“Vladimir Putin’s Anschluss of Crimea is echoing through the non-Russian nations within the Russian Federation, but it is also creating a new Ukrainian problem for the Kremlin leader in the Russian Far East where a former Japanese defense minister has noted that 60 percent of the inhabitants on the disputed Etorofu Island are Ukrainian.
In a commentary over the weekend, Yuriko Koike, who currently chairs Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party General Council and serves in the Diet, says that “given the Crimean annexation,” Tokyo’s position in talks with Moscow about the disputed Northern Territories changed.
Moreover, she wonders whether, given the share of ethnic Ukrainians on these islands, “ Putin would accept” an independence referendum there “as readily as he did the ballot in Crimea, undertaken at the barrel of a gun.”
The former defense minister’s comments are important both for what they say about how Tokyo views the impact of Putin’s intervention in Ukraine and because they call attention to something many people either do not know or have forgotten: there is a significant Ukrainian population in the Russian Far East and the US once directed Ukrainian language broadcasts to it.”
“The former defense minister continues by saying that “in the immediate future, Japan will work with the G-7 to ensure that Putin’s reckless ambitions do not endanger other parts of Ukraine. Already, Japan has decided to provide ¥150 billion ($1.5 billion) in economic aid for Ukraine, the largest pledge by any individual country, including the US, thus far.””
Happy to provide the info, Carol, Susanne and Jacqueline. And, yes, it’s obvious Putin is traveling in his megalomaniac universe which, of course, makes him the most dangerous nut on the planet given his nukes.
‘ Dollard has a long and complicated history in the public spotlight. He originally “made his name as Steven Soderbergh’s agent,” according to a 2007 Vanity Fair profile, although he has since become a self-fashioned conservative firebrand. His Twitter account lists him as a “contributing journalist” at Breitbart — whose founder, Andrew Breitbart, he counted as a personal friend. Strangely, his profile page on the conservative news organization’s website includes no actual articles. ‘
Tilapia filets, seasoned with spicy seasoning, quick-fried in evoo
Chopped brussel sprouts and orange bell pepper, seasoned with Lawry’s seasoned salt, sauteed in evoo
You know, unlike my brothers, I already knew how to cook before I moved away from home. My bestie, who is female, pounded into me the dictum that “chicks dig male cooks”. And I’ve inherited my mother’s devil-may-care attitude towards recipes.
Yes, women faint at that news! My son and a few of his guy friends taught themselves to cook when they were teenagers – not at my house (I have no interest!), but one of the moms would gather the guys around and let them experiment, too. He now does ALL the cooking at his house, loves it, and has since he was in his 20s!
Well, I am ashamed to admit that somewhere along the way today spun out of my control so I haven’t a clue what the day’s story is. Fort Hood? I guess I’d better go read the post. and the one preceding, and the one on the middle that I missed. /Have pity on me Ms Chips and Ms Nerdy, and anyone else rushing my day along with (too many) informative posts.)
/whispering/ HF, not sure it is safe to say that she used to be a favourite of mine……ahem…. a while back (of course I was a precocious child then). 😉 😉
It’s quite safe to say that you liked her songs in the past, now, in the future, whenever.
NO I DON’T THINK TIME IS GONNA HEAL A BROKEN HEART. NO I DON’T SEE HOW IT CAN IF IT’S BROKEN ALL APART. A MILLION MIRACLES COULD NEVER STOP THE PAIN OR PUT ALL THE PIECES TOGETHER AGAIN..NO I DON’T THINK TIME (Okay I will stop with the SheriffFruitfly style of singing now..)
It IS safe? Okay. I was fearful any such admission might give some people ideas as to how old I may/not be. My eyes read the lyrics and my brain immediately supplied the mental music. 😆
In my case, that’s not exactly true. I tend not to like most of the current stuff, and I could add a list of older (and entire) genres that I don’t like either. One of my foibles was that I basically only liked songs that told a story with more than 4-9 words. Constant repetition of the same 4/5 words often had me yelling ‘we got that!’ in disgust, before turning off the noise.
