Freedom Fries

Humor 2 Minutes

From Mental Floss:

Taylor writes: I’m a high school student and my history teacher just told us about how the United States once called French fries “freedom fries” to spite France. Please tell me he’s joking.

Yes, there was a time when some Americans decided to call French fries “freedom fries”—embarrassingly, a number of those people happened to be elected officials in the U.S. House of Representatives.

In early 2003, the United States was in the midst of a (rather unsuccessful) attempt to drum up worldwide support for a potential war with Iraq. While cobbling together a “coalition of the willing,” many historical allies of the U.S. said, “Nope.” One notable dissenter was France, whose officials had been vocally opposed to the imminent conflict. “As we’ve said from the outset,” French Foreign affairs Minister Dominique de Villepin said in January 2003, “we will not join in military intervention that did not have international support… We believe that military intervention would be the worst solution.”

By March, the course had been set. The UN couldn’t find evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but the United States made it clear that invasion was inevitable. War fever grew, and “with us or against us” found its way to the U.S. House of Representatives cafeteria. Rep. Bob Ney, an Ohio Republican who was chairman of the House Administration Committee and therefore in charge of operations for the Capitol complex, ordered that the word “French” be removed from all affiliated menus. French fries would become “freedom fries,” French toast “freedom toast.” According to the New York Times, “The action was unilateral.”

Barely a week before U.S. forces (along with troops from the U.K., Australia, and Poland) officially invaded Iraq, a sign was placed in the Longworth House Office Building food court that read, ”Update: Now serving in all House office buildings. Freedom fries.”

“This action today is a small, but symbolic effort to show the strong displeasure of many on Capitol Hill with the actions of our so-called ally, France,” Rep. Ney said at the time.

The idea for the change came from North Carolina Representative Walter B. Jones, who was inspired by Cubbie’s, a restaurant in his home state that had earned a little bit of press after deciding to rename their fries. Jones passed the suggestion on to Rep. Ney, who instituted the change.

When reached for a statement by the Times, a French Embassy spokeswoman said, ”I wonder if it’s worth a comment. Honestly. We are working these days on very, very serious issues of war and peace, life or death. We are not working on potatoes.” She also noted that French fries are, in fact, Belgian.

This wasn’t the first wartime name-switch in U.S. history. In the late ’50s, the Cincinnati Reds became the “Redlegs” in light of the McCarthy era and the Red Scare. During WWI, German measles were dubbed “Liberty Measles.”

Neal Rowland, the owner of Cubbie’s, said his decision to update the menu was inspired after learning about some of these decades-old name-switches. He is pictured above, outside of Cubbie’s. According to Yelp, his Beaufort, N.C. eatery no longer exists.

Rep. Bob Ney resigned from Congress in 2006 for his role in the Jack Abramoff corruption scandal. (Ney was eventually sentenced to 30 months in jail.) Upon leaving his post as chairman of the House Administration Committee, all the menus in the Capitol and connected buildings were changed, and French fries were finally served again.

SOURCE: MENTAL FLOSS

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Published by pat frederick

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94 thoughts on “Freedom Fries”

  1. Morning All!

    been up for a little while watching a 2 year old bear stroll around. he or she was at the pond, sniffed around the burn pit (hubby was glad it only sniffed but didn’t destroy again!), sniffed at the apple trees and cherry trees and then went to the salt block.

    I’m so glad I didn’t put out the hummer or jelly feeders yet! he’d be up on the deck and wrecking everything. sigh…

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Morning, Pat! Excellent timing, my dear!

      Guess who was sleeping on my chair on the patio this morning? Miracles do still happen I guess because Wheezer is back, looking no worse for wear, just as small as always. I had been holding a bowl of food just in case so I guess I’ll add a bag of cat food to my shopping list!

      Liked by 1 person

        1. He’s friendly to a point – I can stroke my hand down his back – or give him a quick scratch on the head – but I have to move it quickly or he will strike out and scratch me. No, actually, I don’t miss Jake at all. I’m glad not to have the litter mess any more, tbh, and he more often than not tripped me, which I certainly couldn’t deal with now. He’s much better off with my Sis and no doubt happier.

          Liked by 1 person

  3. I remember the 2003 War Frenzy well. Baby Bush was president after 9/11 and used that incident as a pretext for making the US paranoid about Iraq. Meanwhile the ongoing war in Afganistan got little attention until later. Bush also promoted the Patriot Act, the Deparment of Homeland Security, and its subagency ICE. Remember the Bush Dynasty started in Texas. George’s brother, Jeb, was Governor of Florida at the time, and Father HKW Bush was president when the US went to war in Kuwait.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Morning, Katharine! The US “did” 9/11 specifically to start the wars; Daddy Bush was working for the CIA at the time of JFKJ’s assassination and was involved there, too, as was Lyndon Johnson. And George Bush was involved with Bin Laden’s younger brother in the TX oil business. Corruption has been endemic within our government since at least the time of Allen Dulles, head of the CIA, probably before.

