Re a federal government shutdown: the Tea Party House simply delayed its pander party, which will resume in December. The early negative reviews of the Cecile Richard’s roast certainly weren’t encouraging to its cause.

Republicans continue to put Americans at risk with these manufactured pseudo-crises.

“The Incompetent Executioner,” starring Mary Fallin. Next on FX.

Mr Putin provided military support for rebels in Ukraine, a conflict which has ended in stalemate. Now he’s trying his hand at fighting rebels in Syria.

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Americans have always had a contradictory relationship with citizenship. The body politic was originally formed by denying citizenship to Native Americans and enslaved people. Americans assume as a point of pride that everyone in the world wants to be a US citizen while at the same time disparaging those seeking citizenship. When the American right wing comes under criticism, its knee-jerk response is “if you don’t like it here, you can go to [X].”

Emily Blunt should brush off any and all pathological discontent directed at her like cat hair on a dark sweater.