MILITARY.COM - Russian Military Movements

"US ‘Very Concerned’ About Russian Military Moves Near Ukraine, Austin Says" by Rebecca Kheen, Military.com 12/4/2021

SIMI VALLEY, CALIF.  -- U.S. officials are "very concerned" about Russia's massing of troops near the Ukrainian border, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Saturday.

Austin's comments at the Reagan National Defense Forum come amid reports that U.S. intelligence has found Russia is planning a military offensive for early 2022 that could include as many as 175,000 troops.

"As we look at the numbers of forces that are in the border region, as we look at some of the things that are occurring in the information space, as we look at what's going on in the cyber domain, it really raises our concern," Austin said.  "It's something that we're gonna remain focused on going forward."

U.S. and NATO officials have been issuing increasingly stark warnings in recent weeks as Russia builds up forces near its border with Ukraine, which it invaded in 2014.

Russia also concentrated thousands of troops near its border with Ukraine in the spring, raising alarms in the international community of the possibility of an invasion.  Russia insisted those troops were conducting routine exercises and eventually pulled many of them back, but U.S. officials fear the latest deployments are more than a bluff.

Ukrainian officials have said about 115,000 Russian troops are amassed near the border, while U.S. Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville on Saturday estimated the number is "somewhere around 95,000 to 100,000."

"I don't know what they're going to do, but I'm very, very concerned about their posture," McConville said during a morning panel at the Reagan forum.  "That gives a lot of options to the Russians."

President Joe Biden himself vowed Friday to make it "very, very difficult" for Russia to invade Ukraine.

"What I am doing is putting together what I believe to be will be the most comprehensive and meaningful set of initiatives to make it very, very difficult for Mr.  Putin to go ahead and do what people are worried he may do," said Biden, who is scheduled to speak with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

Pressed Saturday on what specifically the United States will do, including whether it will send military advisers and weapons to Ukraine, Austin would only refer back to Biden's comments.

"You heard the President say yesterday that he's looking at a number of initiatives, so I won't get out ahead of my boss," Austin told Fox News host Brett Baier, who interviewed Austin at the conference.

Russia isn't alone in its provocative posturing, as Austin described alarm at increasingly aggressive Chinese military exercises near Taiwan.  China set a record in October with 56 military flights around Taiwan in one day, part of a total 149 flights over four days.

While he said he did not want to speculate, Austin said the Chinese activity "looks a lot like rehearsals" for an attack.

Austin also reiterated that the United States is committed to helping Taiwan defend itself and said officials are looking at ways to do more to support Taipei.  But he also stressed that U.S. policy -- which is intentionally ambiguous about whether the U.S. military would actually intervene if China tries to invade Taiwan -- has not changed.

"Nobody wants to see things develop into a conflict in this region," Austin said.  "So we're going to do everything in our power to help prevent conflict and dial down the temperature whenever possible."

ON CLIMATE - UN Summit and more

"The Earth is at a tipping point.  Here’s what’s at stake if we don’t act on climate change" PBS NewsHour 11/1/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  In his remarks to global leaders, President Joe Biden said climate change is "ravaging the world" — a message that is likely to be repeated at the U.N. summit on climate change.  World leaders, researchers and activists all say we are at a tipping point to reduce emissions.  But getting commitments that translate to real change is no small lift.  William Brangham reports on the stakes of the summit.

 

 

"Here are the latest promises made by Biden, global leaders at U.N. climate summit" PBS NewsHour 11/2/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  World leaders at the U.N. climate summit pledged today to cut methane emissions and conserve forests.  President Joe Biden wound up his two days at the Glasgow gathering focusing on America’s role in the new initiatives.  William Brangham reports.

 

 

"Glacier ice samples act as records of climate change’s impact on Earth" PBS NewsHour 11/4/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The impacts of a warming world and changing climate are more evident every day.  Many of the Earth's tropical glaciers are in jeopardy because of human activity's effect on the atmosphere.  William Brangham reports on a couple [husband - wife] in Columbus, Ohio, who have dedicated their scientific careers to preserving and studying these crucial, endangered parts of the planet's ecosystem.

