Many of America's largest public corporations recently made a commitment in principle to their "stakeholders," which included working with their communities and "protect[ing] the environment by embracing sustainable practices." Leaders of 181 of the 193 member companies of the prominent Business Roundtable promised to "deliver value."

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Every so often, we scientists encounter something that is so misguided, so wrong-headed, so perfectly idiotic it takes our breath away. It offends us. Such an example is a docudrama film called "Modified." Disguised as a tender, sentimental story of a Canadian woman learning over many years from her mother the value of home-grown, homemade food—a sort of culinary version of "Anne of Green Gables"—it is nothing more than an anti-social screed providing fodder for the anti-science, anti-corporate echo-chamber that relentlessly attacks agricultural biotechnology, the application of modern genetic engineering to agriculture.

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Influenza — the flu — is more than a bad cold. Seasonal outbreaks mean not only misery but increased hospital admissions and deaths. The last flu season, from October 2018 until May 2019, caused up to 42.9 million illnesses, up to 647,000 hospitalizations and up to 61,200 deaths, according to preliminary numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those figures are slightly higher than the average over the last decade.

What can we expect this year? Australia's flu season, which runs ahead of ours (May to October), is often a good predictor. Its onset this year was early and there was a higher than average number of cases. The U.S. should prepare for a robust flu season, starting this month.

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First the good news: You no longer need to worry about mortgages, student debt, career advancement, or saving for retirement. Depending on the brand of snake oil being peddled by different environmental activists, we're headed for a "climate apocalypse" in 10, 13, or 20 years.

It is undeniable that the United States cannot control the 84 percent of energy usage that occurs outside our country. Looking at trends in coal (which accounts for about 38 percent of fuels used worldwide), led by India and China, eight countries are constructing almost 1,900 coal-fired electricity plants. Including coal plants in the developing world, these new plants will bring the total outside the United States to well more than 5,000.

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There's an old joke about the drunk who's hunting for his lost keys under the streetlamp, not because he thinks they're there, but because the light is good. Well, that's what federal and state officials are doing to address two recent major public health threats: opioid overdoses and vaping-related illnesses.

While creating the illusion that they're "doing something" positive, policymakers and elected officials are looking for solutions in the wrong places. And not unwittingly, either.

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