Thanks so much! I cracked up that I appeared to be first leaving a comment, but got stuck in moderation – and was hopin’ my entire day didn’t go like that!
AM WISHING OUR ENERGIZER BUNNY PREZ…THE VERY BEST….AM ON A BORROWED PUTER…HAD TO GET A NEW ONE…WON’T GET MINE FOR 3-5 DAYS…AM PRAYING FOR THE PRESIDENT AND KEEPING MY EYE ON ALL THE NEWS REPORTS…GOD BLESS HIM…:)
Hi, Sue – I’m praying for our President, too – and also Secretary Kerry, who’s heading for Kiev. God bless them and Vice President Biden and all others involved.
egg.sack.lee. dumbya, darth and the neocon bastids not only killed the moral argument on that for ever but also eviscerated the capability of US army to wage a successful war despite the superior military capabilities on paper.
Yep. And, that’s just what he cost them in terms of Ru stock exchange value – they’re getting clobbered in the capital and commodities markets, as well. And, lots of folk are lining up to ensure that Ukraine and Europe have the natural gas they need at reasonable market rates. Every day his madness continues is going to cost his fellow oligarchs a bunch.
“Share prices of Russian companies plunged more than 11 percent, and the Russian currency, the ruble, also tumbled. The country’s natural gas monopoly, Gazprom, which sells gas to Ukraine and to other parts of Europe through pipelines crossing Ukraine, fell about 12.5 percent by 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, wiping out nearly $13 billion in shareholder value.
The Russian central bank spent about $10 billion to prop up the ruble, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile investors fled to safety: gold and oil. Crude oil prices jumped up more than 2 percent on world markets. The price of the Brent crude, used as a benchmark in most of the world, was up $2.32, to $111.41 a barrel for April delivery.”
UNFORTUNATELY…HE’S BEEN DEALING WITH THAT CATEGORY EVER SINCE HE BECAME THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN PRESIDENT…SHOWS YOU THAT THE SOCIAL DEPTH IN THIS COUNTRY HAS REACHED THE LEVEL OF A SEWER CAP…GOD LOVE HIM FOR HIS PATIENCE…HIS STRENGTH AND COURAGE IS AN AMAZING EXAMPLE THAT FOOLS WILL NEVER RECOGNIZE.
Some one commented on the last thread that John McCain was with Wolf? Why?
All these cablers should do is just hit replay or something and replay a McCain not so distant comments and the story is the same with a Different nation inserted.
Oh yeah, in US, We no longer have a Functioning News Gather Medium.
Was surprised to hear on NPR’s 8am hour the same crap as you would expect to hear on Fox. Cokey Roberts reported McCain and Lindsey’s vicious words and how weak Obama is as one-sided. No other reasons why this could be a good choice.
Yep. For the folk with a samizdat tradition, they have a much easier time in the era of VPNs, meshed hotspots, and many other modalities of digital network configurations with either intermittent or persistent WAN access.
Poor Putin, by the end of the close of business today he’s going to end up like the Dukes begging for the markets to open back up ala “Trading Places.”
Well written and largely accurate. However, the analogy with Hitler’s annexation of Austria is not far fetched with the caveat that Ukrainians are much more likely to fight and that is why the image in the tweet below of a Ukrainian war ship being surrounded by Russian tugs and blocked by Russian war ships is so very, very dangerous. Those folk start shooting at each other – or any such escalation on Crimea or mainland Ukraine, and no one on the planet has the capacity to predict what will happen and at what rate. That potential for global scale consequences is what makes Putin’s actions so extraordinarily dangerous.
From what I’m reading and seeing Putin does not look at the long game. He looks at what he can do for an immediate jolt. He should have anticipated these economic happenings…..he’s been in power long enough to see how political events affect financial. If Merkel said he was not “in reality” she was right. Russia cannot operate totally disconnected from the rest of the world, certainly not disconnected from the EU. I think his obvious desire to be Tsar of all the Russias has blinded him to the real outside world. Somehow the Sochi Olympics functioned, so he now considers himself impregnable.
