Beyond needless loss of life, the war in Ukraine has caused a trade war that could slash global food production, taking the greatest toll on the poorest of us. The silver lining: this tragic situation may inspire some long-overdue policy reforms.
Russia
The last time I looked, Russia was still an importer of grains, part of the prolonged hangover from the good old days of the Soviet Union. But things have changed quite a bit.
We know that in the 1970s the Soviets used microwave weapons against American diplomats. Maybe with the cooperation of other countries, Putin's Russia is doing it again.
Vladimir Putin and the Kremlin's propaganda machine are working in overdrive.
Get this: 5G activists say that wireless technology causes cancer; cardiovascular disease; DNA damage; learning and memory deficits; impaired sperm function and quality; miscarriage; neurological damage; obesity; diabetes; as well as autism; attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); and asthma in children. That's a pretty scary list. A nuclear bomb can't even do all that.
Russian trolls and the Organic Consumers Association both spread anti-vaccine propaganda and conspiracy theories in an effort to undermine American technology. Worse yet, they actively collude with one other.
Causing trouble keeps Russia relevant. It's as if nihilism and cynicism are the two guiding principles of Russia's foreign policy. And if that's not enough, as part of its global mischief-making Russia is assaulting American science and technology.
RT is Russia's propaganda outlet in the U.S. and around the world, which broadcasts "news" that advances the agenda of President Vladimir Putin. Ruskin heads U.S. Right to Know, which insists on GMO labeling as a way of scaring Americans about food safety. And USRTK gets a ton of dough from a group which is known to propagandize for RT.
The much-anticipated intelligence report, which concluded that Russia tried to influence the recent presidential election, had another startling, yet widely ignored, conclusion: The Russian government promotes anti-fracking propaganda in the United States, via its "news" network, RT.
With 140 million citizens in Russia, there's an estimated 1.5 million who have been diagnosed with HIV or AIDS. And the rate of HIV infection is rising 10 to 15 percent each year. To demonstrate just how backward Russia's public health policy is, take a look at its HIV statistics as compared to those of the United States.
The controversy surrounding the use of hydraulic fracturing fracking in the United States continues to make headlines, especially with the vote in Denton, TX to ban fracking within its borders. Well, a new anti-