OPEC, the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries, has decided not to cut its production from 30 million barrels of oil a day. The decision immediately put downward pressure on oil prices which have gone from about $110 a barrel to about $70 a barrel. The downward pressure has benefited consumers, but other oil producers have been substantially hurt. Those oil exporters with large populations, such as Venezuela, Indonesia, and Nigeria, have seen their oil revenues decline. The price cuts seem designed to put pressure on oil companies in the US that employ fracking processes since fracking requires prices of about $90 per barrel to be profitable. The oil price cut also harms Russia, a strong supporter of President Assad in Syria, whose government the Saudi Arabians fiercely oppose.
Greece has endured a 24-hour general strike as workers protested the continued austerity policies of the government. Those policies have been imposed by the European Union, the IMF, and the European Central Bank to bring down a large budget deficit. But unemployment rates in Greece hover around 26% as the country enters its sixth year of economic pain. This general strike is the first of several planned strikes for the future.
As many Americans eat Turkey today, we should remember that all societies have iconic dishes. The Atlantic gives a list and brief description of some national foods, some of which sound quite appetizing , while others, like snake soup, might be hard to try for the first time.
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