I just wish all the self-appointed pundits and experts would shut up. They need to take some courses in Russian History. They are all speaking out of ignorance. The only ones I pay attention to are the ones with actual experience and/or education. I’m admittedly not an expert, but I do think I could do a better job of analysis, as I have had courses in Russian History, one of them taught by George Kennan, JFK’s Russian adviser. I am so tired of ideologic stupidity! My rant for today, just fed up to the gills with meanness and ignorance!
This, from a ‘pundit’ who actually knows a thing or two about Russia:
“But there are examples from more distant history, history that Vladimir Putin must know. In the middle of the 19th century, Russia also fought a war in the Crimea, against a British, French and Ottoman coalition. The war was a disaster for the Russian Empire. Nicholas I, the man who started the war, didn’t live to see its end. His throne was filled by Alexander II. He signed the Treaty of Paris and, out of the rubble of war, began the biggest liberalizing campaign in Russian history.”
I had read this Bob, and I think it helped trigger my rant, because it was a relief to read something based in knowledge and fact.
Russian history is complex. The most complex history course of my over 40 hours. I love history and believe it’s important to understand today.
By the way, my husband is right now reading The Bully Pulpit: TR and Taft and the reformers by Doris Kearns Goodwin. He said it could be written about today…makes us ever so thankful for FDR! I’ll start reading it soon. I think this should be required reading for lawmakers right now.
Thank you, Carolyn. Those are the types of books I enjoy reading and, hopefully, some day in the future when my every moment (other than the few I’m able to spend here at TOD/Twitter) are filled with nothing but technical documents, patent filings, business reports, etc – all the consequence of being a passionate entrepreneur 🙂
Scroll up to the Jim Sciutto link…… that includes BBC’s article. Here is another link with a picture of the UK official not yet identified who was carrying said “papers”
we don't know what the document is, who wrote it, who will receive it, or why it was produced. but here it is http://t.co/4mkJIUbEu9
It could be, LL, but we have no idea who the photographer is, who has handled the digital file, etc. It would be exceptionally easy, as truly in ‘child’s play’ (for 21st Century youth) to craft that image.
LOL Stein is being funny but he’s right. We need a link directly referencing a statement from Cameron himself with video or quotes. I have to agree with Bob here. This is just not credible.
The North Atlantic Council, which includes the ambassadors of all 28 NATO Allies, will meet on Tuesday 4 March, following a request by Poland under article 4 of NATO’s founding Washington Treaty.
Under article 4 of the Treaty, any Ally can request consultations whenever, in the opinion of any of them, their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened.
The developments in and around Ukraine are seen to constitute a threat to neighboring Allied countries and having direct and serious implications for the security and stability of the Euro-Atlantic area.
tired of seeing quotes from the same tired small minds who have repeatedly been demonstrated to be wrong about their predictions, analysis and policy prescriptions;
Wasn’t trying to imply that, NW. Was trying to imply the racist way Richard Cohen, presented his Op-ed. You are right…….my grammar teacher is going to hunt me down!
What I’ve said to him privately is the same thing that I say publicly, which is the situation will not improve or resolve itself. This is not a situation where you wait and the problem goes away. There are going to be more Palestinians, not fewer Palestinians, as time goes on. There are going to be more Arab-Israelis, not fewer Arab-Israelis, as time goes on…
****************
also this speech made to Israeli young people last year…
“Kolomoisky referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as “a small-sized schizophreniac” who “went insane” and whose attempts to “revive the Russian Empire to the 1913 borders can bring world to disaster.”
Yanukovych, according to Kolomoisky, is “a war prisoner in an unfriendly country” who can be “used as a puppet, be brought to Sevastopol or Donetsk.””
thank you chips and the obama diary for providing the most comprehensive, and up-to-the-minute coverage of the crisis in ukraine. tod is the best news site ever!
oh no! ‘congressional leaders’ are kept waiting while the president of the united states meets with the prime minister of israel! can it be that bibi recognizes pbo as the actual leader here?
