Who produces vastly more energy than it needs right now? The United States. So who needs Venezuela’s oil? Basically, nobody. That cold fact, writes Ben Cahill in Barron’s, is enabling the Trump Administration to further squeeze dictator Nicolas Maduro by blockading the nation’s oil exports. For decades, other countries used oil as a weapon against the U.S. Today the tables are turned and, Cahill notes, Venezuela’s decrepit industry is the one crying out for reinvestment.

Palestinian Culture: Unique in its Own Destructive Way
Although the Palestinian Authority enjoys an array of cultural departments and programs, A.J. Caschetta in Jewish World Review finds that all of it – art, education, literature, poetry, music, education and film – is oriented to two goals: the vilification of Jews and the destruction of Israel. Caschetta notes this is in sharp contrast to Arab and Muslim traditions, which include myriad aesthetically normal cultural works. Palestinianism, Caschetta finds, is “a very sick culture”, driven by resentment and fuelled by hate.