VC – you got here several hours before me, so feel comforted that there’s someone even further behind than you, desperately trying to figure out what happened here! 😯
Hi Theo, ‘world’ traveler-whom-I-rarely-spot from my own bastion of seclusion! I still haven’t gotten the full story! O, I listened to PBO, but was unable to fill in all the back stuff before I got distracted. They called me to work about 20mins ago, so I’m going to be even further behind by this evening! It’s up to you to gather the facts now. 😉
Read this short article from Bloomberg. The press were complaining because THEY don’t like the smaller plane. Wanted to make sure the big bird is ready for the trip to Asia. Josh Earnest is funny…..Ah, I see, you don’t want to fly to Asia in this one!” Always their own selfish interests.
Missy, we might have to have a talk about verbal abuse. Don’t you be calling my nephew names! That sort of thing could traumatize the young man for life! What;s WRONG with you?
You cannot expect the poor things to remember all of that abuse. 😯 I can easily picture him covering his tender ears and crawling into a quiet corner. *You* on the other hand ought to be ashamed of yourself! The poor thing must be so confused. I’ll pray for you. /insert angelic smilie here/
I’m always behind, but hope that Zizi2 sees my heartfelt appreciation for her post this morning (Ayn Rand’s wig).
Zizi2’s words flow so effortlessly, and she selects just the right words to convey her thoughts.
I’m glad she had the time to contribute (errr… was it re-posted from an earlier time that I missed???) and thoroughly enjoyed her essay.
I saw Michael Steele on Hardball last night, and if he’s any indication, GOP/Media/Koch will continue to harp on “young invincibles” not wanting to enroll in a medical plan.
Here’s my response to ALL the dudebros out there — why don’t ya ask a (young) woman before spouting off your mouth?
Not sure of the age group that “young invincibles” fall into — 26 to 40?
In any case, these “young invincibles” are in their prime childbearing age. When I was 28, healthy as a horse (low blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.) I had an ovarian cyst (benign) that burst. No complications, but the most painful condition I’ve experience to date. Women get monthly reminders of need for potential medical attention, and the number of who are not sexually active are certainly in the minority and the vast majority in the marketplace for some kind of contraceptive.
Sorry for the RWNJ tweet that I responded to, but wanted to let TODville know an effective response to the “”young invincibles” fiction – he didn’t respond and most trolls fire back immediately.
One of the most poignant of images … believe Colin Powell also was impacted by it. Thanks for bringing it to us, again, Chips. We always seem to need a reminder.
Moldova, Europe’s poorest country.
Good video to see how Romanians are treated in a country (Moldova) with lots of Ukranian emigres who are willing to sacrifice personal freedoms.
And soccer is mentioned. Even Chelsea, though not in a favorable light. Sorry, NW, LL, et. al.
Arapaho, this list is absolutely jaw-dropping. Yanukovych is going to go down as one of the most corrupt officials of all time. He obviously had visions of himself as a damned emperor or tzar. Ukrainians were robbed blind under his ‘leadership.’
that is adorable! i love how our president lights up a room! and how he understands kids– i know he is thinking of the world they’re growing into every day.
btw, my niece, age 5, sent me this video for april fool’s day. no joke–just the video! she thought the laughing bird was hilarious, and now i’m laughing too!
MSNBC has been “moments away from a press conference” – for the past 2 hours – so they have spent that time interviewing themselves to determine that when someone shoots a gun people die.
The US media has perfected stupid. If they ever learn to handle more than one thing at a time – it might be of benefit.
I’m not there – I have no idea as to the reality of living in the US – but TOD has made me aware of the impact of money, guns and useless media & it is not pretty from where I am. All those protections from the bill of rights seem to count for nothing and then SCOTUS joins the RW party.
Obama White House.gov
The Obama Diary 
“Vladimir Putin’s Anschluss of Crimea is echoing through the non-Russian nations within the Russian Federation, but it is also creating a new Ukrainian problem for the Kremlin leader in the Russian Far East where a former Japanese defense minister has noted that 60 percent of the inhabitants on the disputed Etorofu Island are Ukrainian.
In a commentary over the weekend, Yuriko Koike, who currently chairs Japan’s Liberal Democratic Party General Council and serves in the Diet, says that “given the Crimean annexation,” Tokyo’s position in talks with Moscow about the disputed Northern Territories changed.