      Liked by 2 people

        1. Having learned nothing about our government in school, once I retired, I set my sights on educating myself and oh, what I learned!!!!

          Liked by 1 person

      1. I didn’t know enough about it until after he became president. Then he started all those federal agencies and enacted the so called “Patriot Act”, restricting book sellers. Then I started paying attention to what he was doing.

        Liked by 1 person

  4. Cleta Mitchell
    @CletaMitchell
    One of the things people don’t realize is that there are a number of state laws that govern political parties. “Starting a new political party” is not like starting a company. The two major parties have codified themselves in every state. Laws govern whether and how a party is “recognized”, whether candidates of a party can get on the ballot, how they get on the ballot, stay on the ballot… and also federal laws govern whether a party is recognized for purposes of campaign finance laws, contributions, etc. It is not simple. James Madison warned about “factions” in Federalist No. 10. The Founders did not give us a parliamentary system with a plethora of political parties, coalition governments, etc. as exist in other western democracies. I’m a huge fan of Elon Musk- and I am very grateful for what he has done for the world and America. Starting a new political party is quite different from what he’s done before and it isn’t like creating a PAC. Others before him in the past 40 years have tried…and failed: Ross Perot in 1992, the Libertarians, the Greens….in cycle after cycle, all to no avail. It is not just a matter of money. There’s a lot more to it than that. Just saying… @elonmusk
    @DanScavino

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  8. Just The News: “President Trump said on Sunday that he will probably travel to Texas on Friday to survey areas of the state that experienced dangerous flash flooding. The current death toll is at least 78 as of Sunday evening. 

    “Probably on Friday,” Trump told reporters on Sunday. “We wanted to leave a little time. I would have done it today, but we’d just be in their way. Probably Friday.”

    Trump also said that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk’s new political party is a ridiculous idea. “He can have fun with it but I think it’s ridiculous,” he said.”

    Liked by 1 person

    1. i was reading this morning it’s a lot more difficult than many believe–you gotta do it in all 50 states and follow each of their rules and petition to get on the ballot…

      Liked by 1 person

  9. Just The News: “As the death count in the Independence Day flooding in central Texas has now surpassed that of Hurricane Harvey, with dozens of children reported dead and missing who were camping at Camp Mystic in Kerr County, Texans are asking why a warning system wasn’t in place and why the camp didn’t evacuate when others did.

    On Wednesday and Thursday, a series of emergency weather alerts were issued by the National Weather Service and Texas Division of Emergency Management. Despite a decades-long history of flash floods in the Texas Hill Country, and a 1987 flash flood that killed 10 teenagers at a Christian Camp in neighboring Kendall County, Kerr County didn’t have an emergency warning system in place.

    This legislative session, a bill to create a coordinated emergency warning system and provide grant funding for rural communities died in the Republican-controlled Senate.

    The NWS-Austin/San Antonio issued a Flood Watch Wednesday for several counties, including Kerr County; the NWS San Angelo also issued a flood watch for several counties. Also on Wednesday, TDEM activated state emergency response resources through 10 state agencies anticipating increased threats of flooding in West and Central Texas ahead of the holiday weekend.

    “According to the National Weather Service, heavy rainfall with the potential to cause flash flooding is anticipated across West Texas and the Hill Country beginning tonight and is expected to last a few days. Texans are encouraged to monitor local forecasts and avoid driving or walking into flooded areas,” TDEM said. The next day, it escalated state emergency operations readiness and activated additional resources.

    At 1:14 am on Friday, the NWS Austin/San Antonio issued a “life threatening flash flooding” warning for Bandera and Kerr counties, stating, “Some locations that will experience flash flooding include, Kerrville, Ingram, Hunt, Waltonia, Kerr Wildlife Management Area and Lost Maples State Natural Area.”

    The NWS also had five people on duty, more than the standard two, to deliver forecasts for its Austin/San Antonio office covering the region, Jason Runyen, a NWS meteorologist, said. “These warnings should have provided officials with ample time to evacuate camps such as Camp Mystic and get people to safety,” AccuWeather, which also issued reports on Thursday, citing NWS alerts, said.

    By 4 a.m. on Friday, heavy rain caused the Guadeloupe River to rise by more than 26 feet in less than an hour resulting in a flash flood that tore through structures, wiped out RV parks, camper vans and cabins where vacationers or residents were sleeping.

    At a news conference on Friday, Kerr County Judge Rob Kelly said he didn’t know why Camp Mystic and other camps in the county weren’t evacuated. “Why weren’t these camps evacuated?” a reporter asked. “I can’t answer that,” the judge replied. “I don’t know.” “You’re the judge … the top official here in this county. … There’s kids missing. These camps were in harm’s way,” the reporter said.

