President Biden Summons NATO in 2024
There is safety in numbers…
An attack against one is an attack against us all…
The concept of “collective defense” is the foundation for the establishment of NATO, a military alliance of 31 nations originally created in 1949 with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty.
Europe in the mid-1900’s was characterized by the rising and falling of dynasties, empires, and dictatorships.
When WWII ended, one point agreed on, undeniably, was that the capabilities of modern warfare were destructive beyond measure. World leaders had to find a way to transcend cultural differences and talk about a lasting peace.
In 1945, the United Nations was formed, not only to prevent future wars but to maintain international law in the interest of protecting standards of living around the world.
Though the UN’s Security Council was responsible for maintaining peace and security around the globe, member-states such as the Soviet Union, Germany, Italy, and Japan had veto power within the council and could influence military enforcement within their own borders. Smaller European countries rebuilding their infrastructure after WWII were wary of their disadvantage.
Although the preamble of the North Atlantic Treaty reiterates the ideals of the United Nations Charter, that global peace should be prioritized in order to safeguard the principles of “democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law,” the point at which NATO differs from the UN is it’s “call to war” in Article 5.
This agreement states that if one of the member countries is under an armed attack, the others must consider it an attack on themselves.
NATO’s Article 5 was invoked only one time in history, in 2001, in the months and years following the September 11 attacks on the United States
NATO summits are held annually. The next will be in July 2024 in Washington, D.C. and will celebrate NATO’s 75th anniversary.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg with President Trump
About 4.5 billion years ago, the Sun was formed within a nebula of dust, radiation, and charged particles, possibly energized by a nearby supernova explosion.
Gravity within the spinning mass of particles caused pressure in the center to reach a critical point where it collapsed inward as hydrogen atoms began to fuse into helium, giving off heat and light.
With the start of thermonuclear fusion, the sun began to shine.
Dust, ice, and debris continued to orbit the new sun, colliding to form larger and larger objects that would then have sufficient mass to pull matter into a gravitational field, growing to planetary size.
This process of accretion is how the earth was formed.
Earth On Fire
Billions of years ago, with the birth of the sun, the solar system was taking shape as heat and light from the sun blasted outwards, burning away the gas, dust, and debris around the four terrestrial planets, while the four “gas giants” and “ice giants” formed farther away.
The Earth was a mass of molten rock and metal for about a billion years, spinning and becoming denser and hotter within its core. Heat from the iron core convected through a surrounding layer of molten rock where it interacted with metals in the earth’s crust, creating a magnetic field that spans from pole to pole.
This magnetosphere began to shield the planet from the harsh solar winds as water vapor from the burning crust evaporated and cooled, forming the oceans.
The sun is burning white-hot despite appearing gold as it’s light filters through the earth’s atmosphere.
The solar winds extend outward from the corona of the sun in every direction, creating the heliosphere that envelops the solar system.
Pressure within the heliosphere decreases with increasing distance from the sun and eventually starts to equalize with that of the interstellar medium of the galaxy
In about 5 1/2 billion years, the sun will begin to run low on hydrogen. It will slowly become hotter and a deeper orange-red, expanding to engulf the terrestrial planets, including the earth.
By that time, humans will most likely have found other habitable planets among the 200 billion trillion stars in the universe.
Our brain controls everything about us. It influences our growth, coordinates movement, and makes us conscious of the world around us.
In other words, our brain makes us human.
Being human means that we have emotions, self-awareness, and memories. We have the power to interact with our environment and with each other. We can set goals and learn how to achieve them, finding new and inventive ways to make our lives better.
What, When, Where
The brain weighs in at approximately three pounds.
Situated on top of the spinal column, the brain sends and receives information through 31 pairs of spinal nerves.
The brain, spinal cord, and this network of nerves make up the central and peripheral nervous systems.
The cerebrum, the cerebellum, and the brainstem:
- The exterior of the cerebrum is the grey matter of the cerebral cortex, folded into ridges and crevices (gyri and sulci) that permit it’s surface area to fit within the protective bones of the cranium. Beneath the outer layer of the cerebrum are interconnected structures such as the thalamus, pineal, and pituitary gland that regulates sleep and consciousness, influences emotions and behavior, as well as growth, blood pressure, and metabolism.
- The brain connects to the spinal cord by the brainstem, which consists of the midbrain, the pons, and the medulla oblongata. These structures relay sensory signals to and from the environment, controlling vision, hearing, movement, and the sleep/wake cycle. They also work together to regulate body temperature, heartbeat, and respiration.
- The cerebellum is located beneath the cerebrum, next to the brainstem. Similar to the cerebrum, it has two hemispheres, and it’s accordion-like outer layers are gray matter surrounding a core of white matter. The cerebellum’s main function seems to be to coordinate motor functions. Billions of neurons within the cerebellum receive sensory information related to movement from the frontal lobe of the brain, “fine-tuning” these sensory signals and relaying them outward through the spinal nerves to the peripheral nervous system.