Moreover, she wonders whether, given the share of ethnic Ukrainians on these islands, “ Putin would accept” an independence referendum there “as readily as he did the ballot in Crimea, undertaken at the barrel of a gun.”
The former defense minister’s comments are important both for what they say about how Tokyo views the impact of Putin’s intervention in Ukraine and because they call attention to something many people either do not know or have forgotten: there is a significant Ukrainian population in the Russian Far East and the US once directed Ukrainian language broadcasts to it.”
More at the link in the tweet.
Whoa.
Check this, Jacqueline …
“The former defense minister continues by saying that “in the immediate future, Japan will work with the G-7 to ensure that Putin’s reckless ambitions do not endanger other parts of Ukraine. Already, Japan has decided to provide ¥150 billion ($1.5 billion) in economic aid for Ukraine, the largest pledge by any individual country, including the US, thus far.””
Thanks Bob, very interesting and unsettling.
wow. thanks for this info, bob–sure wouldn’t have heard it elsewhere!
It sure gets worse for Putin every day … but seems as though he’s lost total touch with reality.
dictators have all the same basic traits, haven’t they ?
Yep!
Yes. And none ever learn by themselves that it eventually doesn’t go well for them.
Happy to provide the info, Carol, Susanne and Jacqueline. And, yes, it’s obvious Putin is traveling in his megalomaniac universe which, of course, makes him the most dangerous nut on the planet given his nukes.
Our Consoler in Chief
Yes he is Donna.
‘ Dollard has a long and complicated history in the public spotlight. He originally “made his name as Steven Soderbergh’s agent,” according to a 2007 Vanity Fair profile, although he has since become a self-fashioned conservative firebrand. His Twitter account lists him as a “contributing journalist” at Breitbart — whose founder, Andrew Breitbart, he counted as a personal friend. Strangely, his profile page on the conservative news organization’s website includes no actual articles. ‘
http://www.salon.com/2014/04/02/conservative_filmmaker_pat_dollard_its_time_for_americans_to_start_slaughtering_muslims_in_the_streets/
so probably yes on that.
LL, of course you should, people like Dollard are racists and him and his kind are the only ones who belong in this country.
Whew.
In lighter news, tonight’s menu.
Tilapia filets, seasoned with spicy seasoning, quick-fried in evoo
Chopped brussel sprouts and orange bell pepper, seasoned with Lawry’s seasoned salt, sauteed in evoo
We’ve returned to seriously cutting back on carbs. Hence no rice or potato tonight.
Bring Danny over. He can play with Stewie while we eat and get shitfaced.
am grownded woz teld am evul “****er” reel sad
Aw, did you eat more socks?
no coz no sox left onlee eeted teev mote troll wotz da bigg deel?1
Oh, Danny. Remote controls are sacred. They’re what separate us from our barbarian ancestors of the 50s and 60s.
atta boy.
not loud tawk 2 u amk teld ur reel bad inflewinse
never mind her. we will keep talking. now, go, get her.
:(. {{{{{DannyO’stix}}}}} 😦
How many of us can you fit around the table? I’d be willing to eat on the lanai, if that helps. 🙂
You know, unlike my brothers, I already knew how to cook before I moved away from home. My bestie, who is female, pounded into me the dictum that “chicks dig male cooks”. And I’ve inherited my mother’s devil-may-care attitude towards recipes.
Yes, women faint at that news! My son and a few of his guy friends taught themselves to cook when they were teenagers – not at my house (I have no interest!), but one of the moms would gather the guys around and let them experiment, too. He now does ALL the cooking at his house, loves it, and has since he was in his 20s!
I envy men who can cook! When I was growing up, cooking was strictly the business of the women in my family.
It’s never too late, nath. Ha!
That is exactly what my husband is. He’s a little more conservative on hot peppers. 😉
Mark Knoller wants to know what’s for dessert? After Tilapia you MUST have something sweet before you can call it a night.
We do. Chocolate pudding cake. $3.99 at Ralphs. Can’t beat that.
Sounds good to me! YUM…
mark knoller wants to know…. 🙂
As usual, if you blink and miss a big story throughout the day, all you need to do is come to TOD and find out what happened. Thanks, Chips!
