WWII anachronisms and more good coffee news! Russia and Japan really need to find a solution to their Kuril Islands/Northern Territories dispute, already. Fishermen are captured and driven out of the area all the time, but the BBC says this is the first time in fifty years that Russia has actually shot someone over it--an allegedly stubborn fisherman who refused to get out of there. Thanks to the USSR's seizure of the islands in 1945 and Russia's stubborn refusal to give them back to Japan (which, in my humble and insignificant opinion, they should really obviously do), the two countries haven't yet signed a peace treaty, and are technically still at war with each other.

In other news, boy am I happy to see the recent run of coffee-is-actually-good-for-you studies. The life-sustaining beverage is getting credit lately for preventing all kinds of unpleasant things: type II diabetes, cirrhosis of the liver, and even heart disease (!) Here's the single craziest line of today's NYT article:

In another analysis, published in July in the same journal, researchers found that a typical serving of coffee contains more antioxidants than typical servings of grape juice, blueberries, raspberries and oranges.

Probably all lies, like the red wine and dark chocolate are good-for-you lies, but I'll take them all anyway. It's nice to be reminded that life is so deliciously worth living.  ¶ 4:36 PM