Syrians Say Raqqa Free From ISIS, Bush and Obama Diss Trump, Federal Facebook Regulation Looms: A.M. Links

• 

  Asmaa Waguih/Polaris/Newscom

  Syrian forces are declaring victory over ISIS in the Syrian city of Raqqa.

• Former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama had some things to say about the Trump administration yesterday.
• Why Trump can't handle the cost of war.
• Laptops in checked bags could be a fire hazard says the Federal Aviation Administration.
• Spirit animal.
• Introducing the Federal Facebook Agency?

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Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

Spirit animal.

Mine is the mighty Harambe.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Hello.

Obama: Shut the fuck up already.

Facia culo di merda.

[Libertarian]

It's hard to miss somebody who refuses to leave.

[Memory Hole]

Yeah, it's so oppressive not sure how you two make it through the day.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Oh shut up.

[Rhywun]

I saw on the morning news he's stumping for someone in PA now. Unf'ing believable. The guy doesn't know anything else but politicking.

[Memory Hole]

It's like he's a politician or something. Crazy.

[Rhywun]

You'd think he could aspire to something more honorable. Oh well.

[Citizen X - #6]

Like an insurance salesman, or a homeless person.

[Rhywun]

I was gonna go with pawn broker but in the end I couldn't think of anything that's actually less honorable.

[Eidde]

Yeah, pawnbrokers have to be careful how they handle other people's property.

[CE]

Can't he go organize a community somewhere?
I hear crime is high in Chicago. How about working on that?

[Citizen X - #6]

Not Pepe?

[gaoxiaen]

Eat my shorts.

[Not a Libertarian]

Wait- was that an invitation for us to take it out?

Are you trying to seduce us Fist of Etiquette?

[Fist of Etiquette]

If I was trying that, I would be the one taking it out.

[Citizen X - #6]

Yeah right, like we don't know that you got it out two hours ago and it's just sitting there.

[BestUsedCarSales]

I'm sure it's at least standing there. In respect of the flag.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Picture, if you will, President Trump speaking on the phone with Colin Kaepernick's agent. "He knew what he was getting into," the president's voice barks through the speakerphone with zero deference to the agent's sobs. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is at a podium with a wad of fresh cash in her pantsuit pocket screaming at the audience that Donald Trump's election should be tossed out because of his being in the pocket of Russian interests. Next pane widens out to see she is speaking at the annual meeting of the Conglomerate of Russian Uranium Importers/Exporters. Someone in the back yells out in broken English, "In Russia, clunkers cash you!"

[Fist of Etiquette]

Introducing the Federal Facebook Agency?

You get tax credits for liking them.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Laptops in checked bags could be a fire hazard says the Federal Aviation Administration.

Which amounts to terrorism.

[Rhywun]

I couldn't make it past the WaPo's usual BS about "Russia stole muh election". Can't the drones here find a news source that isn't a complete fabrication?

[Rhywun]

Oops, this was meant for the laughably unself-aware article about Facebook.

[Cy]

They'll take your house, if there's any money to be made. Because, Fuck you! Thats why!

[colorblindkid]

Bush and Obama are as responsible for Trump being possible as anybody. I still blame 90% of it on our press and media, though.

[gaoxiaen]

Yes.

[Memory Hole]

No.

[chemjeff]

That's funny, I blame 90% of it on people who blame 90% of it on our press and media.

It's like these people expect the press and the media to be scrupulously unbiased to a fault, which it NEVER was and NEVER will be, or they expect the press and the media to only tell them news that they want to hear, and all stories which burst their narrative, no matter how truthful or well-documented, are blamed on MEDIA BIAS and FAKE NEWS.

For heaven's sake people, do your own fact-checking and your own information gathering by consulting multiple sources for your news. Don't sit there and whine when everybody isn't repeating the same narrative that Fox News or MSNBC parrot, and don't sit there and whine when people do what people do - that is, express opinions - in the course of doing their jobs.

[jcw]

Like tweets?

[colorblindkid]

I loathe both Fox News and MSNBC, and I know that most Americans are too lazy or simply too blind to actually do their own research. People who watch MSNBC do their research at HuffPo and people who watch FoxNews do their research at Breitbart. Everybody is so dishonest. The press functioned as Obama's cheerleaders for 8 years, and it directly led to Trump. It makes me so angry.