 

 

"How youth leadership is changing climate activism" PBS NewsHour 11/6/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  Young people around the world continue to protest in large numbers over what many see as inaction from political leaders on climate change—today's Global Day of Action is no exception.  As the COP26 conference continues in Glasgow, Jasmine Sanders, Executive Director of 'Our Climate,' a non-profit that works to empower young people to lead and teach others about 'science-based, equitable climate policy solutions,' joins.

CLIMATE CHANGE - President Biden's Goals

"U.S. seeks to lead by example with emission goals set during global climate summit" PBS NewsHour 4/22/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  The United States set ambitious new goals today to stop the world from heating up, urging other nations to follow suit.  And some of the world’s largest carbon emitters seemed to heed the call.  But world leaders left open how they would get there as they met in a virtual gathering.  William Brangham has our report.

 

 

"Has the U.S. set realistic goals to combat climate change? A climate scientist weighs in" PBS NewsHour 4/22/2021

Excerpt

SUMMARY:  To discuss the ambitions of the climate summit and the very real challenges to President Joe Biden's plans, we're joined by Michael Mann, a climate scientist and professor of atmospheric sciences at Penn State University.  He's the author of, "The New Climate War: The Fight to Take Back Our Planet."  This reporting is part of the international journalism collaborative called "Covering Climate Now."

CARTOON OF THE YEAR 2021 - American Politics

 

2021 INAUGURATION - Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman

Amanda Gorman, the nation's first-ever Youth Poet Laureate, read the following poem during the Inauguration of President Joe Biden on January 20:

When day comes we ask ourselves,

where can we find light in this never-ending shade?

The loss we carry,

a sea we must wade

We've braved the belly of the beast

We've learned that quiet isn't always peace

And the norms and notions

of what just is

Isn't always just-ice

And yet the dawn is ours

before we knew it

Somehow we do it

Somehow we've weathered and witnessed

a nation that isn't broken

but simply unfinished

We the successors of a country and a time

Where a skinny Black girl

descended from slaves and raised by a single mother

can dream of becoming President

only to find herself reciting for one

And yes we are far from polished

far from pristine

but that doesn't mean we are

striving to form a union that is perfect

We are striving to forge a union with purpose

To compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and

conditions of man

And so we lift our gazes not to what stands between us

but what stands before us

We close the divide because we know, to put our future first,

we must first put our differences aside

We lay down our arms

so we can reach out our arms

to one another

We seek harm to none and harmony for all

Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:

That even as we grieved, we grew

That even as we hurt, we hoped

That even as we tired, we tried

That we'll forever be tied together, victorious

Not because we will never again know defeat

but because we will never again sow division

Scripture tells us to envision

that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree

And no one shall make them afraid

If we're to live up to our own time

Then victory won't lie in the blade

But in all the bridges we've made

That is the promise to glade

The hill we climb

If only we dare

It's because being American is more than a pride we inherit,

it's the past we step into

and how we repair it

We've seen a force that would shatter our nation

rather than share it

Would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy

And this effort very nearly succeeded

But while democracy can be periodically delayed

it can never be permanently defeated

In this truth

in this faith we trust

For while we have our eyes on the future

history has its eyes on us

This is the era of just redemption

We feared at its inception

We did not feel prepared to be the heirs

of such a terrifying hour

but within it we found the power

to author a new chapter

To offer hope and laughter to ourselves

So while once we asked,

how could we possibly prevail over catastrophe?

Now we assert

How could catastrophe possibly prevail over us?

We will not march back to what was

but move to what shall be

A country that is bruised but whole,

benevolent but bold,

fierce and free

We will not be turned around

or interrupted by intimidation

because we know our inaction and inertia

will be the inheritance of the next generation

Our blunders become their burdens

But one thing is certain:

If we merge mercy with might,

and might with right,

then love becomes our legacy

and change our children's birthright

So let us leave behind a country

better than the one we were left with

Every breath from my bronze-pounded chest,

we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one

We will rise from the gold-limbed hills of the west,

we will rise from the windswept northeast

where our forefathers first realized revolution

We will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the midwestern states,

we will rise from the sunbaked south

We will rebuild, reconcile and recover

and every known nook of our nation and

every corner called our country,

our people diverse and beautiful will emerge,

battered and beautiful

When day comes we step out of the shade,

aflame and unafraid

The new dawn blooms as we free it

For there is always light,

if only we're brave enough to see it

If only we're brave enough to be it

2021 - President Joe Biden's Inauguration

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Full Inauguration 9:55:45hrs