President Vladimir Putin signed a law this week making pro-homosexual speech, gestures and even clothing illegal, and with the Winter Olympics arriving in the country in seven months, that means pro-gay foreigners can be detained too; Los Angeles will be turning some of its car lanes in to pedestrian walkways; and clearly, there’s next to nothing left of Hillary Clinton’s “Internet Freedom” agenda. These discoveries and more below.

On a regular basis, Truthdig brings you the news items and odds and ends that have found their way to Larry Gross, director of the USC Annenberg School for Communication. A specialist in media and culture, art and communication, visual communication and media portrayals of minorities, Gross helped found the field of gay and lesbian studies.

Russia’s Putin Signs Draconian Anti-gay Law Banning Speech, Rainbows, Holding Hands Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law one of the most draconian anti-gay laws on the planet.

That’s Right, Los Angeles Is Giving Up Car Lanes for Pedestrians Los Angeles has a great deal of walkability despite its car-centric reputation, but much of it remains hidden to the public.

Lucky Charms, General Mills Cereal, Celebrates LGBT Pride With #LuckyToBe Campaign From all of the marriage equality celebrations to Facebook’s new Pride emoticon, everyone’s seeing the colors of the rainbow these past few days and now, to continue celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Pride, you don’t have to look any further than your cereal bowl.

How Sunshine Shapes Cities’ Population Growth, in One Chart Do you spend the week of July Fourth finding excuses to get outside in the sun, and reading policy papers on urban growth in the 20th century?

A Brief History of the Guy Fawkes Mask Over the past decade, dissidents across the globe have appropriated the visage of Guy Fawkes, the infamous insurgent who tried to blow up the British Parliament in 1605, warping the once-reviled fringe rebel into a widespread symbol of resistance.

Workers, Protest, and Democracy Many years ago, in a seminar on the transition to democracy in Portugal, all the presentations were about how the middle-class played the key role in participating in protests against the old regime and demanding democratic rights.

Reading Hillary Clinton on Internet Freedom and Edward Snowden In the wake of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden’s revelations, Micah Sifry wonders, what, if anything, is left of Hillary Clinton’s “Internet Freedom” agenda. The answer is not much.

Journalism Center Will Remain on UW-Madison Campus Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker vetoed a budget provision on Sunday that would have kicked the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism off of the University of Wisconsin’s campus and barred any university employee from working with the nonprofit group.

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