Well, I am ashamed to admit that somewhere along the way today spun out of my control so I haven’t a clue what the day’s story is. Fort Hood? I guess I’d better go read the post. and the one preceding, and the one on the middle that I missed. /Have pity on me Ms Chips and Ms Nerdy, and anyone else rushing my day along with (too many) informative posts.)
VC right now I’m listening to one of my favorite older songstresses from Canada – Anne Murray. 🙂 🙂
/whispering/ HF, not sure it is safe to say that she used to be a favourite of mine……ahem…. a while back (of course I was a precocious child then). 😉 😉
It’s quite safe to say that you liked her songs in the past, now, in the future, whenever.
NO I DON’T THINK TIME IS GONNA HEAL A BROKEN HEART. NO I DON’T SEE HOW IT CAN IF IT’S BROKEN ALL APART. A MILLION MIRACLES COULD NEVER STOP THE PAIN OR PUT ALL THE PIECES TOGETHER AGAIN..NO I DON’T THINK TIME (Okay I will stop with the SheriffFruitfly style of singing now..)
🙂 🙂
It IS safe? Okay. I was fearful any such admission might give some people ideas as to how old I may/not be. My eyes read the lyrics and my brain immediately supplied the mental music. 😆
Music has no age! I loved songs that my parents enjoyed in their 20s-30s. 🙂 🙂
In my case, that’s not exactly true. I tend not to like most of the current stuff, and I could add a list of older (and entire) genres that I don’t like either. One of my foibles was that I basically only liked songs that told a story with more than 4-9 words. Constant repetition of the same 4/5 words often had me yelling ‘we got that!’ in disgust, before turning off the noise.
🙂
VC – you got here several hours before me, so feel comforted that there’s someone even further behind than you, desperately trying to figure out what happened here! 😯
Hi Theo, ‘world’ traveler-whom-I-rarely-spot from my own bastion of seclusion! I still haven’t gotten the full story! O, I listened to PBO, but was unable to fill in all the back stuff before I got distracted. They called me to work about 20mins ago, so I’m going to be even further behind by this evening! It’s up to you to gather the facts now. 😉
Just spotted a new promoted twitter account (faith voters for hillary). What part of too early don’t these fools understand?
And that, children, is why I have AdBlockPlus. Keeps those pesky bought-for hashtags and Twitter accounts at bay.
Retweeted.
Co-sign!
Read this short article from Bloomberg. The press were complaining because THEY don’t like the smaller plane. Wanted to make sure the big bird is ready for the trip to Asia. Josh Earnest is funny…..Ah, I see, you don’t want to fly to Asia in this one!” Always their own selfish interests.
I love Josh Earnest. I hope he’ll be the next press sec if and when Jay ever wants to step down.
When are they headed to Asia?
Oh crikey mikey, that is magnificent!!! 🙂
another rethug/berra line: ‘i really didn’t say everything i said.’
For some reason, thinking of Chips calling Danny an “evil f***er” in her Irish brogue makes me chuckle all warm and stuff.
wel im not chuclin reel sad
Oh she’ll get over it. You’re cute.
hoap so havnt eetin nuttin cinse sun day
Eat her. simple solution.
😀 😀
Now you know why I banned him from chattin’ with ya.
Missy, we might have to have a talk about verbal abuse. Don’t you be calling my nephew names! That sort of thing could traumatize the young man for life! What;s WRONG with you?
Danny’s complaint was only partly accurate VC, I actually called him an “evil ***ing ***ing ****er”.
You cannot expect the poor things to remember all of that abuse. 😯 I can easily picture him covering his tender ears and crawling into a quiet corner. *You* on the other hand ought to be ashamed of yourself! The poor thing must be so confused. I’ll pray for you. /insert angelic smilie here/
zacly vwolf i woz reel shocd by da langwidge
Maybe you can help me pray for her?
{{{{DannyO}}}} Want to come over for a sleepover – give her time to cool down?
Also, seems I’ll have to have a talk with her about appropriate language for young ears.
wud luv 2 cum ovar vwolf haz u mote troll?1
I have more than one and *I* never use them. Maybe I can give you one to shut her up.
Sigh! Also. too ►Your mother makes up stuff sometimes (an aging thing); your aunt vwolf died before birth
The events of today could not more starkly contrast the choice each American now must make on 4 Nov 2014.
It’s just that simple.
