Shadow Warfare

Posted on by Thor

Forbes reported that 32 Russian helicopters have been shot down so far by Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion of it’s peaceful neighbor. NPR put that number at 125,  the BBC at 80, and Newsweek 77.

 I have been following Ukrainian Officer Starsky on Youtube. His footage of a KA52 Russian helicopter reminded me of a burnt out skeleton of a demonic beast. The KA 52 is touted by Russia as a helicopter that can not be destroyed. Ukrainians conscripts shot down the helicopter in Hostomel.

Non-state militias are set to play a larger and less supervised role as the conflict set to explode in the Donbas of Ukraine. The Wagner Group on the Russian side is a 6,000-strong mercenary force, which is usually based in Africa and is believed to be funded by Yevgeny Prigozhin, a businessman with close links to Vladimir Putin.

About 1,000 Wagner Group fighters have been drafted in as part of the invasion. It was reported at the end of March that members of the group had been tasked with finding and assassinating the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky. They failed. Though continuing to cause massive destruction among the civilian population, the Russian forces continue to fail on every front.

Up to 20,000 volunteers, from all over the world, have joined up to fight Russian invaders. The goal of these foreign fighters is to save people and save civilians. The bulk of thee foreign fighters come from the United States, United Kingdom and Georgia, which has also been invaded by Russia. Members of this legion were the first to confront Russians at the airport in Hostomel, in the Kyiv region. The top thing needed in Ukraine is a no fly zone to stop the constant airstrikes and ballistic missiles that are constantly battering civilian populations. Since they can not gain victory on the battle fields, the Russians indiscriminately kill civilians.

C Section 27

Posted on by Thor

Newsweek reported that an unvaccinated 27 year old mother of 6 from Texas, died of COVID-19 after giving birth. Her husband had tested positive for COVID shortly after New Year’s Day 2022. She was pregnant with the couple’s sixth child at the time.

Soon she began to feel unwell and experienced shortness of breath and chest tightness, her husband told news outlet ABC 13.

After a visit to the hospital on January 4, 2022 the mom was immediately admitted because her oxygen levels were low. She was then diagnosed with pneumonia due to COVID-19.

Within days, doctors performed an emergency C-section to deliver the couple’s baby, a boy called Koda born at 25 weeks, according to a GoFundMe donation page set up for the family. This story caught my eye since Koda was the name of the bear Cub I worked on at Disney Feature Animation for the film, Brother Bear.

The mother’s condition began to improve over the following weeks, but then suddenly deteriorated. She died shortly afterwards, in mid-January 2022.

The father told ABC 13 that both he and his wife had not been vaccinated against COVID as “it all happened so fast and it was being pushed on us very fast,” saying: “She was pregnant and so she had some concerns.”

Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), said in August 2021 that the COVID vaccines were “safe and effective,” including for those who are pregnant and breastfeeding. CDC analysis at the time did not find an increased risk of miscarriage among nearly 2,500 pregnant women who received an mRNA COVID vaccine before 20 weeks of pregnancy. Unfortunately, health messaging dos not always reach those who most need to hear it in time. There are also others who simply do not want to hear or understand the science.

Cat Birthday Superspreader

Posted on by Thor

According to The Sun and Newsweek, who cited local reports, a birthday party thrown for a pet cat in Chile led to a COVID-19 outbreak that infected over a dozen people. The super spreader birthday party for the feline took place in the town of Santo Domingo, and all ten guests tested positive for COVID-19 afterwards. The attendees also infected five additional family members and friends.

“When I heard it was a cat’s birthday party, I thought it was a joke — that they were probably trying to hide something,” said Francisco Álvarez, the regional health secretary for Valparaíso, according to the Daily Mail.

“We have corroborated it with at least six of the 15 [infected] people who told us the same thing,” he added. Álvarez stated that he was surprised to know people are continuing to have social gatherings despite warnings and restrictions from authorities. The CDC labeled Chili as a dangerous travel destination. Of course a far more dangerous travel destination is the United States of America.

On Twitter Álvarez said, “An essential part of democracy is that no one is exempt form complying with the law, and that no one cam behave as if they are above it.” This is a lesson that our former POTUS has yet to learn.