These new sanctions are likely counter productive. The fact that Putin and cronies can steal whatever they need means only targeted sanctions are likely to hurt him personally. The new sanctions will also hurt European allies by complicating their energy policies making them less likely to assist the US in the…

I don't either, but the one thing that does give me pause is that I can't imagine given his background and the fact that he already had a pretty nice gig Kelly would have taken the CoS job unless he believed he would have the authority he needs.

Well if the Reince Priebus experience has taught us anything, it is that the federal government is simply too large to large to handle without a strong White House Chief of Staff. I know I have covered this in the past, but Trump's initial plan (to the extent that he had one) appears to have been to have the Chief of…

Just thought I'd point out that right now the Critic Consensus on RT for The Emoji Movie (which is at 0%) reads simply

The A.V. Club

It finally happened; after five years someone finally beat Katie Ledecky this afternoon.

Yep. I remember reading a roundtable discussion with some experts on the subject and one noted that, ironically, the NFL could probably reduce concussions by going back to the old leather helmets and banning shoulder pads because that might force players to quit leading with their heads and hit less hard.

the NFL has finally started to work in recent years to combat the dangers of repeated head trauma (and the bad press they bring with them), upping requirements for protective equipment for players

"Except neither alternative is definitively worse than the other."

Douche vs. Turd Sandwich episode was the last straw for me; they actually tried to claim, in 2004, that both candidates were just as bad…

Also today, the swimming portion of the World Aquatics Championships begins! While the games, which are being held in Budapest, have lost small amount of luster because of Hungary's wise decision to drop of out of the bidding for the 2020 Olympics (the WAC's were suppose to serve as a sort of audition for the IOC)…

After Ant-Man was released Michael Douglas did endorse CZJ for the role, while Evangeline Lilly said she would like Michele Pfeiffer. I guess Lilly won out.

I went and reread the NYT interview to try and figure out what point Trump was trying to make about Napoleon based on the context, and in context his statement somehow makes even less sense

While everyone was understandably distracted with healthcare, Russia and North Korea, last week China actually made the most important action in terms of global consequences; it opened its first foreign military base and had its first aircraft carrier make its first port of call outside of mainland China.

There are certainly more egregious examples (the fact that Mussolini actually remains fairly popular in Italy and the increasing electoral clout of parties like Jobbik, the Golden Dawn and the National Front) but my point was that things have reached a point where someone like Jeremy Corbyn can reach a party…

Ever been to Europe? Antisemitism is still rampant. Victor Orban in Hungary is the most notorious, but there are still huge problems all over the continent.

I would say John deserves to be in any discussion of worst English rulers. Murdering his nephew, leading a revolt against Richard the Lionheart while he was on the Third Crusade and then losing (almost) all of the Angevins continental holdings.

Elizabeth II's husband Prince Philip is originally from Greece, though the Greek royal family (which also rules Denmark) was also ethnically German.

Today marks the 100th anniversary of the House of Windsor, or (more accurately), the 100th anniversary of George V changing the name of the British Royal Family from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to the House Windsor.

I still remember after Eagle Eye hit there were a lot of people in Hollywood seriously talking about LeBeouf as the next Will Smith.