Me neither, but, well, I’m trying to put myself in the shoes of the average Bibi supporter: Desperate & delusional. So I can see how they will come think that it might be a good sign…
Yet it the Russian Rubles that is going Black Sea South?
Cartoons are made by people, based on their biases.
Fact, the world is reacting to Putin. His 2nd invasion in 6 yrs.
Perhaps the wicked fools should ask…….Is Putin invading some parts of Ukraine to avoid holding His problem Dictator, Bashir, in Syria accountable for the WMDs Putin promised?
The Obama Diary 
Not sure why you went to “pending”, but freed ya.
Thanks so much! I cracked up that I appeared to be first leaving a comment, but got stuck in moderation – and was hopin’ my entire day didn’t go like that!
YOLO.
WTG, first, hurray!
Yo – CanadaBarb! Just getting back, and I thank you!
Awesome letter.
Totally.
AM WISHING OUR ENERGIZER BUNNY PREZ…THE VERY BEST….AM ON A BORROWED PUTER…HAD TO GET A NEW ONE…WON’T GET MINE FOR 3-5 DAYS…AM PRAYING FOR THE PRESIDENT AND KEEPING MY EYE ON ALL THE NEWS REPORTS…GOD BLESS HIM…:)
HELLO, SUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hi, Sue – I’m praying for our President, too – and also Secretary Kerry, who’s heading for Kiev. God bless them and Vice President Biden and all others involved.
Thanks, LL.
Tweeted this a few moments ago …
#TrustBarack
egg.sack.lee. dumbya, darth and the neocon bastids not only killed the moral argument on that for ever but also eviscerated the capability of US army to wage a successful war despite the superior military capabilities on paper.
No surprise that Fox & Russian media – propaganda outlets, both – despise the Internet ….
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/michelle-obama-china-visit-march
First Lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia will visit China on March 19-26, according to White House statement.
She will meet with the wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Madame Peng.
The First Lady will also visit schools and historical sites in China to meet with students.
////
The ever implosion of wicked rightie heads begins in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0………… 😆
I say 😎 Have a Great Time Mrs Obama, Malia and Natasha……enjoy your trip.
I’m so glad they’re doing this! What a wonderful opportunity for the girls, and what a great opportunity for the Chinese to see our wonderful FLOTUS!
Not only does Putin have the world’s community hot on his ass, he’s also cost a bunch of Russian oligarchs almost sixty-billion dollars.
Just today. Now that the EU has called Russia’s act an “act of aggression”, expect many more worse days to come on the Russian bourse.
Yep. And, that’s just what he cost them in terms of Ru stock exchange value – they’re getting clobbered in the capital and commodities markets, as well. And, lots of folk are lining up to ensure that Ukraine and Europe have the natural gas they need at reasonable market rates. Every day his madness continues is going to cost his fellow oligarchs a bunch.
“Share prices of Russian companies plunged more than 11 percent, and the Russian currency, the ruble, also tumbled. The country’s natural gas monopoly, Gazprom, which sells gas to Ukraine and to other parts of Europe through pipelines crossing Ukraine, fell about 12.5 percent by 10:30 a.m. Eastern time, wiping out nearly $13 billion in shareholder value.
The Russian central bank spent about $10 billion to prop up the ruble, Reuters reported.
Meanwhile investors fled to safety: gold and oil. Crude oil prices jumped up more than 2 percent on world markets. The price of the Brent crude, used as a benchmark in most of the world, was up $2.32, to $111.41 a barrel for April delivery.”
Maybe Putin can send out another topless photo and calm the markets.
LOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL…TO DON….TOO FUNNY…PUTIN TOPLESS…THAT’S LIKE STARING AT ROADKILL ON A HOT SUMMER DAY….I’LL PASS!
I think President Obama has reached his daily limit of dealing with assholes.
