Just imagine winning a prize of hundreds of millions of dollars with the only investment being a tiny piece of paper no larger than a book of stamps. This prospect of winning great wealth for just a few bucks, as pathetically remote as it is, often results in a frenzy of activity when the lottery shoots up—a frenzy that fuels itself. Especially huge numbers, such as the 2012 lottery of $640,000,000, grab headlines as wishful thinkers endure lines to purchase tickets hoping to get in on “The Poor Man’s Tax,” no matter the infinitesimal odds of winning.

Recently, a radical Muslim preacher told thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters in Egypt, “We can see how the dream of the Islamic caliphate is being realized, God willing, by Dr. Mohamed Mursi [the movement’s presidential candidate]... The capital of the caliphate—the capital of the United States of the Arabs—will be Jerusalem, God willing… Our capital shall not be in Cairo, Mecca or Medina… Yes, Jerusalem is our goal. We shall pray in Jerusalem, or die as martyrs on its threshold.”

In the days before modern mass communications, it was the church building or the schoolhouse where most would go to find out the news of what was happening in their communities. News from farther away would come when travelers passed through. It took time for news to travel, so most people were either out of date or entirely ignorant of what was going on in the rest of the world.

One way we learn is by imitating someone. Children, especially, are imitators. But adults also learn by imitating others, particularly those they admire. Who do you imitate?

The mounting debt crisis in Greece is again prompting talk that Greece will or should depart from the Eurozone!  Respected columnist Roger Bootle writes in London’s Telegraph newspaper that Greece’s departure from the Eurozone and its return to the drachma may be the only way for Greece to recover from its insurmountable debt.  Returning to the drachma will allow it to print enough money to continue functioning.  European and U.S.