If it's Thursday, there must be a new issue of The Economist online:

-Say what you will about the state of the Arab world today, they were still the ones who invented fire-water.

-Who says Latin is a dead language? Finnish radio broadcasts a weekly news bulletin in Latin, and the Latin version Dr. Seuss' classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas gets 5 stars on Amazon.com. Vivere lingua.

-Cost-benefit analysis don't just apply to business, they can be used to determine the optimal size of a nation too. Good news for free-traders.

-Speaking of free trade, you'd think Jenin would be the last place anyone would want to open a tech shop, but being in the West Bank allows Earth Station 5 to bypass the RIAA at will.

-Remember a while back when there were articles about how Abraham is the common link between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism? Mary may be another.