#DEMSDominate2014
YES WE MUST
As you all know, Supreme Court Justices can be impeached …
I’m always behind, but hope that Zizi2 sees my heartfelt appreciation for her post this morning (Ayn Rand’s wig).
Zizi2’s words flow so effortlessly, and she selects just the right words to convey her thoughts.
I’m glad she had the time to contribute (errr… was it re-posted from an earlier time that I missed???) and thoroughly enjoyed her essay.
I saw Michael Steele on Hardball last night, and if he’s any indication, GOP/Media/Koch will continue to harp on “young invincibles” not wanting to enroll in a medical plan.
Here’s my response to ALL the dudebros out there — why don’t ya ask a (young) woman before spouting off your mouth?
Not sure of the age group that “young invincibles” fall into — 26 to 40?
In any case, these “young invincibles” are in their prime childbearing age. When I was 28, healthy as a horse (low blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.) I had an ovarian cyst (benign) that burst. No complications, but the most painful condition I’ve experience to date. Women get monthly reminders of need for potential medical attention, and the number of who are not sexually active are certainly in the minority and the vast majority in the marketplace for some kind of contraceptive.
Sorry for the RWNJ tweet that I responded to, but wanted to let TODville know an effective response to the “”young invincibles” fiction – he didn’t respond and most trolls fire back immediately.
What is that dumbass WillamCope talking about?
Here’s an article I liked about the best way to respond to Putin’s aggression. Agreed with the headline alone.
One of the most poignant of images … believe Colin Powell also was impacted by it. Thanks for bringing it to us, again, Chips. We always seem to need a reminder.
Okay, off to make another cocktail and chop up veggies
Ukraine area update…
Moldova, Europe’s poorest country.
Good video to see how Romanians are treated in a country (Moldova) with lots of Ukranian emigres who are willing to sacrifice personal freedoms.
And soccer is mentioned. Even Chelsea, though not in a favorable light. Sorry, NW, LL, et. al.
Buzzfeed is the best on the web for compiling lists. Bonus, their site doesn’t slow to a crawl (which HuffPo does on my machine).
Arapaho, this list is absolutely jaw-dropping. Yanukovych is going to go down as one of the most corrupt officials of all time. He obviously had visions of himself as a damned emperor or tzar. Ukrainians were robbed blind under his ‘leadership.’
that is adorable! i love how our president lights up a room! and how he understands kids– i know he is thinking of the world they’re growing into every day.
btw, my niece, age 5, sent me this video for april fool’s day. no joke–just the video! she thought the laughing bird was hilarious, and now i’m laughing too!
Susanne, that’s the greatest 12 seconds ever!!!!!
Could not resist:
haaaahaaaahaaaahaaahahahahaha! wish i could laugh like the bird right now! 🙂
🙂 I’m beginning to think you have cameras installed in my home – today he ate a phone wire. 🙄
MSNBC has been “moments away from a press conference” – for the past 2 hours – so they have spent that time interviewing themselves to determine that when someone shoots a gun people die.
The US media has perfected stupid. If they ever learn to handle more than one thing at a time – it might be of benefit.
Pefection!!!
I’m not there – I have no idea as to the reality of living in the US – but TOD has made me aware of the impact of money, guns and useless media & it is not pretty from where I am. All those protections from the bill of rights seem to count for nothing and then SCOTUS joins the RW party.
Now that Spring is officially here, it’s been like wintertime in SoCal this week.
Here’s an update on the drought.
This early promotion push by HRC’s PUMAs is sure to backfire on them.
(Awhile ago, MuscatineGal said an acquaintance of her husband is now working on the HRC campaign in Iowa.)
I’m so hoping a young Dem catches fire by wholeheartedly endorsing and supporting President Obama 100% in both domestic and foreign affairs.
How about a New Mexico Senator??? (Meta, recall what a hunk he is?)
Chat on!
http://theobamadiary.com/2014/04/02/chat-away-334/
‘ Shot Reportedly Fired At Ohio’s Kent State University
The campus is currently on lockdown. No injuries were reported, University spokesman Eric Mansfield said. ‘
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mbvd/shot-reportedly-fired-at-ohios-kent-state-university
hours of tranquility don’t seem to last long , then something horrendous happens => circle of life