Who is Vladimir Putin? – BBC News

When it comes to historical happenings, whodunit; what was done; where it was done; when it was done; and usually how it was done tend to be for the most part straight forward. In fact there usually tends to be a lot of emphasis placed on the who, what, where, when and how things were done or accomplished instead of ‘why’ things were done or accomplished that way, yet it’s the ‘why’ question that’s usually the most interesting – and also the hardest to address. Here are a tiny few of multi-dozens of possible examples that explore some anomalous ‘why’ facets within the historical record.

In this age of high-tech medical intervention, a natural death is fast becoming a thing of the past. Today, four out of five deaths in the U.S. involve some form of life-shortening measure.

Not all people between the ages of 20 and 29 are “20-somethings.” This label describes a certain set of characteristics that apply to a certain type of person in this age range. What causes the development of these characteristics is what we will look at here…

There have been many books and essays written over the control of human populations, so what I am about to say is no secret or silly “Illuminati Conspiracy Theory” – it’s just the way things are, and so no one ought to be too surprised. Some might say humans are lazy by nature, or perhaps like any other species on this planet their genes are predisposition to conserve energy, thus the whole organism works to do maximize efficiency. So, of course, this is what humans do.

What determines our lives on Earth is a difficult, if not impossible, question. Are the causes totally random, or is there a pre-determined pathway for each of us, or does each life-path lie between these two extremes? If in between, as seems to be most probable in terms of experience, what are the determinants, how do they operate, and what are the implications?

On the day that was proclaimed by the United Nations for the Eradication of violence against women, even in developing countries the situation continues to be tragic. In particular in South Africa where there is still a male subculture that justifies the brutal abuses: many, for example, believe that having intercourse with virgins can cure and prevent AIDS or that rape can bring homosexuals back to “normality”.

According to some stupid people who love to make stuff up, the end of time is coming in December 2012. They are assuming this because the Mayan Calendar runs out this year. Since the calendar runs out, it must mean the Mayans knew something we don’t and have accurately predicted the end of the world.

Scientists, with just cause, look for mechanistic, even reductionist, explanations for human behaviour and major events of human lives, both individual and collective. Yet, the totality of human experiences suggest the impact of unknown, unidentifiable forces. The concept of personal destiny espoused by the author seeks to offer a tentative, yet plausible, explanation.

According to the wisdom of the ages “it takes a village to raise a child.” That adage was honored from prehistoric tribal societies to ethnic immigrant communities in the US in the 20th century. After WWII a national labor market tempted nuclear families to move away from the village to follow father’s career opportunities. Spurred on by a media-induced consumerism, housewives began entering the labor force to supplement father’s income. Then the media fostered a model woman who delayed marriage and child bearing until her career was established. As the media moved women from being housewives and dumb blonds to self-reliant professionals, men were moved from dedicated breadwinners to beer drinking, NFL addicted, couch-potato buffoons. Divorce and single motherhood lost their stigma–closed in on becoming the norm. To maintain the interest of its viewers, and thus its advertisers, the media continued to destroy the models it had created. The village role of raising children was ultimately reduced to a single woman–who had herself artificially inseminated for a passionless conception.

In my 8 years in the Land of the Dragon, I have seen for myself the quality of care for the Chinese. As a teacher back in Shanghai, I used to go to the community hospital (the equivalent of a polyclinic in Singapore) in my town for primary care, and will go to the city hospitals for more serious stuff. My children went to the local pediatric hospital in the city when they need medical attention.

For those who seek to understand what shaped their lives, the confluence of nature and nurture is inadequate. After adding chance circumstances, in many instances, there may yet remain gaps in the posited explanations. Add an on-going intangible entity called a soul, stir in reincarnation together with the principle of cause and effect, and a plausible explanation named destiny may result.

While colonialism cannot ever be acceptable to free men and women, once freedom has been attained, it is opportune to see if any benefits might have flowed from the experience. Since absolute freedom is unattainable (for obvious reasons), there may be lessons available to reach a balance with the current imperatives of the neo-colonialism of the West.