Crazy Talk at the Republican Debate  —  Eleven presidential candidates had three prime-time hours on the national stage on Wednesday to tell the American people why they should lead the country.  —  Nobody forced them to be there.  They were there freely, armed with the best arguments …

Why I Am Boycotting Pope Francis' Address to Congress  —  It is difficult to convey the excitement I first felt when it was revealed that His Holiness Pope Francis was invited to Washington D.C. to address the world from the floor of the House of Representatives.

Last night I went to a bar on Mackinac Island for the GOP Mackinac Conference.  I ran into a guy named Rich Beeson, who frankly I didn't even know who it was at first because he isn't relevant in our political world.  Anyway, he is Marco Rubio's national campaign manager.

What Is Hillary's Greatest Accomplishment?  —  Carly Fiorina dared Democrats to name it. 20 top Dems accepted the challenge.  —  Getty  —  “If you want to stump a Democrat, ask them to name an accomplishment of Hillary Clinton,” Carly Fiorina quipped at Wednesday's Republican debate.

Trump declines to correct questioner who says Obama is a Muslim  —  Washington (CNN)Donald Trump on Thursday declined to correct a supporter of his who alleged that President Barack Obama is Muslim and not an American.  —  “We have a problem in this country.

The Undercard and the Mane Event  —  Donald Trump's rivals try to give him a haircut, but he ends up trimming himself.  —  Simi Valley, Calif.  —  By the time you see this you will have seen the soundbites, quips and cuts.  You'll have seen the clashes.  So, quickly:

Donald Trump May Not Have a Second Act  —  In 1998, David Mamet, the acclaimed playwright, published a short treatise, “Three Uses of the Knife,” on “the nature and purpose of drama.”  The book, based on lectures he delivered the previous year at Columbia University, is well regarded …

Finger-Pointing, but Few Answers, After a Syria Solution Fails  —  WASHINGTON — By any measure, President Obama's effort to train a Syrian opposition army to fight the Islamic State on the ground has been an abysmal failure.  The military acknowledged this week that just four or five American-trained fighters are actually fighting.

Go ‘nuclear’ to stop Obama's Iran deal, urge 57 House Republicans in letter  —  Dozens of House Republican lawmakers are making a late stab at pressuring Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to abandon the filibuster on legislation to block the nuclear deal with Iran.

Football Players Who Blindsided Ref Say They Were Following Coach's Orders  — Shares-  —  Play

Nobel director regretted Obama peace prize  —  A former director of the Norwegian Nobel Institute has admitted his regrets about the 2009 award of the Nobel Peace Prize to US President Barack Obama.  —  Geir Lundestad, who served as Director of the Nobel Institute for 25 years …

Want to know what gay tastes like?  Try Rainbow Doritos!  —  PepsiCo, who make Doritos (through subsidiary Frito-Lay), are producing a homosexual version of Doritos called “Rainbow Doritos.”  Doritos are a product marketed to children, so they make the perfect gateway snack to introduce children to the joys of homosexuality.

An ultrathin invisibility skin cloak for visible light  —  1NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Center (NSEC), University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.  —  2Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

Biden may not decide soon  —  <p>DETROIT — Joe Biden may have more time to make up his mind about running for president than most people assume.  He and the people planning his potential campaign certainly think so.</p><p>Running a primary race — particularly against Hillary Clinton …