[loveconstitution1789]

Funny, it has been the media for decades that tries to push the false story that they are unbiased. Masses of People now just have realized that this is utter BS. The media quickly moves to the narrative that they are NOT unbiased and YOU are stupid for thinking they were/are.

It's classic socialist changing of meanings and narratives on the fly.

[Cy]

The new slogan...

Trump, still better than her.... barely.

[colorblindkid]

Nope. They were both equally terrible in different ways. Hillary would actually be accomplishing things right now. She would be dropping bombs and doing all these terrible things and the press wouldn't be asking questions. He cabinet members would be flying everywhere on private gets and only Fox News would care. I didn't vote for either, but at least with Trump the people are actually noticing all the fucked up things that have been going on. Unfortunately, they think most of it started with Trump.

[Number 7]

" Hillary would actually be accomplishing things right now"

that's why he's better than her... barely.

[The Last American Hero]

Bitching about obstructionist, sexist Teathuglikkkans while bemoaning the lack of civil discourse would not be "accomplishing something".

[Fist of Etiquette]

Syrian forces are declaring victory over ISIS in the Syrian city of Raqqa.

Mission accomplished.

[Cy]

So, we can leave the M.E. now? All of the brown people are free, peaceful and democratic?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama had some things to say about the Trump administration yesterday.

And so begins from different camps some shifting narratives on W.

[loveconstitution1789]

The media now loves Boosh...

He's speaking against Trump so Boosh is on the right side of history now.

The media is just so full of shitty people who have zero standards.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Why Trump can't handle the cost of war.

They all learn to.

[Rhywun]

Shorter Atlantic (and lord knows they need it):

"Trump is a meanie."

[Chinny Chin Chin]

Good lord. That article says Trump "brutally" shaved Vince McMahon's head on a wrestling telecast.

[Crusty Juggler]

First Evidence That Online Dating Is Changing the Nature of Society

Summary: online dating results in a more interracial marriages and stronger relationships.

IT'S MADNESS!

[Citizen X - #6]

Free Society hardest hit.

[Cy]

Churches seeing record amounts of young people suddenly not showing up anymore.

[Bee Tagger]

Why Trump can't handle the cost of war.

Spoiler alert, the truth was the cost of war the whole time.

[Bee Tagger]

Former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama had some things to say about the Trump administration yesterday.

Nothing excites people more than former presidents teaming up on things.

[Citizen X - #6]

BUCS has nearly 800 gigabytes of pornographic videos proving just that.

[BestUsedCarSales]

800 GBs seems low considering how cheap memory is these days. Plus, my UHD copies of Barack and a Hard Place and Clintoral Stimulation are at least 100 GB each.

[Crusty Juggler]

Especially when they are surfing, playing beach football at night, and robbing banks.

[Memory Hole]

Well played.

[Crusty Juggler]

Speak into the microphone, squid-brain!

[Cy]

I... am and FBI Agent!

It's not nearly as much fun when I type as when it plays in my head.

[Crusty Juggler]

How Video Games Satisfy Basic Human Needs

In a 2012 study, titled "The Ideal Self at Play: The Appeal of Video Games That Let You Be All You Can Be," a team of five psychologists more closely examined the way in which players experiment with "type" in video games. They found that video games that allowed players to play out their "ideal selves" (embodying roles that allow them to be, for example, braver, fairer, more generous, or more glorious) were not only the most intrinsically rewarding, but also had the greatest influence on our emotions. "Humans are drawn to video and computer games because such games provide players with access to ideal aspects of themselves," the authors concluded. Video games are at their most alluring, in other words, when they allow a person to close the distance between how they are, and how they wish to be."

[Crusty Juggler]

"It's the very reason that people play online RPGs," Bartle said. "In this world we are subject to all kinds of pressures to behave in a certain way and think a certain way and interact a certain way. In video games, those pressures aren't there." In video games, we are free to be who we really are?or at least find out who we really are if we don't already know. "Self-actualization is there at the top of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, and it's what many games deliver," Bartle added. "That's all people ever truly want: to be."

The downside: GamerGate led to the rise of the alt right.

[$park? leftist poser]

Plus video games aren't as nerdy as Dungeons and Dragons.

