Politics

Once every four years my social media feed goes bananas; hundreds of colleagues in my native USA promise that the upcoming election will the most important moment in history, the last chance to fulfill our promise as leaders of the planet or save ourselves from sliding into totalitarian darkness. This time around I know people who have supported Trump, Rubio, Paul, Cruz, Carson, Clinton, Sanders, and Stein, with every fan base seeing themselves as hobbits standing up to Sauron.

Used to be that the Republican coalition was made up of free marketers, libertarians, social and religious conservatives, and national security hawks. Their commonalities, versus the Democratic Party’s coalition, made it possible for them to elide their differences. Besides, when it got right down to it, most religious and social conservatives (wrongly) didn’t see any particular threat to their values from capitalism.

In the wake of the Brussels attacks, European ministers are reportedly preparing to push through new legislation giving security agencies direct access to telecommunications and other online data. EU ministers are gathering in Brussels to discuss ‘policy’ in a push to combat terrorism.

In a new video, the group Anonymous has threatened ISIS again. It comes in response to the claim made by terror group saying it was responsible for the recent terror attacks in Belgium: “Our freedom is once again under attack,” said a computerized voice in the latest video.

Syrian armed forces have entered Palmyra after fierce clashes with ISIS terrorists who have been controlling the ancient city since last year, state TV has announced. They said that government troops, backed by army air power, drove back ISIS militants and reached the heart of the city. The advance comes after the Syrian army and allied militia took control of several hills overlooking the city earlier this week. Press TV reports: Army forces have retaken control of Palmyra’s northern hotel district as well as the farms situated west of the city.