My Russian grandmother had these Soviet calendars from the 1960s. I was fascinated with them when I was a small child and studied them almost every time I visited. The calendars have 365 pages, one for every day of the year. I don't read Russian but I can understand what most of the pages are about from the illustrations: profiles of Soviet heroes, chess problems, cartoons, boasts about the Soviet space program, and other nuggets of pro-Soviet propaganda. I now realize the bold red and black graphics had a big influence on my design aesthetic. I also love the cheap newsprint and the way they are bound with big staples. Maybe one day I will self publish a book using this kind of paper and binding method. When my grandmother died at the age of 107, I inherited a few of the calendars and they are some of my most prized possessions. I looked on eBay to see if I could pick up the calendars from other years, but I couldn't find anything like them! Read the rest

Definitely not treasonous Trump tweeted today that the Russian bounty on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan story is a hoax. Read the rest

The Associated Press reports that Trump was briefed on Russia's cash-for-corpses program in 2019. He kept it to himself then, and kept it to himself when he was briefed again earlier this year.

Top officials in the White House were aware in early 2019 of classified intelligence indicating Russia was secretly offering bounties to the Taliban for the deaths of Americans, a full year earlier than has been previously reported, according to U.S. officials with direct knowledge of the intelligence.

The assessment was included in at least one of President Donald Trump’s written daily intelligence briefings at the time, according to the officials. Then-national security adviser John Bolton also told colleagues he briefed Trump on the intelligence assessment in March 2019.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expressing concern about his confidence in arrangements with Donald Trump because of ongoing protests in the United States, Russia's Interfax news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Saturday. Read the rest

Okay, so what's the mystery filling? Read the rest

The Supreme Court on Wednesday temporarily blocked the Democrat-led House of Representatives from access to secret grand jury testimony from former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Read the rest

Russia: 'US attacks are untenable'

A senior Russian official expressed support for the World Health Organization and Russia's ally China in an interview published Tuesday. Read the rest

Vladimir Putin's spokesman says he is hospitalized with the coronavirus. Read the rest

The Moscow Times reports that at least 376 Russian cadets have been infected with COVID-19. They were practicing for a parade to be held in Moscow's Red Square.

The last rehearsal for the parade took place on April 16, the day when Putin postponed the event and vowed to hold it later in 2020, an unnamed participant told Proekt.

The virus broke out among officers and cadets in at least five elite Russian military academies and one regiment — out of the more than 40 involved — following the parade rehearsals, Proekt cited participants and their relatives as saying.

• Justice Dept. asked justices to temporarily halt lower-court order, saying executive branch would suffer irreparable harm if the evidence is disclosed.

“The Trump administration asked the Supreme Court on Thursday to block Congress from seeing grand jury secrets gathered in the Russia investigation by Mueller, saying the executive branch would suffer irreparable harm if lawmakers see the evidence,” writes Charlie Savage at the New York Times. Read the rest

Impeached U.S. President Donald Trump spoke today with Russian crimelord Vladimir Putin today, ostensibly to mark the 75th anniversary of V-E Day, but one wonders what other information may have been exchanged, don't one. Read the rest

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has been diagnosed with coronavirus, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported Thursday, as seen in this screenshot from the social media app Telegram, used widely in Russia. Read the rest

In Russia, two human rights groups say Vladimir Putin's government has vastly expanded surveillance to enforce the nation's coronavirus lockdown, using facial recognition technology and collection of personal data. The groups say regulation is required to ensure that surveillance measures are both temporary and proportionate. Read the rest

I would have completely lost it. Read the rest