[Rat on a train]

I really am an attack helicopter!

[HazelMeade]

I initially read that as "The Ideal of Self Play", which, come to think of it, would have been more accurate.

[Citizen X - #6]

Former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama had some things to say about the Trump administration yesterday.

I barely care what the current president has to say. What's so great about these douchebags?

[Rhywun]

They validate what CNN readers knew all along about Trump being a poopy-head.

[loveconstitution1789]

To be fair, ex-presidents Boosh and Obama are super shitty and deserve to be ranked near the bottom of all presidents. A bunch of their horrible agendas items are being rolled back.

LEGACY!!!!!

[Fist of Etiquette]

We're sad to announce that a few weeks into training, Lulu began to show signs that she wasn't interested in detecting explosive odors.
? CIA (@CIA) October 18, 2017

She was renamed Traitor.

[Bee Tagger]

An NFL team should sign her to retrieve the kicking tee after kickoff.

[Rufus The Monocled]

They should offer that job to Kaepernick.

[Mickey Rat]

"Screw that, that stuff's dangerous!"

[Fist of Etiquette]

In my experience, if it's not food Labs aren't interested.

[Bee Tagger]

But becoming a canine Carrie Mathison involved more mundane study, like peering into metal canisters and exploring concrete blocks.

So desperate to make a reference to an extremely relevant and trending tv show like Homeland that they skipped over the part where the comparison should make sense. Unless Carrie has joined the bomb detection unit in the highly-watched last season or two.

[Rhywun]

So that wasn't a Sex in the City reference?

[Crusty Juggler]

The dog is bi-polar and cries a lot.

[Crusty Juggler]

The Gross Political Exploitation of Women's Pain

Truly caring about women as more than means to political ends means unilaterally condemning sexual assault no matter who is doing it and who they're doing it to. It means that Nassar, as close to Harvey Weinstein as U.S. Women's gymnastics has, should be a part of the discussion moving forward, as big a part as Ailes, as big a part as the next industry's heretofore hidden monster. Focusing on anything but the women affected is worse than useless.

Worse than useless, much like entertainment media's self respect.

[lap83]

I only care about the women affected by sexual assault, which is why I feel the need to point out that the wrong people are trying to share my righteous indignation

[Crusty Juggler]

You're a terrible person.

[lap83]

Are you sure you didn't mean to reply to my awful pun below? Either way, I understand.

[Crusty Juggler]

I respect wordplay.

[Chinny Chin Chin]

FTA: And now, everybody from MSNBC to CNN to USAToday agrees: somebody should do something.

Well, golly, that is everybody, isn't it?

[Eidde]

How about repealing some more parts of the Bill of Rights? That should heal everyone's pain. Well, the pain of everyone important.

[Bee Tagger]

Former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama had some things to say about the Trump administration yesterday.

Either of them bring up all of the extra power they added to the executive branch now being wielded by the person they're concerned about or nah?

[loveconstitution1789]

Keep on topic please. They are trying to say Trump is bad which the media likes.

Never mind that their 8year presidencies are bottom tier of all presidents. These two are barely above FDR, LBJ, Wilson, Clinton, Truman, Lincoln.

[Crusty Juggler]

Who is Ant Smith? The Small Penis Bible author once called the bravest man in Britain for talking about his micro penis

What campaign is Ant Smith involved in?

Ant has been hired by blood-testing company Thriva to front a campaign telling people: "There's nothing wrong with a little prick".

The world's first preventative health service wants people to conduct blood tests from home to keep a track on their health.

The 50-year-old said: "While playful, it's a serious message, we will all be better off if we properly monitor what's happening inside our bodies that we perhaps can't see in the mirror.

"It's something some people are scared of addressing, even if all it takes is a small prick."

Hero.

[Citizen X - #6]

Micro penis? So, like, less than 8 inches long?

[Old Mexican's Speedos]

Braggart.

[Memory Hole]

It's one of those stretched out with rocks tribal dicks.

[Cy]

So... like a twig with and apple, not a baby's arm?

[loveconstitution1789]

That's some micro-aggression!

[guy who doesn't care]

"Former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama had some things to say about the Trump administration yesterday."

don't care

[Citizen X - #6]

This guy gets it.

[Holmes IV]

Of all the things you respond to you couldn't "not care" about the dog that doesn't care? Come on, golden opportunity there....

