Free Republic

International House of Pancakes has created a stir by saying that after being IHOP for 60 years, it is "flippin' our name to IHOb" — setting off speculation over what that mysterious b could signify. For now, the company isn't saying. IHOP promises to reveal the meaning on June 11.But the Internet isn't big on waiting. Hungry for answers, people responded to the cryptic tweets: Could it be breakfast? Biscuits? Brunch? The improbable bancakes? Simply, and minimally, bacon? The on-trend bitcoin? Those are a few of the more popular guesses on IHOP's Twitter feed, in a thread that's littered with...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday after attending a classified briefing that he continues to support special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Moscow. McConnell told NPR that Mueller's investigation and a separate probe by the Justice Department's inspector general into the FBI's actions during the 2016 election will ultimately provide answers to a number of questions swirling around the presidential race. "The two investigations going on that I think will give us the answers to the questions that you raise — the [inspector general] investigation in the Justice Department and the...

In Spring Hill, early 20th Century houses look out over cinematic views of downtown Pittsburgh. The front of 36-year-old resident Randal Miller’s home appears fine, but the back is a mess. Part of it was slammed by a landslide this February. Landslides have always been an issue for the city due to its steep hills, clay soil and narrow valleys, but they usually occur in late spring and early early summer. Winter is typically Pittsburgh’s driest period, which is good, because the soil at that time is very wet as plants have yet to sprout and pull water from the...

Mainstream media is at it again, promulgating fake news. I woke up this morning to a slew of stories about “Palestinian Protestors Killed in Gaza Protests.” The imagery of a man holding up a cardboard sign while getting shot comes to mind, from such a headline, doesn’t it? I became concerned, read further. Turns out, it’s the same ‘ol anti-Israeli fake news. Mainstream media at it again. Headlines:CNN: “37 Palestinians killed in Gaza protests ahead of US embassy opening”ABC News: “Death toll in massive Palestinian protests climbs to at least 41, bloodiest day in Gaza since 2014 war”Washington Post: “Israelis kill dozens of...

Late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel says that the American people have had enough of the type of anti-Trump humor that he regularly spews and that it is now time for him to “make fun of ourselves.” In an interview with Deadline, Kimmel was asked whether he had prepared a “barrelful of barbs” for President Trump in his upcoming standup routine for ABC’s upfronts. “Oh, wow. Yeah, you know, I hadn’t really thought about it that way, but I guess you’re right. Hopefully, it’ll be the last upfront of the Trump era, too,” Kimmel said. “So, I don’t know, I don’t know...

A state board in California has approved a proposal to require solar panels on all new homes beginning in 2020, a measure that would increase the cost of new construction but provide savings on utilities — and help the state meet ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. California, which is routinely a leader in environmental regulatory efforts, would be the first state in the country with such a requirement. Several cities, including San Francisco and South Miami, Fla., have residential solar panel requirements. The new rule in California would cover all low-rise residential buildings, although houses that are frequently...

.Democrats are going into the 2018 elections with the wind at their backs, which could even be enough to flip a Senate map heavily stacked for Republicans come November. In conversations with several top GOP strategists, nearly all conceded that the overwhelming Democratic enthusiasm they're facing this November is incredibly worrisome. Most still think it's a better than even chance that they do keep the Senate — albeit narrowly — but it's no longer out of the realm of possibility that the upper chamber could change hands, especially given the volatility of the GOP's two-seat majority.

The documentary "RBG" is a look at perhaps the most unlikely rock star Washington has ever seen: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Tracing her roots, education and career, it's her early and continuing fight for gender equality that winds through the film. Jeffrey Brown talks with directors Betsy West and Julie Cohen. Read the Full Transcript John Yang: Finally tonight, she is largely known for issuing stinging dissents from the Supreme Court bench. But a new documentary, out today in select theaters, provides an intimate and rare look inside the life of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Jeffrey Brown has...

On Friday’s “PBS NewsHour,” New York Times columnist David Brooks said that the GOP tax bill is working better than he thought it would and the evidence “seems to be that what the Trump people told us would happen is happening, that companies are reinvesting the money.” Brooks stated, “I was against the Trump tax cuts. But the early evidence is that they’re working better than I thought. And so, in the first quarter, among S&P companies, capital expenditures are up 39 percent. That’s a seven-year high. That’s far higher than a lot of us thought. Stock buybacks, which is...

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson recertified Iran's compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal late Monday, but senior administration officials emphasized that Tehran is a dangerous threat to both U.S. interests and Middle East stability. Under U.S. law, the State Department is required to recertify to Congress Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal every 90 days. Despite President Trump's harsh criticism of the agreement forged under his predecessor, it is the second such certification since he took office. The controversial agreement, which came into force in July 2015, was ironed out among Iran, the U.S., China, France, Germany, Russia, the United...

