Miscellany
You would never choose a car the way democracies choose policies. If your goal is the best policy, then don't vote on it. Of course, democracy is our working solution to the problem of how to peacefully transfer power. It's better to have that problem solved, despite all of the wrong ideas of the median voter. Likewise, even if the median voter can't pass the citizenship test, I'd rather let him or her vote than face street protests and much worse from the disenfranchised.
While I'm on the subject of hard problems, let me note that Saudi childrens' textbooks still teach them to hate the unbelievers.
It's always dangerous to compare apples and oranges, but for every time I hear how American health care should be more like it is in Europe, Canada, etc, I'm going to retort that it should really be more like it is in Singapore.
Marriage in the UAE (HT: Brian). The educated tend to delay marriage, and their weddings are very expensive relative to their incomes. Sound familiar?