    The judge replied that no one knew “this kind of flood was coming. We have floods all the time. This is the most dangerous river valley in the United States and we deal with floods on a regular basis. When it rains, we get water. We had no reason to believe that this was going to be any anything like what’s happened.”

    On Sunday, Kelly said that several years ago, county officials considered implementing a flood warning system that would function like a tornado warning siren, before he was elected, but never did.

    KXAN first reported that county officials didn’t issue warnings until four hours after the NWS alerts, after 5 a.m. and 7 a.m., well after an untold number of people had already been swept away. The Texas House, under former Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, sought to address crisis communication failures at the local and state level last year.

    After a disastrous state response to the Panhandle Wildfires, which destroyed more than 1.2 million acres and caused more than $1 billion in economic losses, the Texas House launched an investigation and proposed solutions. State Rep. Phil King introduced a bill to provide grant funding for rural community emergency alert systems and streamline and improve first responder communications. It passed the House with bipartisan support, with 16 Republicans voting against it, only to die in the Senate Finance Committee.

    It remains unclear why Camp Mystic didn’t evacuate children on Thursday after the first NWS and TDEM warnings were issued. Mo-Ranch Camp near Hunt moved several hundred campers and attendees to higher ground; nearby Camps Rio Vista and Sierra Vista ended their summer session early on Thursday.

    As of Sunday afternoon, authorities in Kerr County had found the bodies of 40 adults and 28 children; 10 campers are still missing.”

    Liked by 1 person

  10. Just The News: “The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is taking new applications to conduct pilot programs in five different states focused on reducing federal assistance. The Administration for Children and Families is spearheading the program with a focus on reducing state’s reliance on federally funded programs like Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

    “ACF is returning to the original intent of welfare reform to ensure our programs are laser-focused on delivering outcomes for families and results for taxpayers,” said Andrew Gradison, acting assistant secretary for ACF.

    The pilot will focus on programs that encourage employment and “personal responsibility.” “The pilot can play a pivotal role in the design of modern approaches to moving work-eligible individuals into the labor force, while providing critical ways to operationalize personal responsibility,” the request reads.

    The Biden administration had previously selected California, Maine, Kentucky, Minnesota and Ohio to test the pilot program. In March, the Trump administration revoked agreements between the five states and is now rolling out applications for new states to apply. The administration left the option open for states that were already enrolled in the program to reapply.

    “The Trump Administration determined the Biden TANF pilot did not reflect this administration’s goals and priorities as its metrics did not evaluate employment outcomes or dependency reduction rather than unverifiable and subjective metrics,” the announcement read.

    The new program will run over the course of six years, with the first year dedicated to data collection and negotiating performance standards. States will work in collaboration with the ACF to determine employment rates, median earnings, education rates, health status, insurance coverage, and prevalence of two-parent families in order to track goal progression.

    The deadline for states to apply to the new program is August 15.”

    Liked by 1 person

  16. And, unfortunately, my brother has worked for them since he graduated from HS. Putz!!!

    “Myself, I prefer the natural casing Nathan’s dogs, but that’s a story for another day. Hotdogs are as American as apple pie, right? Not so fast. It may come as a surprise that this brand with a very American vibe is controlled by a Chinese company. Nathan’s is owned by Smithfield, which itself is actually owned by Chinese conglomerate WH Group Limited. Yep, America’s most iconic all-beef hot dog is owned by a Chinese corporation that also happens to be the largest pork processing company in the world.”

    Liked by 1 person

  17. “I kid you not. This is a real product. I took this picture myself at last Wednesday’s poker game. Buddy of mine had ’em…”

    Liked by 1 person

  20. lindak
    July 7, 2025 10:09 am
    Reply to sync

    This substack has a good take on the release of this ”

    So many questions! What should we make of the Axios exclusive and all the social media hot takes? Why is the DOJ’s website down? Was the unsigned letter legit? Why was it clawed back? Is the video really evidence that proves anything, or is it just a random part of the Epstein file? Why didn’t Bondi comment? Your author does not know. Nobody does. Not yet.

    At this point, as of 8 am-ish, what my lawyer’s eyes see is some kind of sloppy #Resistance team operation with some access to DOJ’s servers. It appears that DOJ’s top officials have unplugged the web server until they can determine the source of the leak or plant. (But— I’m only guessing.)

    As always, I suggest that you avoid the hot takes and wait for the facts. This story is still developing, and is much more than it appears. The memo and video drop are not normal.leak.”

    https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/surprises-monday-july-7-2025-c-and?publication_id=463409&post_id=167718549&isFreemail=true&r=ck852&triedRedirect=true

    Liked by 1 person

  21. WeThePeople2016

    July 7, 2025 10:39 am

    Forget TV and movie stars. This is a real HERO!

