Facts about Neo-Soviet Russia's Health:

• In the first six months of 2005, the Russian population fell by half a million [LR: And that's only the lowest possible number, the one provided by Kremlin data; the actual number is quite likely far higher]
  

• By the middle of this century Russia could lose up to half of its people, according to Russian government stats [LR: If we used actual stats rather than those provided by a government presided over by a proud KGB spy, the picture would be even more dire. The same holds true for all the data to follow.]
  

• Life expectancy for men is 56 years, the same as Bangladesh

• Ten years ago, the life expectancy for men in Russia was 63 [LR: Still much lower than in the West, and in Vladimir Putin's 8 years in office there has been no improvement]
  

• The World Health Organisation says that at a conservative estimate more than a million people will have died because of AIDS in Russia by 2020 [LR: When was the last time you heard "President" Putin mention AIDS?]
  

• Every other newborn baby is diagnosed with a disease at birth

• There are more abortions every year in Russia than babies are born

• Thanks to ill-health, 10 million Russians are infertile [LR: Think about that -- 10 million Russians can't make children, and among those who can more choose to abort than give birth. What does that tell you about the country they live in?]
  

• A quarter of the population lives below the poverty line [LR: And that's "poverty" as defined by Russians, not Westerners; in Russia, the average wage is $2.50 per hour, and the minimum wage is $0.25 per hour]
  

• Paradox #1: Despite all of the above, Moscow has more billionaires than any other city in the world [LR: The same situation as in Tsarist Russia; Russians have learned nothing from their own history or the horrors of the Bolshevik revolution]
  

• Paradox #2: Despite all of the above, although Russia's population is in freefall, they're still throwing people out. Thirty thousand Meshket Turks have recently had to seek asylum in America, having been forced from their homes in the south of the country by discriminatory laws and racist attacks. [LR: And they're still favoring their government with 70% approval ratings in polls, the ultimate proof of Russian barbarism and stupidity]
  

When I read about it, I thought it would just show a lot of poverty and not focus on any real issues about what is uniquely wrong in Russia. I was wrong. The most dramatic thing was when he went and visited the Meshket Turk people in Krasnodar. Their situation seemed exactly like black South Africans in the apartheid era. Now 30000 of them are apparently being expelled from Russia and being taken in by the USA (so the people said themselves). It is worth seeing the posts to the forum on the subject on the website. Anyway, during the filming the crew were accosted by drunken neo-facist cossack police who said they had no right to film there. They were then taken away in extreme fear to the house of the officer and given hospitality with large amounts of alcoholic drinks, after which the officer collapsed in a drunken stupor. Later at the police offices, the crew were given moonshine vodka, whipped for fun, and found a copy of one of the police officers' favorite books - Mein Kampf. They then whent to the inauguration of the same police officer as colonel, which would put him in charge of hundreds of police. Perhaps it has been shown somewhere at some time in America. It is a pity it has not been put on the You Tube.