Turkish government has suspended visa services to U.S

U.S. Embassy in Ankara confirms

https://twitter.com/NBCNews/status/917357074857779201

Now this is some funny shit, Pence and Mother Edition

IT IS A MIRACLE.
@VP pence and Mother can take the same exact selfie 3 years apart!
Amazing SKILLS
What a fraud this guy. IT WAS A STUNT

https://twitter.com/ALT_uscis/status/917120158476488706

Settlers celebrating Columbus

while descendants of some of the very Indigenous people he slaughtered languish in Puerto Rico. Shameful.

https://twitter.com/RuthHHopkins/status/917105447601168385

Moscow warns it may restrict U.S. media in Russia

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is within its rights to restrict the operations of U.S. media organizations in Russia in retaliation for what Moscow calls U.S. pressure on a Kremlin-backed TV station, a Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman said on Sunday.

Russian officials have accused Washington of putting unwarranted pressure on the U.S. operations of RT, a Kremlin-funded broadcaster accused by some in Washington of interfering in domestic U.S. politics, which it denies.

The foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said the full weight of the U.S. authorities was being brought to bear against RT’s operations in the United States, and that Moscow had the right to respond.

“We have never used Russian law in relation to foreign correspondents as a lever of pressure, or censorship, or some kind of political influence, never,” Zakharova said in an interview with Russia’s NTV broadcaster. “But this is a particular case.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-usa-media/moscow-warns-it-may-restrict-u-s-media-in-russia-idUSKBN1CD0LB?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social

And you thought Bill Kristol‏ was showing signs of intelligence

The near-collapse of contemporary conservatism doesn't alter the foolish and illiberal character of contemporary progressivism. Bill Kristol‏

https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/917011158095319040

Tom Waddell: What does the national anthem really reflect?

I take issue with the recent Maine Compass column, “We should all respect our anthem” (Sept. 9). On the surface the article was laughable, but read a little deeper and you find the disturbing values expressed are exactly what is wrong with America. An online comment exposed the column’s disturbing values very well: “Despite references to the importance of ‘personal freedom,’ unless actions meet a certain narrow prescription, they are demonized as inadequate and the basis of many ills.”

One of those disturbing opinions is that the national anthem expresses who we are as Americans and shows our sacred respect for all who gave their lives on our battlefields to defend a democratic society.

“The Star-Spangled Banner,” written by Francis Scott Key during the War of 1812, referred to America as the “Land of the Free and Home of the Brave.”

Those are lofty sentiments, but the reality is that during the War of 1812, American slaves were doing all they could to be captured by the British. The slaves knew they were more likely to be treated fairly by the British than they were by Americans. Apparently Americans forgot to respect all the black soldiers who gave their lives on our Revolutionary War battlefields to create a democratic society in the first place.

http://www.centralmaine.com/2017/10/06/tom-waddell-everyone-should-respect-our-national-anthem/?utm_term=0_c424ccfb80-4b2b292208-23525121&utm_content=buffer430d1&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

How To Tell When Someone Else Tweets From @realDonaldTrump

Trump doesn't write all of the tweets that come out of his account. Fortunately, there are plenty of tells for when it's someone else.


SNIP

In the early days, all it took to figure out whether a tweet came from Trump himself was to peek at the source device. (You can check easily in TweetDeck.) If the tweet came from an Android phone, Trump's own fingers almost certainly tapped it out, since the rest of his staff used iPhones. After assuming the office of the presidency, though, Trump had to replace his Android with a specially designed iPhone that contains the Twitter app and little else.

In addition to almost guaranteeing our eventual total annihilation by allowing Trump's Twitter habit to continue, the device switch means we have to look for other ways to figure out when the tweets come straight from Trump. This proved particularly challenging during version one of the Trump administration, when press secretary Sean Spicer, chief of staff Reince Priebus, and alt-right interpreter Steve Bannon all had yet to be ousted. Along with advisor Kellyanne Conway, they all likely took a spin on Trump's Twitter account at some point.

Now, though, with Trump's more trusted advisors working on the outside and White House chief of staff John Kelly trying to minimize chaos, we can have relative confidence that each Trump tweet goes one of two ways: Either he wrote it, or caddy-turned-White-House-social-media director Dan Scavino did.

https://www.wired.com/story/tell-when-someone-else-tweets-from-realdonaldtrump?mbid=nl_100617_daily

Clergy tax break unconstitutional - That's 3 FFRF victories in 8 days!

A federal judge for a second time has ruled in favor of the historic challenge by the Freedom From Religion Foundation of a housing allowance in the tax code that uniquely privileges clergy.

At issue is the constitutionality of 26 U.S.C. § 107(2), a provision in the tax code that excludes from gross income a housing allowance paid to a "minister of the gospel."

Rep. Peter Mack, sponsor of the 1954 law challenged by FFRF, argued that ministers should be rewarded with a clergy allowance for "carrying on such a courageous fight against this [a godless and anti-religious world movement]." The clergy allowance is not a tax deduction but an exemption—allowing housing allowances paid as part of clergy salary to be subtracted from taxable income.

In 2013, U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb ruled in FFRF's favor in its original challenge. Crabb's finding sent "shockwaves through the religious community," according to the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, which bitterly fought the ruling, along with just about every religious denomination in the country.

https://ffrf.org/news/news-releases/item/30540-ffrf-wins-major-housing-allowance-challenge-again

People asking "is Harvey Weinstein's career over?

like Woody Allen, Roman Polanski, and Casey Affleck aren't thriving in Hollywood and Donald Trump isn't President.

https://twitter.com/jessiekaiser/status/916055581647003648

Shit for brains wants to bring back Equal Time Rules