World Views

According to the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), each year some 700 Palestinian children are arrested, detained, interrogated, and prosecuted by a military court system that allows physical abuse of these young people. Currently, there are about 300 Palestinian children (ages 12 to 17) being held in Israeli jails and prisons. One of them is Ahed Tamimi.

The leadership might bicker and fume at North Korea’s dictator Kim Jong-un, but it’s a smokescreen. By warring with North Korea, there is no takeaway as grand a prize as winning a mother lode of black gold—Oil. The real prize is Iran. The oil surplus in the Middle East remains the highest in regional crude oil, and that increased further in 2016. And it might be noteworthy that the world oil demand grew by 1.7%, which was less than 2015 when oil prices fell dramatically and the increased demand was only 2.2%. The United States, though, continues to be the world’s largest consumer of oil. And this is no small fact.  Based on current data, there is an indication that China is on the ascent in oil consumption, but for the time being, this nation is years away from achieving the U.S consumption rate.