The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is DEAD as we know it. This was a total disaster and an embarrassment to our great Country and all that it stands for. FAKE NEWS is alive and well and beautifully represented on Saturday night!

President Trump's absence for the second year in a row from the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner may end up being the least controversial thing about Saturday night's gathering of the White House press corps. Chatter online among journalists and some in the administration's orbit after the event was full of criticism for comedian Michelle Wolf, who was the evening's headliner; criticism and soul-searching about the annual event itself; and an effort by former White House press secretary Sean Spicer to pressure the leadership of the White House Correspondents' Association into answering for Wolf's vulgar, personal jabs leveled primarily at...

"We reject efforts by anyone, especially our elected leaders, to paint journalism as un-American," WHCA chief says Margaret Talev, president of the White House Correspondents' Association, opened the dinner with an address about the core of journalism. "Real news is sometimes happy, heart-warming, or heart-breaking and critical or makes you angry. But we reject efforts — be it anyone, especially our elected officials — to undermine journalism as un-American," Talev said.

Anyone else watch nova this evening? It did seem to make a somewhat good case though at the same time seemed to duck confronting skeptic arguments directly or at least so it seemed to me. I am not following this at a level of detail that I feel competent to debate one way or another so I am curious for others' reactions.

Pledging to impeach President Trump would backfire on Democrats hoping to take back the House of Representatives this fall, according to a new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll. The survey finds that 47 percent of registered voters would definitely vote against a candidate who wanted to remove Trump from office, while 42 percent would definitely vote for a candidate who would make such a promise. Forty-seven percent of independent voters - whose opinions could be decisive - also say they would vote against candidates favoring impeachment. Unsurprisingly, impeachment is a non-starter with 84 percent of GOP voters. And Lee Miringoff, the director...

From criticizing President Donald Trump for congratulating Vladimir Putin on his re-election in March, to saying earlier this month that Trump’s comments about withdrawing from Syria “emboldened” Bashar al-Assad, Arizona Senator John McCain in recent weeks has continued to uphold his reputation as one of the Republican Party’s most vocal critics of the president. But what was perhaps McCain’s most dramatic gesture of dissent against President Trump to date came at 1:30 a.m. on July 28, 2017. In the opening scene from the new FRONTLINE documentary McCain, which traces the Republican Party’s evolution across McCain’s political career, and how President...

There is a red light flashing in professor Albert Ponce's cubby-sized office. The light comes from an old-fashioned answering machine. Lately, he doesn't like to listen to the messages by himself. When he presses play, it's obvious why. Here are a couple of messages: "Albert Ponce, you are a piece of s*** f****** gutter slug that needs his neck snapped, OK? Call me if you need me. I'll do it for ya. "F****** race-baiting f****** piece of trash." Ponce teaches political science at Diablo Valley College, a community college in California's East Bay. It all started in October when he...

Imagine if the ambiguous result in our long struggle to end poverty—like the Vietnam War, an effort in which the goal posts always seem to be moving—was shown to be as ineffective. Fifty years ago, American Marines were wrapping up their bloody battle to retake the historic Vietnamese capital of Hue, occupied by communist forces in the Tet Offensive weeks before.Graphic images from the struggle went on display in January at the Newseum, in Washington DC, in an exhibit titled, “The Marines and Tet: The Battle That Changed the Vietnam War.” The title of the exhibit, which runs through July...

Facebook is displaying a link to Wikipedia’s smear-job description of Breitbart News next to all Breitbart articles shared on the site. The linked Wikipedia article describes Breitbart as a “far-right site” that publishes “falsehoods, conspiracy theories, and intentionally misleading stories.” The social network, which has been under pressure from Democrats and the mainstream media since the election of Donald Trump in 2016, has added a button marked “about this article” next to all posts linking to Breitbart News pieces on the site. Currently only viewable for American users, the button brings up a pop-up screen that displays Wikipedia’s misleading description...

GI Jews: Jewish Americans in World War II” begins as many Holocaust documentaries do, with a history of the rise of Hitler and Nazism in Germany mixed with what is now standard archival footage of Brownshirts and Kristallnacht. Throw in interviews with some Jewish celebrities — in this case, Carl Reiner and his friend Mel Brooks wearing his old Army jacket — and it has all the workings of a typical PBS documentary. But the film, which premieres April 11, on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, quickly takes an unexpected turn. Jewish-American soldiers, the viewer learns, weren’t only fighting...