UNFORTUNATELY…HE’S BEEN DEALING WITH THAT CATEGORY EVER SINCE HE BECAME THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN PRESIDENT…SHOWS YOU THAT THE SOCIAL DEPTH IN THIS COUNTRY HAS REACHED THE LEVEL OF A SEWER CAP…GOD LOVE HIM FOR HIS PATIENCE…HIS STRENGTH AND COURAGE IS AN AMAZING EXAMPLE THAT FOOLS WILL NEVER RECOGNIZE.
Le Sigh.
Biden, Kerry and PBO are at that meeting. It’s going to be a doozy.
Sounds like a much-needed intervention.
Good Afternoon TOD.
Some one commented on the last thread that John McCain was with Wolf? Why?
All these cablers should do is just hit replay or something and replay a McCain not so distant comments and the story is the same with a Different nation inserted.
Oh yeah, in US, We no longer have a Functioning News Gather Medium.
Was surprised to hear on NPR’s 8am hour the same crap as you would expect to hear on Fox. Cokey Roberts reported McCain and Lindsey’s vicious words and how weak Obama is as one-sided. No other reasons why this could be a good choice.
No surprise, censorship of Internet sites on the rise in Russia …
BTW, that’s never been particularly effective as former KGBer Vlad should know … Russians are very resourceful when they want access to information …
In a world awash with VPNs, it’s nigh on impossible to block the Internet.
Yep. For the folk with a samizdat tradition, they have a much easier time in the era of VPNs, meshed hotspots, and many other modalities of digital network configurations with either intermittent or persistent WAN access.
If this guy is trying to block the flow of information, it is quite obvious he didn’t think this thing through.
Exactly, Don.
Poor Putin, by the end of the close of business today he’s going to end up like the Dukes begging for the markets to open back up ala “Trading Places.”
Well written and largely accurate. However, the analogy with Hitler’s annexation of Austria is not far fetched with the caveat that Ukrainians are much more likely to fight and that is why the image in the tweet below of a Ukrainian war ship being surrounded by Russian tugs and blocked by Russian war ships is so very, very dangerous. Those folk start shooting at each other – or any such escalation on Crimea or mainland Ukraine, and no one on the planet has the capacity to predict what will happen and at what rate. That potential for global scale consequences is what makes Putin’s actions so extraordinarily dangerous.
So whatever precarious economic footing Russia was already on before this latest debacle, Putin has made it even more unstable.
No one can question that these are acts of war ….
Everyone should thank William Booth who seems to be one of few foreign correspondents in Crimea able to get info out.
From what I’m reading and seeing Putin does not look at the long game. He looks at what he can do for an immediate jolt. He should have anticipated these economic happenings…..he’s been in power long enough to see how political events affect financial. If Merkel said he was not “in reality” she was right. Russia cannot operate totally disconnected from the rest of the world, certainly not disconnected from the EU. I think his obvious desire to be Tsar of all the Russias has blinded him to the real outside world. Somehow the Sochi Olympics functioned, so he now considers himself impregnable.
I just wish all the self-appointed pundits and experts would shut up. They need to take some courses in Russian History. They are all speaking out of ignorance. The only ones I pay attention to are the ones with actual experience and/or education. I’m admittedly not an expert, but I do think I could do a better job of analysis, as I have had courses in Russian History, one of them taught by George Kennan, JFK’s Russian adviser. I am so tired of ideologic stupidity! My rant for today, just fed up to the gills with meanness and ignorance!
Agree, Carolyn.
This, from a ‘pundit’ who actually knows a thing or two about Russia:
“But there are examples from more distant history, history that Vladimir Putin must know. In the middle of the 19th century, Russia also fought a war in the Crimea, against a British, French and Ottoman coalition. The war was a disaster for the Russian Empire. Nicholas I, the man who started the war, didn’t live to see its end. His throne was filled by Alexander II. He signed the Treaty of Paris and, out of the rubble of war, began the biggest liberalizing campaign in Russian history.”
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116833/putin-doesnt-know-what-he-wants-ukraine?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_content=4185008
I had read this Bob, and I think it helped trigger my rant, because it was a relief to read something based in knowledge and fact.
