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U.S., EU, Ukraine and Russia have agreed to talks.

Supreme Allied Commander Europe and four-star chief of US European Comman, Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove says armed attackers in Ukraine are Russian troops in disguise.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel pledged more non-lethal U.S. aid to Ukraine's military.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff will try to persuade senators they risk a crisis if they don't slow growth in military compensation.

Pentagon moves to block Russian spy plane in American skies.

Anger and dismay at stalled Guantanamo 9/11 trial.

Soldiers have options to explore before Army restructure.

Air Force researchers test Google Glass for battlefield use.

Navy report could clear way for Marines' move from Okinawa to Guam.

A fourth member of the Navy has been charged with conspiracy to commit bribery in a multimillion-dollar scheme involving a Singapore-based defense contractor accused of providing cash, vacations, electronics and prostitutes in exchange for classified information.

Why there will be a robot uprising.

The price tag for the Lockheed Martin F-35 joint strike fighter, the Pentagon's most expensive weapons program, increased $7.4 billion in 2013.

Methane hydrate, colloquially known as Fire Ice, is being discussed as the energy of the future.

Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic talk about their one-night-only reunion at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony (and afterward).

Turntable snowboard brings the party to the slopes.

Watch the latest Louie promo.

Spend the night in a treehouse.

List: Star Wars facts you may not already know.

Finally: 16 Delicious Facts About Peeps.

Bring High Tide Harry's to the South Sound now!

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President Vladimir Putin accused the authorities in Kiev of plunging the country into an "abyss".

Obama says Russia realizes U.S. military is "significantly superior."

The Obama administration has removed all operational combat tanks from Europe and key strike aircraft, limiting the options for a show of force to bolster eastern NATO allies as Russia contemplates invading Ukraine.

Stronger U.S. economic sanctions urged against Russia.

Poland's defense minister is calling for a larger U.S. and NATO military presence in his country to deter the type of Russian aggression occurring in eastern Ukraine.

DoD quietly expanding U.S. Africa Command missions.

The U.S. Navy is about to transform almost everything.

The U.S. electric power grid is vulnerable to cyber and physical attacks.

For the first time since 1995, a team representing the 25th Infantry Division took home top honors at the David E. Grange Jr. Best Ranger Competition.

Army lab teams up with Boston Marathon to prevent heat injury.

Pentagon is working on advanced, speedy, stealthy, next-gen drones.

Scientists learn how to generate solar power in the dark.

Fox network has removed all traces of the military-themed comedy Enlisted from its spring schedule.

If you spend enough time on the Internet you'll eventually encounter a conspiracy theory.

Google X's Rapid Evaluation Team looked into building a space elevator.

Dude builds Spider-Man's webslinger using an electromagnetic launcher.

The most haunted place in the world is for sale.

Jon Hamm sniffs condescendingly at your Megan Draper/Sharon Tate rumors, so time to put your theories to rest. Or is it?

How South Korea promotes a TV show ...

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Ukraine anti-terrorist crackdown begins.

First women move to Army platoon artillery jobs.

The Pentagon plans for more drones in more places.

The U.S. Air Force is shuffling the command of several key programs, including missile systems and its new tanker plane.

The Navy's Fifth Fleet in the Persian Gulf doesn't have an effective long-distance missile for ship-to-ship engagements.

Pentagon condemns "provocative" Russian military action against U.S. Navy ship.

How the Internet could have predicted the invasion of Ukraine.

The Pentagon is looking at new ways to disperse its forces throughout the Asia-Pacific as military planners explore alternatives to the large US super bases in the region vulnerable to cruise missile strikes.

President Obama will deliver this year's commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

Every type of equipment the U.S. military has at its disposal is on sale at the Gomrok bazaar in south Tehran's Razi Square, the merchants say.

Army bids farewell to its tireless advocate, Dr. Joseph W. Westphal.

National Guard soldiers remember Boston Marathon.

The U.S. Navy, in its fiscal 2015 budget proposal, said it wants to cancel a planned buy of 29 MH-60R Seahawk helicopters in 2016.

The Department of Defense announced today that it has undertaken a comprehensive review of the military justice system.

Ms. Veteran America uses title to tell Army story, support homeless female veterans.

The most normal states in America.

Check out David Cronenberg's new flick, Maps to the Stars.

A lot of people really killed it at Coachella.

The 12 best long takes in movie history.

List: Geeky things you can buy on Etsy.

Finally: Roundup of weird TV merchandise for sale.

Then there's this ...

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Iran's semi-official Fars news agency is reporting that the country has temporarily called off a plan to dispatch warships to the Atlantic Ocean.

The Asia-Pacific naval market is heating up, with massive quantities of new ships to boost regional navies in coming years.

China has begin installing sensitive hydrophones on the floor of the China Seas in an effort to detect and track submarines belonging to the U.S. and its allies.

