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.

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.

Rand Paul strategist claims Rubio aide punched him in the face  —  <p>A Michigan political consultant working for Rand Paul says he was punched in the face by Marco Rubio's deputy campaign manager during an alleged incident at a bar in Mackinac Island, where the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference …

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 …

Summer was the hottest on record  —  June through August of this year was the hottest summer in recorded weather history, federal scientists said Thursday.  —  Surface temperatures around the globe were 1.53 degrees Fahrenheit above their average for those months throughout the 20th century …

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 …