Russian history is complex. The most complex history course of my over 40 hours. I love history and believe it’s important to understand today.
By the way, my husband is right now reading The Bully Pulpit: TR and Taft and the reformers by Doris Kearns Goodwin. He said it could be written about today…makes us ever so thankful for FDR! I’ll start reading it soon. I think this should be required reading for lawmakers right now.
Thank you, Carolyn. Those are the types of books I enjoy reading and, hopefully, some day in the future when my every moment (other than the few I’m able to spend here at TOD/Twitter) are filled with nothing but technical documents, patent filings, business reports, etc – all the consequence of being a passionate entrepreneur 🙂
shortsighted putin
So while I was worried Merkel would go soft…………. turns out Cameron may be a bigger problem.
I’ve seen those photos ….
I agree Bob, but it appears BBC’s “Chuck Todd” believes they are legit.
Chuck Todds are never right. Where is Robinson’s link?
Scroll up to the Jim Sciutto link…… that includes BBC’s article. Here is another link with a picture of the UK official not yet identified who was carrying said “papers”
Could it be, possibly, an “all-scenarios” document, laying out all possible options? Like a somewhat competent government should have?
That’s what I would assume a responsible government staff (NSC) would present……… but you know the media loves *context*
It could be, LL, but we have no idea who the photographer is, who has handled the digital file, etc. It would be exceptionally easy, as truly in ‘child’s play’ (for 21st Century youth) to craft that image.
LOL Stein is being funny but he’s right. We need a link directly referencing a statement from Cameron himself with video or quotes. I have to agree with Bob here. This is just not credible.
We need a Joe Friday Moment…”Just the Facts” man…the media in its rush to be first….reports on things that have not been credentialed
sounds like a fall guy is in play……it works for Christie
Escalation … Poland invokes NATO Article 4 ….
The North Atlantic Council, which includes the ambassadors of all 28 NATO Allies, will meet on Tuesday 4 March, following a request by Poland under article 4 of NATO’s founding Washington Treaty.
Under article 4 of the Treaty, any Ally can request consultations whenever, in the opinion of any of them, their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened.
The developments in and around Ukraine are seen to constitute a threat to neighboring Allied countries and having direct and serious implications for the security and stability of the Euro-Atlantic area.
tired of seeing quotes from the same tired small minds who have repeatedly been demonstrated to be wrong about their predictions, analysis and policy prescriptions;
Luke Russert just praised Romney for his ” Nostradamus ” prediction on Russia and played a clip from the debate.
hahahahahaa……
Luke Russert just praised John Boehner for being the greatest speaker the House have ever seen. To hell with Luke Russert.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Did he break up with Paul Ryan ? ohhhhhhhhhhh….nooooooooooooooo……
Strange though, “Nostrdamus” couldn’t predict that he would lose the election, oh well.
I am thinking Luke’s Dad, Tim would not be proud wondering how did this happen?
Someone remind me……… this is the same Washington Post Cohen who wrote that idiotic article on “blacks” or is this Katrina Vandeidiots husband?
I saw Stephen Cohen on Fareed’s show yesterday….Fareed was at a loss for words after Cohen spoke…..Cohen is quite the know it all.
He is her husband……
Thanks, Linda!
Arapaho, don’t waste your time reading the diatribe……….. seems like Cohen’s are having a bad month
http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2014/02/06/sac-guilty-martoma-steve-cohen/
Why are you putting quotation marks around the word, Blacks? That signifies that Blacks aren’t real.
Your composition and grammar teacher will hunt you down. 🙂
Richard Cohen is the Washington Post guy who writes racist articles about African-Americans.
Stephen Cohen is Katrina’s husband. Stephen Cohen is whom the article mocks.
Wasn’t trying to imply that, NW. Was trying to imply the racist way Richard Cohen, presented his Op-ed. You are right…….my grammar teacher is going to hunt me down!
