It’s Saturday, so that means another batch of links. No special theme today, just odds and ends. There is a sizable section of links related to terrorism, ISIS, etc. though.
Technology
* [Facebook is making your breakup a lot easier](http://nypost.com/2015/11/19/facebook-is-making-your-breakup-a-lot-easier/?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPFacebook&utm_medium=SocialFlow) -- New Facebook features make managing interactions with your exes a little less painful.
Video Games
* [Steam's Autumn and Holiday sales will ditch daily deals and flash sales](http://www.pcgamer.com/steams-autumn-and-winter-sales-will-ditch-daily-deals-and-flash-sales/?utm_content=bufferdfa83&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=buffer_pcgfb) -- I imagine this will make Steam sales both more manageable and less popular.
* [Analysis: Kotaku, blacklisting, and the independence of the gaming press](http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/11/analysis-kotaku-blacklisting-and-the-independence-of-the-gaming-press/) -- On the heels of Kotaku announcing that Bethesda and Ubisoft had both blacklisted the popular gaming news site, Ars Technica offers some commentary on why the relationship between game developers/publishers and the gaming press is so dysfunctional.
* [Why the Steam Controller is a miracle controller but you shouldn't buy one just yet](http://www.inquisitr.com/2566856/why-the-steam-controller-is-a-miracle-controller-but-you-shouldnt-buy-one-just-yet/) -- Basically, early adopters don't get the best version of a product. (I got one anyway. It's cool.)
Politics
* [How America's child support system failed to keep up with the times](http://www.npr.org/2015/11/19/456632896/how-u-s-parents-racked-up-113-billion-in-child-support-debt) -- Our child support system was built in a different era, and by the time welfare reform was passed in the 1990s, such reform had become necessary due to changing economic circumstances and family structures. But the reforms themselves only created new problems, and the system has worked poorly ever since. Over $100 billion in unpaid child support now exists in the US, with little effort being put toward addressing the issues that resulted in this situation.
* [Who is the man behind Ben Carson's foreign policy?](http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/11/10/who-is-the-man-behind-ben-carsons-foreign-policy-robert-dees-gop-republican/) -- A real crank, it turns out.
Food and Food Culture
* [Guy Fieri is sick of Anthony Bourdain constantly talking shit](http://dlisted.com/2015/11/18/guy-fieri-is-sick-of-anthony-bourdains-constantly-talking-shit/#.Vk4hFOiHjUE.facebook) -- I don't usually care about celebrity feuds but Guy Fieri is a ridiculous person.
* [Norm MacDonald takes over for Darrell Hammond as KFC's Colonel Sanders](http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/eats/norm-macdonald-takes-kfc-colonel-sanders-article-1.2329354) -- But Norm MacDonald sucks!
* [How snobbery helped take the spice out of European cooking](http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/03/26/394339284/how-snobbery-helped-take-the-spice-out-of-european-cooking) -- Once spices became cheap, they could be used by everyone, which meant spices were no longer cool and edgy among the upper class. This radically transformed European food culture.
Crime and Punishment
* [Jared Fogle sentenced to 15 years, says it's all Subway's fault](http://www.avclub.com/article/jared-fogle-sentenced-15-years-says-its-all-subway-228656) -- The former Subway spokesman is going away for a lot longer than he thought, and his lawyer bizarrely blamed Fogle's sexual predation on his tremendous weight loss.
Social Justice
* [Transgender girl says she is rejected by straight guys for "having male parts"](http://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/transgender-girl-says-rejected-straight-6857022) -- Pretty much what the title says, although things do get better later in the article.
* [On Gawker's problem with women](https://medium.com/matter/on-gawker-s-problem-with-women-f1197d8c1a4e#.rraa0wjw6) -- A lengthy piece examining how one of the leaders in online journalism--progressive and cutting edge as it is--nevertheless has tremendous problems with treating women equitably, placing them in positions for which they are qualified, and paying them as much as their male peers. This is a society-wide problem.
* [CNN's Don Lemon on criticism from liberals: I'm not an activist, I'm a journalist](http://www.mediaite.com/online/cnns-don-lemon-on-criticism-from-liberals-im-not-an-activist-im-a-journalist/) -- Because reporting only part of the real story is how you show you're objective!
Psychology
* [It doesn't matter if you turned out fine](https://taikonenfea.wordpress.com/2015/11/12/it-doesnt-matter-if-you-turned-out-fine/) -- A critique of perhaps the most common defense of corporal punishment.
Terrorism, Radicalism, ISIS, War, and Islam
* [Paris is a city. Beirut is a "war zone." Why the way we talk about those places matters.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/11/17/beirut-is-no-more-of-a-war-zone-than-paris-is-stop-talking-about-it-that-way/?hpid=hp_regional-hp-cards_no-name%3Ahomepage%2Fcard) -- Few Americans probably realize that Lebanon is largely a peaceful, diverse, well-developed country, and that the violence they have recently suffered is no more routine or everyday than the 11/13 attacks in Paris were.
* [With no hunger for the real](http://www.metafilter.com/154862/With-no-hunger-for-the-real) -- A roundup of posts about David Shields' new book, _War Is Beautiful_, which examines how the New York _Times_ promotes and endorses America's wars by splashing beautiful, breathtaking photos of war carnage and its aftermath on the front page.
* [Obama's overlooked challenge to Muslims](http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2015/11/obamas-muslims-paris-attacks/416721/) -- Some reporting and commentary on statements of Obama's that haven't generally been noticed. His understanding of the growth of Islamic terror is more nuanced and sophisticated than his critics give him credit for.
* [Muslims defend Islam from being hijacked by ISIS](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/20/world/europe/muslims-defend-islam-from-being-hijacked-by-isis.html?_r=1) -- Two things here: one, it is absurd that Muslims are expected to apologize for the actions of a fringe; two, they are apologizing _anyway_, and while it has gotten more coverage this time than usual, there actually is an outpouring of apologies and support virtually every time there is a terrorist attack linked to jihadists.
* [Fox contributor's safety guide for terrorism: put bacon in hollow point bullets](http://mediamatters.org/blog/2015/11/18/fox-contributors-safety-guide-for-terrorism-put/206958) -- You just can't make this stuff up.
* [The terror strategist: secret files reveal the structure of Islamic State](http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/islamic-state-files-show-structure-of-islamist-terror-group-a-1029274.html) -- Interesting background information on ISIS.
* [Confessions of an ISIS spy](http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/11/15/confessions-of-an-isis-spy.html) -- Even more details about ISIS and its members.
* [Salon owner arrested for bigoted Facebook posts after Paris attacks](http://www.refinery29.com/2015/11/97710/beauty-salon-owner-arrested-racist-facebook-posts?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=post&unique_id=entry_97710) -- In the UK, at least, you can't publicly say you won't serve Muslims in your business. D'oh! Think before you post, bigots.
* [Map: every state accepting and refusing Syrian refugees](http://www.newsweek.com/where-every-state-stands-accepting-or-refusing-syrian-refugees-395050) -- Never mind that governors cannot actually keep refugees out, it is appalling that so many would state publicly they don't want any. This is in sharp contrast to how refugees are being treated in much of Europe.
* [Identifying barriers to Muslim integration in France](http://www.pnas.org/content/107/52/22384.full) -- An in-depth paper on the challenges faced by France and Muslims _in_ France in terms of integrating and socializing.
* [Families mourn victims of Beirut suicide bombings](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/13/lebanon-families-mourn-victims-beirut-bombings) -- Sad story all around. :(
Photo by Ahmad Moose 