Rainbow flags were flown at half-staff in the Netherlands on Sunday in protest of Russia’s draconian anti-gay policies. The protest was prompted by the expected arrival on Monday of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who will be in the Netherlands to discuss trade and other issues with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

In Russia, the all-girl punk band Pussy Riot has been found guilty of protesting Vladimir Putin at a cathedral in Moscow. The charge could carry up to three years in prison.

The court case has generated international outrage about the curtailing of free speech. Prosecutors in Russia argued that Pussy Riot’s anti-Putin “punk prayer” violated religious strictures, and the court agreed. The specific charge is “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred.”

As expected, Vladimir Putin declared victory in the Presidential election in Russia. It would mark the third go-around as President for Putin, after a stint as Prime Minister. Since his first Presidential run in 2000, Putin has remade Russia in his image, centralizing power, crushing dissent (particularly in the media), and basically instituting a kleptocracy.

Protests in Russia over the weekend, after a rigged Parliamentary election that still saw Vladimir Putin’s party lose ground, has led to an additional challenge for Putin in next year’s Presidential race. The near-term ramifications for this open dissent is that it offers an opportunity to potentially challenge Putin in the elections, and one Russian billionaire will take up that effort.

So there I was, doing my daily surfing of various news and web sites when I noticed this from CNN about folks in Russia protesting the recent election that returned Vladimir Putin to the Russian leadership…