AP: Russian crime gangs find gays easy targets for blackmail

he gay rights group Vykhod, or Coming Out, said they registered 12 such attacks in St. Petersburg in 2015 and at least six more gay men have come to them so far this year. LGBT activists believe the real number is far higher and say the attacks have increased in the past two years.

Since homosexuality finds little acceptance in Russian society, many gays keep their sexual orientation hidden from their families, friends and co-workers. This makes them easy extortion targets for criminals. [...]

Bulatov, who wears camouflage outfits and carries a handgun in a hip holster, said gays are the "enemies" of Russian society and its children, but should be opposed only through legal means.

He said the law banning gay propaganda among minors was intentionally made vague so it can be applied in a wide range of circumstances. The law, for instance, has made it easy to target gay and lesbian teachers in Russia because they work directly with children.

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Business Insider: Jeremy Corbyn's Facebook strategy is so much more sophisticated than you think

There is a delightful moment near the beginning of Vice's excellent documentary about Jeremy Corbyn, released earlier this week, that shows Corbyn talking about the media. It's clear he hates the media.

And, more interestingly, Corbyn has a strategy for dealing with the media that is wildly under-estimated by his critics. [...]

There are two threads here: First, the directness of social media negates the regular media. The Telegraph can continue thinking that headlines like "Labour's pathetic blame games can't hide Jeremy Corbyn's own flaws" are having an impact. Corbyn doesn't care. His own Facebook page reaches a far wider audience.

And second, Corbyn's hatred of the traditional media is itself a mechanism through which he galvanises support — the more the mainstream media deride him, the more they prove he is right about their bias.

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The Atlantic: The Rise of the Christian Left in America

But according to a new survey by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) in partnership with the Brookings Institution, the religious balance of power is shifting in ways that could make the religious left the new "Moral Majority," figuratively speaking. If current trends persist, religious progressives will soon outnumber religious conservatives, a group that is shrinking with each successive generation, the data show. [...]

One might assume that the increasing diversity of the population is a driving factor in the shift, but Jones says this is not the case. African-Americans tend to be theologically conservative -- 49 percent, as opposed to 14 percent who are liberals -- but are more progressive on economic and social issues. Hispanic Americans are far more likely to be religiously moderate, and they don't tip the scales one way or the other. "It's mostly age," Jones says. "Younger whites, whose parents were far more conservative, are the ones who look significantly different." [...]

Religious progressives face three hurdles to morphing into a true movement, Jones says. They are more ethnically diverse than conservatives, so they have fewer natural affinities than their counterparts on the right. They are also more geographically dispersed across America. Conservatives, on the other hand, are heavily concentrated in the South and Midwest, which makes for easier mobilizing. And finally, progressives are more religiously diffuse, which is to say that religion is only one of many influences shaping the way progressives think and behave.

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The Huffington Post: Why Is Marijuana Banned? The Real Reasons Are Worse Than You Think

In 1929, a man called Harry Anslinger was put in charge of the Department of Prohibition in Washington, D.C. But alcohol prohibition had been a disaster. Gangsters had taken over whole neighborhoods. Alcohol — controlled by criminals — had become even more poisonous.

So alcohol prohibition finally ended — and Harry Anslinger was afraid. He found himself in charge of a huge government department, with nothing for it to do. Up until then, he had said that cannabis was not a problem. It doesn’t harm people, he explained, and “there is no more absurd fallacy” than the idea it makes people violent. [...]

What evidence did Harry Anslinger have? It turns out at this time he wrote to the 30 leading scientists on this subject, asking if cannabis was dangerous, and if there should be a ban. Twenty-nine wrote back and said no. Anslinger picked out the one scientist who said yes, and presented him to the world. The press — obsessed with Victor Licata’s axe — cheered them on.

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Salon: Noam Chomksy: There’s nothing free about free trade agreements

Chomsky points out that “the so-called free-trade agreements are not free-trade agreements. To a larger extent they’re not even trade agreements. These are investor rights agreements.” He continued:

There’s a reason why they’re kept secret from the public and as soon as you look at them you see why. They’re not secret to the corporate lawyers and lobbyists who are writing the detailed regulation – of course in the interest of their constituents. The investors are given the right to sue governments for their potentially future profits They go to private trade adjudiction groups made of largely corporate representatives. They’re already going on with NAFTA and we can expect more of them. The major trading partners already have agreements that have reduced tariffs substantially with few exceptions—not many.

Chomsky also noted that the phrase “climate change” does not appear once in these 280 pages.