Let Asia go nuclear.

After Ukraine, conventional deterrence will be the main purpose of NATO's armed forces.

U.S. defense secretary Chuck Hagel's straight talking in Asia gets results.

After battling Osama bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, al Qaeda, the Taliban, forest fires, hurricanes and floods, America's Army is now fighting itself.

Aggregate tonnage alone doesn't win naval battles in the modern era, and suggesting otherwise is dangerous.

Fast and light: Army overhauls its gear strategy.

The Army is considering certifying some of its attack helicopters to operate from ships as the service looks to broaden the role it would play in an Asia-Pacific battle.

The Army is conducting a complete re-assessment of its NCO education system for the first time since 1976.

The Army's Ready and Resilient Campaign is now focusing on "intervention," not on "bystander" behaviors.

Army leaders are providing "under the oak tree" counseling, to improve their Soldier's health and resilience.

Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps Michael Barrett issued a letter to all marines trying to explain his recent congressional testimony in which he said marines preferred better equipment over high pay and that lowering pay raises would improve discipline.

Here's your daily dose of paranoia fuel and an excuse to be outraged all wrapped up in one.

Airmen shave their heads to support fallen pilot's ailing son.

Top companies want to hire veterans.

11 cool new products.

Glow-in-the-dark roads finally exist outside of Hot Wheels.

Here's a spoiler-filled recap of last night's Thrones.

Mad Men Season 7 premiere recap.

Vintages photos of spring breakers.

List: Great music videos from 1995.

Good news: Robert Downey Jr. is now on Twitter.

Finally: Zooey Deschanel to unveil a clothing line.

Who wants to see a steam-belching butterchimney?

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Armed pro-Russian militants raised the Russian flag in an eastern Ukrainian city today, deepening a stand-off with Moscow which, Kiev warned, was dragging Europe closer to a "gas war" that could disrupt supplies across the continent. 

Derek Chollet, assistant secretary of defense for International Security Affairs, told Congress Russia's annexation of Crimea will affect and perhaps even reshape the NATO alliance.

More amphibious forces are needed in the Pacific says the commanding general of III Marine Expeditionary Force Lt. Gen. John E. Wissler.

Defense civilian layoffs won't be pleasant, but they are necessary.

The move from Joint Base Lewis-McChord to Fort Knox is the first step in Cadet Command's overall initiative to transform the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps program of instruction.

Out of fuel, out of time and once chance to land on the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower.

John McCain, the senior senator from Arizona and former Republican presidential candidate added his voice to the growing chorus of lawmakers seeking to block the Pentagon's plans to retire the A-10 attack plane.

Sgt. Maj. of the Marine Corps Michael Barrett told Congress that marines and sailors care less about pay and benefits than they do about having the best training and tools for the job.

First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden today announced several new initiatives designed to strengthen support for military caregivers.

Optimizing brain health can have immense benefits for readiness, resiliency and the health of soldiers.

Twitter, Facebook and other types of social media are contributing to global instability.

Video: Gen. Dempsey sings with Bret Michaels during the Military Child of the Year gala.

If only there was a high-tech way to replace your flat, expressionless gaze with a digital approximation of human warmth. Well, search no more. AgencyGlass is here.

Awesome video game will let you fully live your space pilot dreams.

SPRZ NY is a clothing line that features shirts, jackets, pants, dresses, tote bags, bandanas inspired by Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, Jackson Pollockand other artists.

Deer Teen Me is a website on which authors pen letters to their teen selves.

Here is the perfect male and female body according to male and females.

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NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has urged Russia to pull back its troops from Ukraine's borders and enter a dialogue respecting Ukraine's sovereignty.

NATO provides images of Russian military buildup.

Japan prepares to shoot North Korean missiles out of the sky.

The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee's top Republican slammed the Air Force's 2015 spending plan, saying it "increases risk to unacceptable levels."

Lawmakers in both the House and Senate are planning legislation to block the Air Force's plans to retire the A-10.

Inside the FBI's secret relationships with the military's special operations.

Forty lawmakers have signed a letter asking the Labor Department to exempt some military morale, welfare and recreation and exchange operations - such as fast food concessions - from wage regulations affecting federal contractors on military bases.

Black female lawmakers are urging Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to reconsider revised Army regulations that ban hairstyles frequently worn by minority women in the military.

Scientists in the United States, Mexico and Switzerland grew reproductive organs and nasal cartilage in labs, and successfully implanted them in patients.

Rare fish: A rare oarfish caught on video on the coast of Baja, Mexico.

Handheld electric jet thrusters make everything from snowboarding to rollerblading infinitely more awesome.

After last night's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, a reunited Nirvana played for 200 people a tiny club in Brooklyn. The video is wonderful; Joan Jett, Kim Gordon, St. Vincent, J Mascis and Deer Tick's John McCauley took turns singing lead.

