The Whole Delivery

Top Story  Legendary Dutch speed skater Ireen Wust revealed some intriguing news after winning her 3rd Olympic title with her top performance in the the 3,000 meters and becoming the first open gay athlete to medal in Sochi. In an interview with Holland's NOS, Wust has revealed that Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated her latest gold medal triumph in the women's 3,000 meters. What makes it even more interesting besides Putin congratulating a non-Russian athlete is the fact that she is gay. Wust mentioned that she "got a cuddle" from the under the radar president. Second Top Story  Another prominent gay athlete to make news today is England women's soccer captain Casey Stoney, who announced her coming out today . She becomes the second European soccer player this come out this year and first active one to do so after Thomas Hitzlsperger did so last month. MLS American winger Robbie Rogers came out last year with the Los Angeles Galaxy i...

AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko Foreign policy pragmatism continues A Kremlin aide says Russia will allow the U.S. to ship weapons across its territory to Afghanistan. President Dmitry Medvedev's foreign policy adviser Sergei Prikhodko said Medvedev and President Barack Obama are expected to sign a deal on the issue during their summit next week in Moscow. And this is kind of funny President Barack Obama was wrong to suggest Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin remains partially mired in a Cold War mindset and is sure to change his opinion when they meet next week in Moscow, Putin's spokesman said Friday. Obama said in an interview Thursday with The Associated Press that Putin needs to understand "that the old Cold War approaches to U.S.-Russian relations is outdated, that it's time to move forward in a different direction." Obama said he believes Russian President Dmitry Medvedev "understands that," but Putin "has one foot in the old ways of doi...

I guess I fit as that "some do" crowd.

Today's top international stories: Apparently, Rick Warren has nothing on the Pope. Comments from Benedict XVI have drawn real ire from the gay community for his rather harsh comments (through that is very subjective, of course). Gay groups and activists have reacted angrily after Pope Benedict XVI said that mankind needed to be saved from a destructive blurring of gender. Speaking on Monday, Pope Benedict said that saving humanity from homosexual or transsexual behaviour was as important as protecting the environment. And here are some responses from prominent gay figures overseas: The comments were "irresponsible and unacceptable", the UK's Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (LGCM) said. Vladimir Luxuria, a transgender former Italian MP, called his words "hurtful". LGCM head Rev Sharon Ferguson said the Pope's remarks justified "gay bashing" and bullying. Mark Dowd, strategist for Christian environmental group Operation Noah, said the commen...

Photo from BBC.com Definitely a story lost in amidst of our numerous problems here and our change in governmental leadership is what is taking place over in China. The BBC reports today that the Chinese government is very weary of the continued growth in unemployment taking afoot in their country. Chinese leaders are already warning that an economic downturn could lead to further protests by those facing financial hardships. It could also undermine the Chinese leadership, whose legitimacy has been built on improving living standards. Believe it or not, protests have become the norm. Meng Jianzhu, minister of public security, this week warned the police to be "fully aware of the challenges brought by the global financial crisis". He said officers should be careful about how they handle "mass incidents", Beijing's euphemism for protests by ordinary people. These protests are common in China, although they are often isolated incidents sparked by particular local g...

(Original photo from google.com) Let's quickly go over a major campaign finance rule (thanks to Citizen joe ): The ban on political contributions and expenditures by foreign nationals was first enacted in 1966 as part of the amendments to the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), an "internal security" statute. The goal of the FARA was to minimize foreign intervention in U.S. elections by establishing a series of limitations on foreign nationals. These included registration requirements for the agents of foreign principals and a general prohibition on political contributions by foreign nationals. No foreign aid for anyone. But we all should know that. Especially John McCampaign Finance and all his experience. Ehhhh, not so much : Russia's permanent mission to the UN has received a letter from U.S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain asking for financial support of his election campaign, the mission said in a statement on Monday. "We have received ...

Photo from Indybay.org The global market is failing. Iceland, instead of asking the States to bail it out, asked Russia. Fall Street is spreading all over the world. (And yes, the journalists at CNBC, plus Bloomberg too, blame the companies and the government, but really, should hold themsleves accountable first for doing shoddy journalism that should place them in shame forever.) And both Vladmir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev have been rubbing it in . "Trust in the United States as the leader of the free world and the free economy, and confidence in Wall Street as the center of that trust, has been damaged, I believe, forever," Putin said. "There will be no return to the previous situation." Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev have repeatedly accused the U.S. of responsibility for the crisis and called for changes in the world financial system. But to be honest, Putin is honestly right. How can you trust something when it has caused a change effect of international ma...