Over the course of the last several years, and with a vast acceleration in 2020, municipalities around the nation have been removing, renaming, and re-dedicating a number of Confederate monuments now deemed offensive in the wake of the Black Lives Matter Movement. Not everyone is a fan of the move, however, with opponents often suggesting that this is a revision of history, and that these men were also American soldiers, in a way. Now, one of the largest Confederate monuments in the world, the carving on the side of Stone Mountain in Georgia, is facing renewed calls for removal. Crowds are growing larger at the monthly meetings of the Georgia board considering what to do about the giant carving of Confederacy leaders in Stone Mountain. But officials seem no closer to an answer. The Stone Mountain Memorial Association decided to make a few changes last month, but they weren’t enough to placate people who want the monument removed. A museum exhibit will tell the story of the carving, as well as the site’s ties to the Ku Klux Klan. But having to make those decisions could increase the volume and the pressure on the board, NPR reports. Critics have pointed out that the carving is a modern piece, and not a relic of a bygone era. “Where we go from there?” asked the board’s chairman, the Rev. Abraham Mosley. “I don’t know.” Putting the site in a Georgia context seems like a challenge. None of the three men—Confederate Gens. Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee, and Confederacy President Jefferson Davis—was from the area, and no battles were fought there. As a piece of history, it’s not that historic, having been completed in 1972. The monument sits within Stone Mountain Park, an amusement park of sorts, that has lost a number…

When it comes to dealing with Russia, much of the US policy is straightforward, and likely on account of the fact that the Kremlin has been pulling the same, silly stunts for decades now. In fact, it’s getting a little stale. Russia loves to use her military as a nuisance to the United States, posing danger at times, certainly, but most often just being undeniably annoying. This week was no exception. Russia’s defense ministry has announced it sunk an aircraft carrier just 35 miles off the coast of Hawaii in a huge war games exercise that has alarmed the US. At least 20 Russian warships, submarines, and support vessels, flanked by 20 fighter jets, are taking part in the exercises – the biggest since the Cold War. Russia says that they are 300 miles off the coast of Hawaii, yet unconfirmed satellite images from June 19 appear to show them much closer – within 35 miles of the U.S. state. The moves have forced the US military into action. Twice this month – on June 14 and 18 – the U.S. scrambled F-22s from Hawaii in response to Russian bomber flights. Neither time did the bombers enter the U.S. Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) perimeter, and so they were not intercepted. On June 17 the Navy admitted that the USS Carl Vinson and her strike group were operating near Hawaii, without revealing when they had arrived, or why. It has been only a few days since Russian President Vladimir Putin met with US President Joe Biden in Geneva, in a meeting that both men seemed to suggest was a success. This latest Kremlin aggression begs to differ.