(Pic from Devin.com)

Seems that criticism is bad for your health in Russia as well. But while these get a lot of the headlines, more pervasive human poisoning is taking place. I'd meant to post a link to this piece at the La Russophobe blog about toxic pollution in Russia (and outside Russia as a remnant of Soviet imperialism) about a month ago and am only finally getting around to it as it slips to the bottom of my e-mail. But worth checking out as this isn't news that will get old fast. The information comes from a Blacksmith Institute report on the most polluted places on the planet. This from La Russ ...

What's even more shocking about this data than its direct impact on human life, which is catastrophic, is that not only does Russia lack any significant domestic environmental movement but it is in the process of totallly destroying its network of foreign non-governmental organizations working to correct these problems at no cost to Russia. Last week, Russia invoked its new anti-NGO statute to shut down virtually every such group within its borders. Under this action, neither Greenpeace nor Blacksmith will be able to continue gathering data in Russia, leaving Russians totally blind as this insidious killer continues to poison them, just as in Soviet times. The inevitable result is that Russia will collapse just as the USSR did.