[lap83]

He screwed the pooch

[Chinny Chin Chin]

"Taxpayer money" is a dangerous myth

... in part because the government issues the dollar bills. Therefore they're not your dollar bills.

Seriously.

[Crusty Juggler]

You Citizen X'ed that link.

[Citizen X - #6]

He made the link almost unbearably awesome?

[Chinny Chin Chin]

D'oh

maybe this works...

[Rhywun]

TW: Gawker

*flees*

[Zeb]

Calling public money "taxpayer money" implicitly affirms that taxation is theft

Well, it is. Or maybe extortion.

[Crusty Juggler]

Twitter Fights Are Killing America

After noticing another regular had "the worst toupee in the world, a comical little wig taped in place on the top of his head," the notion of the Soul Toupee was born:

Each of us has a Soul Toupee. The Soul Toupee is that thing about ourselves we are most deeply embarrassed by and like to think we have cunningly concealed from the world, but which is, in fact, pitifully obvious to everybody who knows us. Contemplating one's Soul Toupee is not an exercise for the fainthearted. Most of the time other people don't even get why our Soul Toupee is any big deal or a cause of such evident deep shame to us but they can tell that it is because of our inept, transparent efforts to cover it up, which only calls more attention to it and to our self-consciousness about it, and so they gently pretend not to notice it. Meanwhile we're standing there with our little rigid spongelike square of hair pasted on our heads thinking: 'Heh?got 'em all fooled!"

.

[Crusty Juggler]

Most twidiots in their Soul Toupees aren't fooling anyone. If their Twitter accounts were hairpieces, they'd come with chinstraps and tags flapping out the back. Their volatility and unyielding self-righteousness are transparent covers for their insecurity and overcompensation?for their ceaseless hunger to be heard, even when they have nothing to say.

My Soul Toupee is that no matter how daft I try to be I can't hide my brilliance

[Citizen X - #6]

Your Soul Toupee is an actual "spiritual hairpiece" that you paid $550 for on eBay but can't figure out how you're supposed to wear it.

[Idle Hands]

What is the actual percentage of people on twitter that are not journalists, politcos, entertainers or russian bots? I'm guessing it's not many so, it really can't be destroying the country if noone actually uses it.

[Crusty Juggler]

Long County teacher arrested, charged with sexual assault

Long County Sheriff Craig Nobles said in a statement Kayla Camille Berrie, a teacher assigned to Long County High School was arrested Wednesday morning, Oct. 18, and charged with sexual assault of a student.

The arrest came after a four-month investigation of the alleged assault.

4 months.

[creech]

Times have sure changed. I came across an old news article (1950s) about my great aunt and uncle being robbed at gunpoint. This happened in December. The robbers were caught in another state, extradited to the state where the crime took place, tried and sentenced to prison by February of the following year. Today, we read about crimes taking place in 2015 where the alleged criminal is still walking around on bail because the investigation and trial are still on-going.

[loveconstitution1789]

One thing is police tend to arrest people before a full investigation is complete. That and people rarely ask for or get speedy trials.

In the past bail used to be more reasonable, so it is surprising when defendants facing multiple felonies are out pending trial. They want to enjoy freedom as long as possible before the system crushes them with sentences that fuel the Prison Industrial Complex.

[Old Mexican's Speedos]

Laptops in checked bags could be a fire hazard says the Federal Aviation Administration.

That's just unpatriotic talk. We all know that, in order to defeat 'da terrurists', we must follow the TSA's guidelines and put our precious laptops in our checked bags to serve as tokens of good will towards the children of TSA inspectors who so need new laptops for school!

Oh, and jewelry. And golf clubs.

[Zeb]

I thought the TSA didn't want laptops in checked bags.

[Crusty Juggler]

Syrian forces are declaring victory over ISIS in the Syrian city of Raqqa.

It's time for a new Marshall Plan.

[Citizen X - #6]

One of the least questioned dualities in modern human thought is the assumption that the works of Man are clearly delineated from the phenomena of Nature. Nature, however, most assuredly cannot tell the difference.

[Crusty Juggler]

"In the woods you see things, but I've never seen anything like that," he said. He sent his nature-loving mother graphic photos and video of the eagle's feast.

