Garcia Marquez about Wisdom

"But if they had learned anything together, it was that wisdom comes to us when it can no longer do any good." (Garcia Marquez in Love in the Time of Cholera, 1985)

Mother Teresa

I wondered whether todays' youth get to know about Mother Teresa? I have not heard anybody or the news talk about her in ages. She died in 1997, leaving a massive legacy in form of her Charity established to continue to help the poor, suffering and children throughout the world. Shewas awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979.

(Picture: nobelprize.org)

Russia and Vodka

Russia and vodka seem to belong together like hen and egg. Since the times of Peter the Great, Russians have been known to be heavy, but jolly drinkers. Tsar Peter the Great was said to have even encouraged his fellows and subjects to drink more than they could handle as to boost their resilience towards alcohol. Stupid, roar male affectation if you ask me.
Recently though, Russia's vodka consumption as well as population decline have been resounding throughout the lands again. After Gorbachev's unsuccessful attempt to restrict alcohol uptake in 1985, Medvedev has resumed the anti-alcohol campaign in order to stop the shrinking of the Russian population, alcohol is believed to contribute to. According to a report in The Lancet medical journal in June 2009, the average male life expectancy is just over 60. On top, alcohol-related diseases caused more than half of all deaths of Russians aged 15 to 54 in the 1990s. Everybody thinks Russian men just drink themselves to death.

He has urged the government to pass new laws to regulate the sale of alcopops, vodka and beer. Currently, Russians are said to consume about 18 litres (32 pints) of pure alcohol per capita per year, which is more than double the maximum, recommended by the World Health Organisation. What's more, Medvedev wants a minimum price for a bottle and strong government control over the production of any alcohol.

One big supporter stands to his side, the Russian Orthodox Church, whose deputy head Georgy Roshchin expressed willingness and determination to take part and implement the new strategies.