Perhaps this explains why Michael Jackson, Nicholas Cage and Alice Cooper once owned snakes.

FORBES: celebrating the year of the snake

Perhaps this explains why he has now doubled down on Heckuva Job Geithner.

WSJ: Stephens: Is Obama Smart?

Perhaps this explains (with a few other intervening bits of history) why even today it is principally American companies that have developed and derived benefit from the Alberta tar sands.

ECONOMIST: Letters | The

Perhaps this explains the animus of the neo-cons.

ECONOMIST: Two American hawks offer a path to success

Perhaps this explains, at least in part, why 75% to 80% of adults with hearing loss do not get hearing aids, according to a recent study done by Virginia Ramachandran, a senior staff audiologist in the Division of Audiology of the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit.

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Perhaps this also explains our economic languor.

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Perhaps this reported pregnancy explains away a bit of that presumption and arrogance.

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This perhaps explains why Siena, Florence's rival in many ways, has been treated as an also-ran of art history.

ECONOMIST: Italian painting: A touch of heaven | The

This perhaps explains why Pench Tiger Reserve, 140km to the south, also vies for the title of Jungle Book territory, while Satpura National Park, 300km to the west, is a core habitat for the utterly delightful sloth bear (Baloo from the stories), with a few also found in Kanha.

BBC: Where The Jungle Book comes to life

This explains perhaps, why our strenuous attempts to recreate the times, places, and people we so nostalgically pine for usually yield such disappointing results.

FORBES: Moving People Means Moving Products

This dual and poorly-enacted heritage perhaps best explains the curiously confused aspect of our cities.

BBC: A Point of View: Staring at the Shard