I am not one given to prognostication; I have seen too many predictions fall flat on their face. But next year, 2017, will be the anniversary of a number of major historical events concerning religion and the Mideast. That these would all converge on year is surely cause for speculation and remembrance, even if nothing comes of it. Anyone who ever took higher math knows that when waveforms are added together the result can be something altogether unexpected.  For example: the addition of certain harmonic sine waves can produce a square wave.  From smooth curves one can create catastrophic change. Of course, the concept of cycles in history is suspect; but some cycles are accepted:  the classic boom/bust cycles of economics or the cycle of tyranny to liberty to prosperity to dependence and thence again to tyranny. While history is progressing -- something the West asserts, but which is not so accepted in Eastern philosophy -- there are those who would assert...(Read Full Article)