“The single best US analyst of Middle Eastern politics is Barack Obama”
http://immasmartypants.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-single-best-us-analyst-of-middle.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FlpjFg+%28Smartypants%29
What I’ve said to him privately is the same thing that I say publicly, which is the situation will not improve or resolve itself. This is not a situation where you wait and the problem goes away. There are going to be more Palestinians, not fewer Palestinians, as time goes on. There are going to be more Arab-Israelis, not fewer Arab-Israelis, as time goes on…
****************
also this speech made to Israeli young people last year…
Just a gentle ‘minder that Bates Motel (2nd Season) is premiering tonight on A & E @9PM ET. LOL! 🙂
“Kolomoisky referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as “a small-sized schizophreniac” who “went insane” and whose attempts to “revive the Russian Empire to the 1913 borders can bring world to disaster.”
Yanukovych, according to Kolomoisky, is “a war prisoner in an unfriendly country” who can be “used as a puppet, be brought to Sevastopol or Donetsk.””
Suggest you read the whole article: http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/billionaire-kolomoisky-takes-over-in-dnipropetrovsk-oblast-criticizing-putin-and-yanukovych-338261.html
h/t to @EmpathyNow
Samantha Power speaking on CNN.
MSNBC ignoring.
Grrr.
😆
UK, at UN, now charges Russia with violation of Article 2 and numerous other violations …
I am typing this comment on my brand new laptop. Literally, it’s 5 minutes out of the box!
Come over and set mine up. I have one sitting in a box for three weeks. Life has gotten in the way…….
Mine is a Mac. I took it out of the box, hit the power button and answered a handful of questions. Ta-da! I’m on the household network.
Not a Mac person. Enjoy!!
thank you chips and the obama diary for providing the most comprehensive, and up-to-the-minute coverage of the crisis in ukraine. tod is the best news site ever!
seconded
Third it….
PBO’s meeting with Netanyahu is running late, over 2 1/2 hours so far.
The anxiety of the Bibi stans is palpable….
oh no! ‘congressional leaders’ are kept waiting while the president of the united states meets with the prime minister of israel! can it be that bibi recognizes pbo as the actual leader here?
McCain and Grahamm are not leaders, Mark….
Actually, I can’t see how it is a good sign for Bibi.
Me neither, but, well, I’m trying to put myself in the shoes of the average Bibi supporter: Desperate & delusional. So I can see how they will come think that it might be a good sign…
I’m trying my best here to empathize!
wondering how long putin can maintain this posture of pushing tensions in Ukraine and around the world
I think I see the giant pincers closing in on Putin…….don’t know how long it will take, but it will happen.
I am with you on that. And I hope our Secretary Kerry gets in and out of Kiev safely.
Here’s an example of the crap put out by the US media – and you have people like Laura Rozen (who should know better) re-tweeting that shit.
I have never been to that site……and never will be.
Yet it the Russian Rubles that is going Black Sea South?
Cartoons are made by people, based on their biases.
Fact, the world is reacting to Putin. His 2nd invasion in 6 yrs.
Perhaps the wicked fools should ask…….Is Putin invading some parts of Ukraine to avoid holding His problem Dictator, Bashir, in Syria accountable for the WMDs Putin promised?
Yet it is…..sorry.
The PM made no comment to reporters on departing.
Silly Mark…Bibi knows your crowd are not real reporters……
And I very much like that Bibi made no comments, to reporters or anyone else, to this point.
in this case, “silence is golden”
When Russia invaded Georgia in 2008….where was Bush ? He was falling down drunk at the China Olympics.
He was at a Volley Ball beach event slapping the back of one of the US’s Ladies duo…..thinly clad mind you.
Ha !… I just sent that picture to Jake Tapper to remind him . He was talking about Russia invading Georgia on Bush’s watch.
Good !!!! Glad you did Linda.
Right before or after he went back home and choked on a pretzel.
new post: http://theobamadiary.com/2014/03/03/ukraine-crisis-press-roundup/
Could have posted it yesterday. . .