In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, the dying Mercutio blames his fate on the long-standing feud between the Montague and Capulet families, and issues his last wish for both clans:
“A plague o’ both your houses!
They have made worms’ meat of me: I have it,
And soundly too: your houses!”
Every now and then, the forces of Nature — without any help or encouragement from Mercutio or anyone else — descend upon some part of the Earth with unspeakable vengeance: a great flood, drought, war, or — perhaps worst of all because of its unknown origin — a new pestilence such as the Black Plague of the 14th century, the Spanish Flu of 1918-20, or the more recent COVID-19 pandemic.
And sometimes we humans do it to ourselves. A classic example might be the explosion of the nuclear reactor at Chernobyl in the Soviet Union in 1986. While no one intentionally caused the reactor to malfunction, negligence was certainly the primary factor. Archives show that there had been a known radiation leak that was covered up “to prevent panic and provocative rumours.” But worse yet was the reaction on the part of the Soviet government following the explosion.
For two full days, the incident was kept secret while workers and firemen — some 31 of whom died in the immediate aftermath — were sent in to try to contain the radiation. It was only when Sweden detected an increase in radiation levels that the truth became obvious; and even then, the Kremlin tried to downplay the seriousness of the disaster. Some 4,000 deaths have been attributed to the effects of long-term radiation exposure.
Exclusion Zone Around Chernobyl – Still Burning
*. *. *
This week, a young Russian woman died in the Irkutsk region of Siberia of an as-yet unconfirmed disease. The 28-year-old laboratory technician, Daria Shipilova, worked in the Anti-Plague Research Institute, where she routinely handled and studied potentially deadly pathogens, including pneumonic plague. Immediately following her death, and even before taking steps to protect public health, the Kremlin set into motion its usual cover-up procedures.
First, 189 individuals across local medical facilities were placed in isolation and denied outside contact. The area hospital was locked down. Official statements were limited to vague references to a “particularly dangerous infection”or “pneumonia of unknown etiology.” [Brent Molnar, “A Voice of Reason,” October 5, 2026.]
State media networks have purged earlier references to any suspicion of pneumonic plague; travel advisories in the region have been removed from municipal sites; and regional leaders have walked back initial statements confirming the infection.
But the word — although still just rumors — had already begun circulating, and there has been a run on broad-spectrum antibiotics from nearby pharmacies. Bad news always travels quickly.
We still don’t know precisely what killed Daria Shipilova. If it was pneumonic plague, there is a reasonable chance her life could have been saved if antibiotic treatment had been administered within 24 hours of the first appearance of symptoms. The same, of course, is true of any others who might have been exposed. Are her co-workers, family members and friends being monitored? Is anyone else known to have been stricken?
And if it wasn’t pneumonic plague, then what was it, and what precautions are being taken? For that matter, will we ever be told the truth about any of it?
Yet there is one additional, overriding issue that comes to my mind, above and beyond the welfare of the people of the Irkutsk region, and that is: What is the purpose of the so-called Anti-Plague Research Institute? What other sorts of pathogens are contained in their facilities? And are they being studied strictly for medical purposes, or as part of some nefarious program of biological warfare?
We need to know . . . because that last possibility could one day bring down a plague on all our houses.
Just sayin’ . . .
Brendochka
10/7/26
The Blog About Everything … and Sometimes Nothing
One Bored Woman’s Perspective On Whatever
About Brendochka
About me
My name is Brenda; Brendochka is the nickname given me by my Russian friends years ago. I’m retired now, and I write because I love telling the tales of the most interesting, sometimes funny, and occasionally even exciting times of my life. I hope you enjoy reading my stories, although I know some of them are a bit lengthy — my keyboard sometimes seems to become a perpetual motion machine — and that you will follow me throughout my long-ago travels.
So welcome to my world, where “All Roads Led to Russia.” It’s more than a travelog with a couple of detours, and much more than an autobiography. To me, it was an adventure, and — looking at it from the perspective of today’s world events — it’s a bit of a footnote to history. I’m just happy to have lived long enough to be able to share it with you.
Brendochka
https://brendochka.com/2026/10/07/10-7-26-a-plague-on-putins-house/
Shared with the permission of the author.
Professor Bonk :
How ass-about-face can anyone be?
“Trump had said Washington would be willing to help with the situation. “We’ll help. Anybody that has that kind of a problem, we’re always willing to help,” he said on Monday.”
https://www.ft.com/content/dcf35eaf-e1d3-4289-bc7a-e0c91725ad59?syn-25a6b1a6=1
Was he talking about putler deliberately and systematically murdering little children via obscene attacks on kindergartens, schools, hospitals and shopping centres in Ukraine?
No of course not. Being a stone cold evil psychopath like his idol, he doesn’t give a fuck. In fact he is colluding with the rat Nazi to ensure even more mass murder.
But he does care when some putinaZi skank working in a bio weapons lab (a real one, not a Gabbardova fake Ukrainian one) researching into more methods of mass murder, carelessly gets herself killed.
What foul pieces of scum he and his putrid regime are.
Vatnik Soup :
On this day 20 years ago, Russian investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya was murdered in Moscow, on Vladimir Putin’s 54th birthday.
She had spent years reporting on Putin’s Russia and exposing the atrocities committed during the Second Russian-Chechen War.
Dozens of journalists have been killed for their work during Putin’s rule, while more than 1,500 Russian journalists have been forced into exile since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine alone.
Operator Starsky :
This is perfect, my friends: the russians were banned from calling plague a “plague” in the media, so they designed a safe name for the deadly disease: “pneumonia of unknown etiology” 🤣
There’s no explosions in russia, there’s “claps”. “Slight smoking” instead of fires. “Debris” instead of strikes. And now this – “pneumonia of unknown etiology” instead of the plague 🤣.
The russian bear today looks less like a bear and more like a little frog on the road – seeing the approaching headlights and closing its eyes, hoping the scary big car disappears.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky :
Putin was offered a deal: Ukraine would stop striking oil refineries, and Russia would stop attacking power, heating and other utilities so ordinary people could get through the winter. He said no. He is counting on breaking Ukraine this winter. I do not believe he will succeed.
Professor Timothy Snyder :
From the beginning of the war in Iran, I’ve warned one reason that Trump wants such a war is to provoke a terrorist attack at home. History is full of leaders — from Putin in Russia to Orban in Hungary — who have used foreign wars and real or manufactured threats to expand their authority. But we must not allow ourselves the luxury of surprise. We must continue acting and voting and calling Trump out.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky :
Suppose Putin destroys Ukraine and even occupies the devastated country. What does he do next?
Rebuild it? With what money, when there is not enough for his own country? Leave it in ruins? That would create an enormous source of instability.
Does he think about what comes afterwards, or does he simply not care? I have no answer.
Roman Sheremeta :
Putin is a symptom of a much bigger sickness called Russian imperialism.
Gavin Newsom
After sending the National Guard and Marines to occupy California, Donald Trump is now saying our foreign enemies should “take out” Los Angeles and San Diego.
He is deranged and dangerous.