Here are details on Michael Stipe's Nirvana speech and Nirvana's performance during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony. Stereogum has some video

Watch The Simpsons' Mad Men-themed promo.

Finally: Famous album covers in reverse.

Finally II: Artist creates an amazing Jackie Chan portrait using 64,000 chopsticks.

Then there's this ...

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Medal of Honor recipient Capt. William Swenson is back on active duty at I Corps on Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

The tensions are high in eastern Ukraine. About 40,000 Russian troops are massed on the border.

U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, NATO's top military commander in Europe, opened the door to deploying U.S. troops to Eastern Europe to counter Russian moves.

The destroyer Donald Cook is set to enter the Black Sea today amid tensions over eastern Ukraine.

Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., warned that supplemental wartime funding, which the Army has said it needs well after the war in Afghanistan ends, may not be forthcoming.

Afghan probe begins in attack on AP journalists.

The vice chief of staff of the Army told senators "greater risk" must be accepted in the Army's modernization programs in the near term due to financial constraints.

Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond Chandler lists soldiers' "top five" concerns.

The Army and the National Guard are at war over the Guard's Apache helicopters, and both sides are turning to Congress for backup.

General Dynamics begins work on special ops vehicle.

U.S. Navy officers in the Pacific fleet say the service's Littoral Combat Ship may lack the speed, range and electronic warfare capabilities needed to operate in Asian waters.

The U.S. Navy is integrating a Hellfire missile onto the Littoral Combat Ship as a way to give the platform more fire-power.

The U.S. Navy has begun testing "smart" rocket launchers aboard MH-60R Seahawk helicopters.

The U.S. Navy is in the very early stages of developing a new destroyer -- called the Future Surface Combatant.

The Army & Exchange Service is warning military shoppers about scammers posing as service members offering to broker the sale of used boats, cars and motorcycles through the Exchange.

Watch eight BASE jumps from eight famous buildings.

Future Teasing: Peaople are naming their kids after Game of Thrones characters.

The Game of Thrones theme song sung by goats.

Beautiful animated gifs

Jack White's new music video is all about science.

Test: Which music era do you belong in?

Movie action kid returns ...

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A Marine at Camp Lejeune shot and killed another Marine at the facility's main gate Tuesday afternoon.

U.S. won't share invasion intel with Ukraine.

Navy and Marines still unclear how Army will fit into Pacific Pivot.

Odierno: Army faces "tough" choices in uncertain fiscal times.

In the wake of last week's shooting on Fort Hood many soldiers and some lawmakers are calling on the military to reconsider allowing troops to carry concealed weapons on post.

Airmen at odds with Air Force brass over future of beloved A-10 plane.

Two key senators say U.S. Air Force plans to stop A-10 flights and training in October are against the law.

Lt. Gen. David Halverson took command of the U.S. Army Installation Management Command from Lt. Gen. Michael Ferriter.

Russia's takeover of Crimea could prompt a review the U.S. military presence in Europe, which has declined steadily since the end of the Cold War.

The Pentagon will shrink the number of its nuclear weapon-carrying bomber aircraft and reduce the number of submarine ballistic missile launch tubes as it modifies its force posture to meet the limits of the New START treaty with Russia.

The head of the U.S. National Guard Bureau has given his blessing to the U.S. Army's plan to move all of the Guard's Apache attack helicopters into the active force while receiving several hundred Black Hawk and Lakota multi-use helicopters in return.

Visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Chinese military chiefs traded warnings and rebukes Tuesday as they clashed over Beijing's territorial disputes with its neighbors, North Korea's missile program and cyber espionage.

As F-35 program officials prepared to testify to the Senate Armed Services Committee, they announced they were keeping back some $25.7 million, or 5 percent, of payments for the F135 engine used in the Joint Strike Fighter.

Engineers with the U.S. Navy have finished drawing up blueprints for a future class of nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines.

Boeing built Marines an Osprey Jeep with NASCAR connection.

A limited number of Airmen who received notice that their previously approved applications for early retirement had been declined will be given the option to retire if they still desire to do so.

Heartbleed: Why the Internet's gaping security hole is so scary.

The 10 best houses of the year.

Archie Comics is killing off its main character.

HBO renewed Game of Thrones for two more seasons.

The New Yorker has a piece about the genius of Dave Letterman.

David Hasselhoff is selling his Knight Rider replica.

Mirror, mirror, on the wall, this is Nerd Alert, the Weekly Volcano's recurring events calendar devoted to all things nerdy. I myself am a Star Wars fan, mathlete, and spelling bee champion of long standing, so trust me: I grok whereof I speak.

FRIDAY, APRIL 11

The biggest movie release this week is called Oculus. It's a horror film about a haunted mirror. I will write that again: it's a horror film about a haunted mirror. I mention this cinematic spectacle only because as of time of writing, with nine critics reporting in, it boasts a RottenTomatoes.com score of 100 percent. Make of that what you will.

