Why, despite present conditions in the country, hasn’t Saudi Arabia faced a democratic revolution pondered Hugh Eakin. Highlights of his article include:

• Rapid population growth has meant that despite the country’s vast resources, per capita incomes have declined to a fraction of those of other Persian Gulf countries.
• Almost 75% of the population is under 30 yet they are ruled by an ageing monarch. The next in line for the throne is 76.
• There are huge economic problems in the form of high unemployment, rapid inflation, and a housing crisis in addition to social issues such as drugs and street violence.
• The country’s citizens are also well connected to social media – something that is said to have driven the Arab Spring.
• Yet the monarchy holds onto power because it gives liberties to those who desire it. Youth are encouraged to study abroad; at private beaches Saudis can wear western attire; and in walled compounds individuals are out of the reach of the religious police. All of this mitigates revolutionary passion.

Read more about the curious case of Saudi Arabia, why most things that people think they know about its history are wrong, and how two academics came to completely separate conclusions about the future of the monarchy in Saudi Arabia over here.

Source: The New York Review Of Books

Via: Marginal Revolution

We should prepare for a future where genetic warfare is a possibility writes David Axe:

• Future soldiers could be genetically modified so that they don’t feel fear or consider a retreat.
• However, Americans are generally squeamish about genetic modification. It is a feeling that other countries don’t share. Both China and Russia are likely experimenting with genetically modified soldiers.
• These techniques might filter down to terrorist groups giving them advantages that American troops don’t have.
• In the future battlefield it might also be possible to launch a weapon that alters the genetic makeup of enemy soldiers, thus rendering them more fearful, or less effective as fighters.
• Future assassins might also target the DNA of opposing political leaders, giving them forms of cancer tailored specifically to their medical profile. The American state department already collects the DNA of foreign diplomats.

Read more about this future, the man working to ensure that America isn’t left behind, and more over here.

Source: Wired

In decades past there’s not much that countries could do about a red suited intruder violating their airspace and infiltrating their houses. In the age of heat-seeking intercontinental ballistic missiles however, Santa Claus should probably think twice before entering these countries:

• In Uzbekistan Santa Claus, and, from Soviet folklore, his female sidekick, are banned. They might be able to hide behind a Christmas tree though – those are still allowed, at least on television.
• The atheist North Korea doesn’t allow the celebration of Christmas – and threatens to bomb South Korea if they celebrate it to close to its border.
• In Saudi Arabia, Father Christmas might be able to deliver presents inside Western compounds – but nowhere else.
• The Vatican was successfully able to pressure Venezuela to allow Christmas in 1998 – but Santa may want to leave Rudolph and his bright red nose at home – discretion would be wise in a country where the government still discourages “western” festivals.

Read more about each of these countries, as well as one other country where Santa isn’t welcomed over here.

Source: Foreign Policy

In western countries Christmas lights strung up both inside and outside the house are a common sight. Heidi Davis presented a brief history of the lights. Highlights include:

• People used to decorate their trees with lit candles. A bucket of water was kept on hand in case the tree ignited.
• Electric Christmas tree lights didn’t gain popularity until 1895 when American President Grover Cleveland displayed the first electronically lit White House Christmas tree.
• During World War Two the Rockefeller Centre Christmas lights remained unlit – in keeping with wartime blackout regulations of the time.

Read more about the history and present of Christmas tree lights over here.

Source: Popular Mechanics

Pawn shops are rapidly becoming popular in the United States writes Andria Cheng:

• It all began with the 2008 financial crisis when families desperate to raise cash, sold their items to pawn shops.
• However while at the stores they began to see the kinds of discounts – sometimes as high as 70% – that they offered.
• People then started to buy more items from pawn stores, including high value items such as luxury watches and diamonds that cost thousands of dollars.
• The History Channel show Pawn Stars also helped to remove the stigma associated with visiting a pawn shop.
• The stores themselves began to move to upscale neighbourhoods and built nicer looking interiors.
• The shops are also starting to build an online presence to advertise their wares.
• However as the economy continues to improve the pawn industry faces an uncertain future.

Read more about the rise of the pawn shop, some of the drawbacks of shopping from them, and the kinds of people who are now starting to buy from them over here.

Source: Market Watch

When designing their online stores, retailers are making a mistake if they focus on the mobile at the expense of the traditional desktop computer write Claire Cain Miller and Stephanie Clifford:

• More and more people are browsing the internet on their smartphones and tablets rather than the desktop computer.
• However studies indicate that people still prefer to finally purchase items through a desktop computer.
• Yet many major stores don’t sync shopping carts between devices. This means that after browsing for an item on a tablet, the consumer then has to find the same item and add it to their shopping cart again on their PC if they want to purchase it.
• This might be a temporary phenomenon as people grow more used to the mobile web. A decade ago the pattern was repeated with desktops where people were comfortable browsing for items from their computer, but would go to a physical store to purchase it.

Read more about this new type of consumer, the opportunity for increased ad revenue, and what experts have to say over here.

Source: The New York Times

Cracked presented Mind-Blowing (True) Facts About Money. Highlights include:

• The Perth Mint in Australia has created a coin with a face-value of $1 million. The 99.99% pure gold coin itself costs over $50 million to produce.
• If you drive 10 miles to buy a lottery ticket you’re 3 times more likely to die in a car accident than you are to win the jackpot.
• At its peak, one drug cartel spent $2,500 a month on rubber bands to hold its money together.
• A check is nothing more than an instruction to a bank. In the past people have written ‘checks’ on things such as cows and bananas.

Find the full list of 23 items in easy picture format over here.

Source: Cracked

The Economist visited Africa’s biggest shanty town. Some highlights of their experience:

• The slum isn’t provided power or water by the government. Into the breach has stepped the private sector which offers both.
• Most homes don’t have toilets. Instead private businesses operate public toilets, requiring you to pay for each visit. Competition is fierce.
• The slum is large and diverse enough that there is no organized crime. The markets are free of cartels, and the diversity means that no one ethnic group is able to dominate.
• It is possible to summon a spear-wielding escort by mobile phone.
• New York’s Upper East Side was once a shanty town. The bustle of commerce suggests that this area too, might one day become a great city.

The Economist ultimately concludes that it is not a hopeless place and, indeed, is a “reservoir of tomorrow’s winners”. Read the entire fascinating description of life in the shantytown over here.

Source: The Economist