BEIRUT (AP) — The Islamic State group has dramatically expanded its theatre of operations from its hub in Syria and Iraq, executing or inspiring a series of attacks across three continents that claimed more than 800 lives this year.
The mayhem created by those attacks — including the downing of a Russian airliner and a killing spree in the heart of Paris — attracts the kind of attention that the extremist group thrives on.
Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has proposed that we consider getting the dollar back on the gold standard, which puts him outside the "mainstream" of contemporary economics. (What's a mainstream again? I can't quite say. Are there mainstreams without tributaries, in watersheds for example? Weird metaphor.)