SATURDAY, APRIL 12

My wife and I are performing alongside friends from Masterworks Choral Ensemble and Olympia Family Theater in Sing for a Cure, a "song cycle" to benefit cancer research. Proceeds go to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, so we sure hope you'll join us for a program of empathy and hope.

SING FOR THE CURE, 7:30 p.m., Washington Center for the Performing Arts, 512 Washington St. SE, Olympia, $9-$19, 360.753.8585

This is a big night for ladybumps, as it's also when Stripped Screw Burlesque unveils its "Disney After Dark" revue in the Capitol Theater. Seattle princesses Seraphina Fiero and Maxie Milieu are joined by sultry local superstars Hattie Hotpants and Nani Poonani of TUSH.

DISNEY AFTER DARK, 9 p.m., Capitol Theater, 206 Fifth Ave. SE, Olympia, $15-$20, 360.754.6670

If you're spry, you might even make both shows. Let it go, indeed!

SUNDAY, APRIL 13

Sunday's MTV Movie Awards will present a special "Silver Bucket of Excellence" to 1998, the last year anyone cared about the MTV Movie Awards. Consequently, someone will wonder out loud whether Neve Campbell, the big winner that year, is still alive. Perhaps it'll be this year's host, Conan O'Brien, who asks the indelicate questions.

(The first time I wrote that paragraph, I used Ken Ober as its unwilling punchline. Guess what, though? It turns out Ken Ober is actually deceased - I had no idea - so don't I feel like quite the old geezer? Remote Control, people! Give it up for "Wheel of Torture!" ...Dear gravy, I'm old.)

Here's the thing about being happily married: you only have time for so much TV, even with a DVR. Therefore, if you aren't both fans of a show, it drops off your list of season recordings. I was able to hang on to Archer and Community, thank Dionysus, but Mad Men fell right off my queue. Is it still the 1960s on that show? Is Peggy still far and away the best thing on it? I have no idea, so find out for yourself when season 7, Mad Men's final go-round, begins Sunday.

TUESDAY, APRIL 15

The TV adaptation of Fargo debuts on FX, don't ya know. It stars Martin Freeman, Adam Goldberg, Colin Hanks, both Key and Peele (I'm serious), Joey King, Bob Odenkirk, Oliver Platt, Billy Bob Thornton, Kate Walsh, two wacky robots, the entire first-season cast of The West Wing, and a partridge in a pear tree. It's made by the guy responsible for Bones, so it'll last forever even though no one you know will ever watch it.

Until next week, may the Force be with you, may the odds be ever in your favor, and may you never find yourself trapped in the basement of 72 Whooping Cough Lane. I want my MTV!

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Snowden was awarded for sparking a transformative debate about surveillance programs.

Two F-16s were scrambled after the aircraft strayed into restricted airspace over D.C.

On average, military bases are safer than similarly sized American cities. The violence at Fort Hood may best be explained as a workplace shooting, not a uniquely military tragedy.

The military could speed up deployment of a land-based missile defense shield in Europe to hem in a resurgent Russia.

The vice commander of the Air Force's 12th Flying Training Wing at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph has been relieved after investigators learned he exchanged emails with the wife of a subordinate officer.

Widespread opposition has yet to form around any single Pentagon proposal to cut a specific weapon system, indicating most could be implemented despite lawmakers' protestations on behalf of parochial interests.

The Navy 2020: Bigger, better, possibly broke.

U.S. Army, Marines struggle with infantry vehicle replacements.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel delivered a two-pronged warning to Asia Pacific nations Sunday, announcing that the U.S. will send two additional ballistic missile destroyers to Japan to counter the North Korean threat, and saying China must better respect its neighbors.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will tour a Chinese aircraft carrier today as the first foreign visitor aboard the ship,

Second Lt. Sage Santangelo wasn't able to retake the Infantry Officer Course, but other female volunteers might get that chance, thanks to a case she made to the commandant of the Marine Corps this year.

U.S. Marines recently landed K-MAX and MH-6 Little Bird helicopters autonomously using an i-Pad like mini-tablet.

Sixty years and changing: The U.S. Air Force Academy.

True science of parallel universes.

The best dark matter signal that scientists have ever recorded.

The largest known galaxy cluster in the distant universe.

Hollywood legend Mickey Rooney died. He was 93.

Why?: Japan's Takara Tomy Arts has created a collection of stick-on fake fingernails featuring embedded LEDs and tiny antennas that light up whenever the wireless NFC functionality of a nearby smartphone is being used.

Read an exclusive excerpt from Rob Lowe's new memoir.

Microsoft has six original TV series in production.

Get an extended look at the new Godzilla movie.

Finally: which Winona Ryder character are you

Then there's this...