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The Guardian: Referendum polls reveal the widening fault lines in British politics

With the remain campaign being spearheaded by a Conservative prime minister and chancellor, the voters most likely to vote to stay in the EU make for surprising reading. They are Labour and Lib Dem supporters; young, educated people from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and London; and in professional occupations.

Guardian readers are the most Europhile of all, with YouGov finding them favouring staying in the EU by a factor of nine to one. Never mind that the Conservatives recently vanquished their opponents at the general election and have weak electoral footings north of the border and in Wales, and were soundly defeated in the London mayoral election. This cosmopolitan coalition of voters is providing ballast to the campaign to keep Britain in the EU.

On the other side, now fronted by Michael Gove and Boris Johnson, are Ukip supporters (who, of course, overwhelmingly back Brexit), the over-60s, manual workers, and people with little political interest or without a university education. Daily Mail, Sun and Daily Express readers are among the most Eurosceptic of demographics, with more than seven in 10 in favour of leaving the EU.

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The Guardian: Jewish and Arab pupils talk of unity, but Israel has never been so divided

The event at the Himmelfarb school, part of an initiative by Rivlin to build bridges between Israel’s communities, stands in sharp contrast to the current atmosphere in Israel, where those whose voices are loudest seem more interested in emphasising separation and nationalism. That has fuelled fears of a widening division between Israel’s Jews and Arabs as Israel has moved ever further to the right since Binyamin Netanyahu was returned for his second spell as prime minister in 2009 – a period marked by a heightened political rhetoric against Israeli Arabs. [...]

Among them have been a new 500-page civics textbook – To Be Citizens in Israel – produced under Bennett’s watch in May, which has been accused of largely editing out Israeli Arabs and their experiences. “The book’s message is impossible to mistake,” argued a Haaretz editorial condemning it after it was unveiled. “Jewish identity, as expressed in the state’s definition of itself and in the public sphere, takes priority over civic identity. This mainly reflects the views of an orthodox, conservative, rightwing strain of Judaism. [...]

The furore over the book – which superseded one that rightwing parties such as Bennett’s complained was too critical of the state – has not been an isolated incident. In December, Bennett’s ministry removed a book, Dorit Rabinyan’s Borderlife, that depicted a love story between an Israeli woman and a Palestinian man, from the curriculum of Israeli secular state schools. A proposed amendment to Israel’s basic law – effectively its constitution – that would make it possible for the Knesset to expel members, has also been criticised by Israeli Arab parties, who believe it was aimed at reducing their representation.

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Deutsche Welle: Hong Kong activists split over participation in Tiananmen memorial

"More and more student groups have broken away from the event, saying organizers have "lost touch" with Hong Kong residents' aspirations. For this generation, we want to put the emphasis on fighting for democracy in Hong Kong," said Althea Suen, president of the Hong Kong University Student Union (HKUSU). [...]

The so-called "localist" movement grew out of Hong Kong's own failure to draw political concessions from Beijing during the island's own pro-democracy rallies in 2014. While the territory is a special administrative district that broadly enjoys democratic principles and a market economy, there is a growing sense that Beijing is encroaching on those values. [...]

Despite the criticism, tens of thousands were pouring into Victoria Park Saturday evening, and Tsoi is hopeful that at least 100,000 will turn out.

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The Guardian: Pope Francis reveals new church law to deal with paedophile priests

Catholic bishops who fail to sack paedophile priests can be removed from office under new church laws announced by Pope Francis.

The move, announced by the pope on Saturday, answers a long-running demand by victims of abuse to make bishops responsible if they fail to stop clergy sexually abusing parishioners. [...]

During his visit to the US last September, the pontiff met victims of Catholic church sex abuse and vowed that those responsible would face justice. It was the first time Francis had met abuse victims outside of Rome, where he had done so once before. The pope had already apologised for the church’s inadequate response to the US abuse crisis.

The scandal has severely tarnished the church’s reputation and cost $3bn (£2bn) in settlements in the US.

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AP: Ex-Polish presidents lead anti-government march in Warsaw

Poland's two former presidents led tens of thousands of marchers Saturday in Warsaw to protest the right-wing government's policies and mark 27 years since the ouster of communism.

The march was yet another in a series organized by a new civic movement, the Committee for the Defense of Democracy, or KOD, against the conservative government that took office in November. The government's policies have strained Poland's relations with the European Union and the U.S. and angered many in Poland. But the ruling party insists it has a mandate from Poland's voters. [...]

Warsaw authorities said 50,000 people took part. Smaller marches also took place in other Polish cities and in Berlin and Brussels, the E.U. headquarters.

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