2010 in living conditions with another man,” read the committee’s report. “At the same time, he promotes unconventional relations, forming distorted ideas about family values in children, harming their health, moral, and spiritual development.”

In making its determination, the committee ordered authorities to remove the children from their home of nine years.

After multiple attempts to search the family’s home, investigators broke down the doors of the men’s apartment. One of the fathers was interrogated for more than three hours.

The committee also sued the social workers who approved the adoption charging them with negligence.

The social workers were accused of not taking “appropriate measures to protect minors from information harmful to their health and development.”

But, according to the men’s lawyers, the adoption agency had made regular visits over the years to check on the boys’ welfare. The reports filed following visits indicated the children were well and under excellent care.

Gay Star News quotes an LGBTQ activist named Polina who shared that a psychologist who assessed the family found no evidence of abuse, reporting “a healthy and close emotional connection between parents and children.”

Polina notes that this is the first time the ‘gay propaganda’ law has been used to remove children from a family home.