    New Jersey Coast Guard swimmer rescues nearly 200 people in deadly Texas flash floods
    Secretary Kristi Noem praises Petty Officer Scott Ruskan’s ‘selfless courage’ during his first rescue mission

    https://www.foxnews.com/us/new-jersey-coast-guard-swimmer-rescues-nearly-200-people-deadly-texas-flash-floods-killed-68

    https://truthsocial.com/@realwayneroot/114812367254393086

    Liked by 1 person

  22. My, that was a journey! Had to get gas, then went to FD. Thankfully, the manager there knows me and helped me out a lot – she helped give me a boost up into my truck and loaded my groceries for me. I REALLY need a smaller vehicle now! I picked up some snacks that I always used to like in the small sample size….we’ll see if I can eat them – also some freezer pops, frozen slices of cheesecake, etc. – those are always good. On a really good note, I’ve still got 3 cantaloupe plants!!! I was even able to pull some of the weeds. There is hope yet! The Trumpet vines are going absolutely wild but it is what it is….I will have to get out there soon, tho, and chop some of them before they reach the house.

    Liked by 1 person

  25. I did get some really good news today – my hemoglobin count is holding steady at 11, which is really great! It means the bleeding from the ulcer has stopped and it is healing.

    Liked by 1 person

  26. That took some ingenuity….

    Fuel mileage requirements/laws caused this. This is BS! We should be able to buy the vehicle WE choose!!!! If we’re willing to pay for the gas, leave us the hell alone!!!!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. the last time we were on the highway visiting mom i mentioned to hubby that all the cars looked the same and the colors are so vanilla–muted shades of colors–except for jeeps–they still have those bizarre neon colors.

      Liked by 1 person

  32. Well, duh!!!! That was pretty much the whole purpose, along w/control!

    EXCERPT: “Ukraine was widely recognized as the most corrupt country even before the Ukraine war, but since war broke out and tens of billions of euros have flowed into the country, corruption has flourished like never before. Swiss newspaper Neue Züricher Zeitung details how a clique of oligarchs, many of them close to President Volodymyr Zelensky, have grown famously wealthy.

    “These big businessmen are profiting enormously from the war, while also being patriotic, pro-Western and very discreet,” wrote the Swiss Neue Züricher Zeitung‘s (NZZ) Kyiv correspondent, Guillaume Ptak.

    In other words, instead of showing off with sports cars, these new oligarchs know they have to keep their wealth hidden amid a devastating war. The paper details five individuals who have profited enormously.

    “The war, which has entered its fourth year, is proving to be a profitable field for businessmen like Andri Stawnizer, Andri Kobolev, Oleksander Hereha, Andri Kolodyuk, and Vasil Khmelnitsky. The quintet has established itself in the war economy, investing in rebuilding what the Russian army destroys time and again. earns a fortune in strategic sectors such as logistics, energy, or construction materials. Typical war profiteers? Sure. But not entirely,” writes the Swiss paper.

    They are making a fortune in strategic sectors. While this could be considered typical war profiteering it is also seen in a more positive light, since they ultimately support the army and the civilian population. According to the NZZ journalist, they are therefore“not like their classic predecessors, who recovered after the change of regime. They were mostly swept away by the war. The new generation does not buy TVs, newspapers or representatives, nor parties or private armies.”

    NZZ writes that this new generation of oligarchs is not like the old one, and that “reins are held by President Volodymyr Zelensky.”

    While Ukrainian authorities welcome most of the new oligarchs, this does not mean that they automatically have good relations with the presidential office. The paper notes that Kobolev, in particular, was known for his anti-corruption activities even before the war. He reportedly does not have the best relationship with Zelensky and has now been charged with corruption himself.

    As for the other four, the paper does not make any allegations of corruption, but Ukraine is known as a country where corruption is entrenched from the top to the bottom of the system. Many leading officials have been charged with corruption, but skeptics claim that in many cases, these are only the officials who ran afoul of someone with more power, who wanted to remove a rival or settle a score…..”

    https://rmx.news/article/ukrainian-oligarchs-have-become-incredibly-rich-from-the-war-writes-swiss-newspaper-nzz/

    Liked by 1 person

  35. “Nope. Microsoft is cutting 9,000 jobs while seeking 14,181 new H-1B visa workers this year…

    The press memo is to say that those jobs will be substituted by “AI,” but India is the real AI – and has been for the past couple of decades…They are not reducing their workforce, they are taking cheap labor…“

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Liked by 1 person

      1. you too. we lost power (and internet) but it was brief and back on. still storming bad…so I’ll say good Night now in case i can’t later.
        Good Night Filly!
        so happy about Wheezer and your hemoglobin and finding 2 things you can eat!!!

        Liked by 1 person

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