1. U.S. orders diplomats’ families to leave Ukraine, urges Americans to depart
The authorized and ordered departures followed assurances by Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the U.S. and allied nations are prepared to counter Russia.
The United States is ordering the relatives of American embassy staffers in Ukraine to leave the country, while giving certain diplomats the option to depart, the State Department said on Sunday, in the latest sign that American officials think Russia is likely to once again invade Ukraine.
The authorized and ordered departures followed assurances by Secretary of State Antony Blinken that the U.S. and allied nations are prepared to counter Russia if it continues its aggressive actions toward Ukraine. Blinken said on Sunday that officials were readying an array of options to respond to various moves by Moscow, although a diplomatic resolution was the preferred path.
https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/23/blinken-counter-russian-aggression-00000521
2. Biden Considering Sending Thousands Of U.S. Troops, Ships, Aircraft To Eastern Europe
Democrat President Joe Biden is considering deploying U.S. forces to Eastern Europe as Russia is reportedly preparing to invade Ukraine at any moment.
Biden is considering the deployment of “several thousand U.S. troops, as well as warships and aircraft, to NATO allies in the Baltics and Eastern Europe, an expansion of American military involvement amid mounting fears of a Russian incursion into Ukraine,” The New York Times reported. “The move would signal a major pivot for the Biden administration, which up until recently was taking a restrained stance on Ukraine, out of fear of provoking Russia into invading.”
SOCIAL ISSUES
3. Too many women in the wrong places: Norwegian navy edition
As women increasingly are hired into traditionally male jobs via affirmative action laws or indirect pressure via media, we see more and more incompetence. This is true whether it is academia, the military or the police. Here’s a funny example from Norway a few years ago. The Norwegian navy was recruiting more women and celebrating their great success in their own magazine Forsvarets Forum (Forum of the Defense) in April 2017.
[…]
“It is an advantage to be many women onboard. It immediately becomes a natural thing and a quite different environment, which I see as positive,” said Emilie Jacobsen Ophus.
She is named a navigator on the KNM Helge Ingstad, which is, well was, a frigate. You can guess where this is going. The article also mentions that 4 out of 5 navigators onboard are female. Fast forward to only the next year and we see this headline:
https://kirkegaard.substack.com/p/too-many-women-in-the-wrong-places