"She said, 'You could have warned me,'" he said. "But it's no different from what you'd see on the Science Channel or National Geographic. That's nature."

That guy is a serial killer, right?

[Citizen X - #6]

He teaches at Norview High School, so probably.

[Rebel Scum]

Former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama had some things to say about the Trump administration yesterday.

Barry needs to have some decency and go away. Bush had been decent having gone away, but now he returns because Trumphitler or something. I suppose leftists will like Bush now even though he is formerly literally figuratively Hitler.

[Domestic Dissident]

Gotta love how all the shameless Obamatards in the media are now telling us that gee, maybe George W. Bush really wasn't so bad after all.

[Mickey Rat]

Every Republican President is the most uncivil, dangerous irrational person to hold the office, until the next GOP president, when the Democrats hail them as statesmen they could work with, unlike the current jerk.

[lap83]

The FAA has conducted 10 tests involving a fully-charged laptop packed in a suitcase. A heater was placed against the laptop's battery to force it into "thermal runaway," a condition in which the battery's temperature continually rises.

serious question, are checked bags regularly placed next to heat sources?

[Citizen X - #6]

Considering that baggage handlers actually refer to themselves as "throwers," it is likely.

[Rhywun]

In fact, New York State's requirements are stricter than any other state's in the nation. We understand that the mayor's taxi industry donors don't like it, but it is the future and all states are exploring it.

Meow!

The only silver lining to being ruled over by Cuomo and Deblasio is the years-long cat-fight they've been having.

Oh, the article doesn't mention the pay-to-play donations GM gave to Cuomo to get this off the ground (surprise!).

[Crusty Juggler]

"We trust the DMV when it comes to renewing licenses," a de Blasio spokesperson said. "We trust the NYPD when it comes to keeping our streets safe."

My God.

[This Machine Chips Fascists]

Smooches all around.

[Crusty Juggler]

For those of you who listened to the Fifth Column last week, that shitty media men thing they were talking about scored a hit.

[Citizen X - #6]

People with power - and control of some part of the narrative via media influence most certainly counts - are predatory assholes. In equally surprising news, the sun rose this morning.

[Zeb]

I'm sure many are, but this list is anonymously sourced and unverified. So he could just be the victim of someone with a grudge, or just a troll.

[Sevo]

"Jacinda Ardern to become New Zealand Prime Minister"
http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/19/.....index.html

One source compares her to Trudeau; just what they need!

[Not a Libertarian]

There still is something to be said for even a social-liberal like Trudeau than for a socialist like Ardern, isn't there?

And even if I am misidentifying Ardern and she is more of a social democrat (yes I understand this is splitting hairs from a libertarian vantage point) but her ministry is in coalition with the New Zealand Greens and a nationalist and rather economically interventionist party in New Zealand First.

[Sevo]

"Former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama had some things to say about the Trump administration yesterday."

Bush's comments in the link regarding 'conspiracy theories' are interesting; AP has him rambling on about 'Russian meddling' in the election.
It's interesting how much favor he's gained among the press that couldn't stand him a week ago.

[Not a Libertarian]

O Ye Canadians:

I tend to pay only irregular attention to Canadian politics, if I tend to be more informed about Canada than your average American. And we Americans should thank the Good Lord that we have such a stable neighbor to the North- that we can ignore you most of the time. 🙂

But I happened to to be curious as to the current polling and had a look at the wiki polling page for the next election

I was quite surprised.

I had no idea that the Tories were any where near level pegging with the Liberals.

What's going on with everyone's imaginary boyfriend Trudeau?

[BestUsedCarSales]

On the drive to work today, which took about 25 minutes, I intermittently listened to the local talk radio station. The entire 25 minutes they talked about what Trump said to that Widow of the Niger soldiers. 25 minutes. At no point did they, as far as I could hear, ask any questions about, or even consider, why we have soldiers in Niger. They did kind of agree that it's just Trump's usual lack of rhetorical grace, but the underlying point that this got a full car ride of conversation this late into the game blows my mind.

[loveconstitution1789]

I have only seen once the passing mention of the fact that CENTCOM is planning on building a second drone base. This one costing $100 million.

Part of me thinks Trump has not fully checked out what the military is actually doing and he is depending on his generals too much for stuff like this.

[imo]

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