I recall reading this as well. I think the Pope survived inside a literal cage with those "fires" and allowed almost no interpersonal contact while the plague was raging.
If you are going to social distance may as well do it right. Perhaps the CDC should add rings of fire in the updated pandemic plan.
Sounds like they are pushing the AF to get involved and it isn't going so well for them. If true, four advanced fighter jets in a day is a monumental loss Video Shows Russian Fighter Jet Fall From Sky as 4 Planes Destroyed—Ukraine (msn.com) The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine claimed that on Saturday, September 24, two Russian Su-25 jets had been destroyed alongside an Su-20 and Su-34 plane. A spokesperson for Defense of Ukraine said: "Today is a good day for #UAarmy and a bad day for Russian aviation. Su-25, two Su-30, and Su-34 have gone to f*** themselves."
Not liking the Putin news: Finland official whom knows Putin well says he will go "all the way". Zelensky says he thinks Putin would use tactical nukes. Nuclear rhetoric is increasing.
Should the west isolate Iran for supplying weapons to help Putin advance his campaign of aggression in Ukraine? I would say yes and do it with speed to send a message to Iran that it will not be tolerated. If Iran wants to help Putin and Russia then hit them with the same sanctions that there are on Russia ‘Huge problem:’ Iranian drones pose new threat to Ukraine (msn.com) Andriana Arekhta, a junior sergeant with the Ukrainian Armed Forces, said the drones flew from Crimea to attack her special forces unit fighting near the southern city of Kherson. The drones evaded the soldiers’ defenses and dropped bombs on their position, destroying two tanks with their crews inside. “It’s very difficult to see these drones on radars,” said Arekhta, who traveled to Washington, D.C., last week as part of a delegation of female Ukrainian soldiers. “It’s a huge problem.” Over the past week, Russia has deployed Shahed and Mohajer combat drones imported from Iran in greater numbers across Ukraine, with devastating results. Some hit combat positions, smashing tanks and armored vehicles, while others struck civilian infrastructure, including in the port city of Odesa. In his nightly address on Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country’s anti-aircraft forces had shot down more than a dozen drones in the eastern Dnipropetrovsk region and Odesa. The Ukrainian Air Force identified them as Shahed-136 kamikaze drones and Mohajer-6 drones that carry munitions and can also be used for reconnaissance. But in interviews, a Ukrainian activist and three soldiers said the Iranian drones pose a major threat to both fighters and civilians. Their arrival on the battlefield makes the need for the West to send additional modern weaponry even more urgent, as Kyiv tries to seize on recent gains to retake as much territory as possible before winter sets in, they said. The Iranian drones appear to be a potential game-changer for the Russians. They are relatively small and fly at low altitude, evading Ukrainian radars. Arekhta said she could shoot them down with Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, but only during the day because the U.S.-provided weapons do not come with a night-vision system.
Just further reinforcing my thoughts that the days of heavy tonnage, ground, combat vehicles, may be numbered. Unless they come with an arsenal of anti-drone protective cover. Or unless the M.I.C. (Military Industrial Complex) comes up with (EFFECTIVE) ground to air or air to air drone suppression weapons systems. Kinda like C-130's, you can't use "Puff the Magic Dragon" without complete air superiority.
between the flight of men out of the country and the inscription of others, the workforce is being depleted which will only make their economic situation worse Russia's economy will 'die by winter' because of military mobilization (msn.com) In the days that followed, Russian police arrested over 2,300 citizens for protesting, and tens of thousands of Russians have now fled the country to avoid the draft. Now, Russian economist Vladislav Inozemtsev, the director of Moscow-based think tank the Center for Research on Post-Industrial Studies, is warning that Putin’s mobilization will have “truly catastrophic consequences,” including the death of the Russian economy and the downfall of Putin’s regime. “The Russian economy is going to die by winter, I wrote in early March. Now I think I was right. The mobilization announced on Sept. 21 was a milestone that really divided Russian history into ‘before’ and ‘after’—an event that began the final countdown of Putin’s era,” the economist wrote on Sunday for Russian publication The Insider.
This doesn't bode well for their society at all. I suspect that graphs gonna look real bad in a few years
US 1.27 million excess deaths from 2020 and 2021 slowest growth rate since WWII. Vying with Russia for least healthy large country.