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Cheryl Mills, who was the State Department’s counselor and chief of staff during the entirety of Hillary Clinton’s tenure, said in an email on November 13, 2012, that her colleagues were “on board” after a “come to” (Jesus?) meeting, in reference to classified congressional hearings that would be taking place later that week. Her correspondent was Philippe Reines, a longtime aide to Hillary Clinton who had asked how the “hearings”were going (perhaps meaning “briefings”?) The classified hearings were on the 15th and 16th. Of the newly released batch of Hillary Clinton emails, this one seems to be the most significant.

WASHINGTON (CNN) —Defense Secretary Ash Carter, in his first comments since the key town of Ramadi fell to ISIS, blamed the weak state of Iraq's military as one major reason for the city's fall, in an exclusive interview on CNN's "State of the Union" aired Sunday. "What apparently happened was that the Iraqi forces just showed no will to fight," Carter told CNN's Barbara Starr. "They were not outnumbered. In fact, they vastly outnumbered the opposing force, and yet they failed to fight, they withdrew from the site, and that says to me, and I think to most of us,...

Two supposedly landmark political events have occurred on the island of Ireland this week.Both were greeted with an element of surprise and excitement and were hailed as great victories for the “progressive movement”, both were inevitable.The referendum in which Ireland supported Same Sex Marriage and a departure with Catholicism was not today, it was in 2009, when Irish people voted to ratify the Lisbon Treaty. They had to vote for a second time of course, their first answer being wrong, but that was the last scism of the defence of their religion and nationhood.The decision on both the Asher’s Bakery...

"Freedom's Frigate" is the nickname of a sailing ship now on its way to America. It's a replica of the French vessel that helped our country win the war of independence. Before its departure, Mark Phillips went aboard: As memorials to American wars go, this one goes right back to the first one -- the Revolutionary War. And it is certainly among the most handsome and most intricate history lessons ever built. A newly-launched replica of the French frigate, Hermione, is now in mid-Atlantic, ploughing her way westward toward the U.S. East Coast. She's retracing the voyage of the original...

Likely Republican presidential contenders Jeb Bush and Chris Christie on Friday heartily endorsed the Patriot Act and the permission it gives the government to collect phone records in bulk, mocking those who deride the intelligence overhaul passed after the Sept. 11 attacks as an encroachment on civil liberties. “There is ample evidence that the Patriot Act has been a tool to keep us safe, ample evidence,” Bush said at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference. “There is no evidence of anyone’s civil liberties being violated because of it.”

The Islamic State group’s takeover of the provincial capital Ramadi is stark evidence that Iraqi forces lack the “will to fight,” Defense Secretary Ash Carter acknowledged, a harsh assessment that raised new questions about the Obama administration’s strategy to defeat the extremist group that has seized a strategically important swath of the Middle East. Although Iraqi soldiers “vastly outnumbered” their opposition in the capital of Anbar province, they quickly withdrew last Sunday without putting up much resistance from the city in Iraq’s Sunni heartland, Carter said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” […] The White House declined to comment on...

The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) has published an article in the latest issue of its magazine, Dabiq, by jihadi bride Umm Summayyah, estimating that First Lady Michelle Obama is only worth $40 on the terrorist group’s slave market. Summayyah also defends the rape of thousands of Yazidi females.

Some of the latest propaganda coming out of ISIS seems to indicate that they’re not satisfied with being the JV team and are looking to move up to the major leagues. Rather than just taking over the occasional town or embarking on genocidal purges, at least some of the terror group’s leadership is pondering the possibility of investing their cash in tactical weapons. They tossed out this idea by way of an article written by British hostage John Cantlie, who frequently publishes their English language advertising. It’s important to remember that, at least for the time being, this is...

At some point on this Memorial Day weekend, stop a minute to remember all those Americans who have fallen in all the wars this nation has waged. And then, next, let’s contemplate what we ought do, if there is any action we might take, in memory of those who didn’t come home alive. There are indeed numerous charities caring for veterans and their families, which are worthy of support, should you have the time or money to contribute. But as citizens, we still owe something more to those who have given, as President Lincoln spoke at Gettysburg, “their last full...

Ireland`s newspapers said Sunday that the country had dramatically changed and confirmed its emergence from the shadow of the traditionally powerful Catholic Church by voting in favour of gay marriage. Tabloids and broadsheets alike carried colourful pictures of partying "Yes" supporters cheering the landslide referendum result Saturday as they reflected on what the decision meant for Ireland. The Sunday Independent, Ireland`s biggest-selling newspaper, said the vote was truly "historic". "A new beginning" said its front page, which carried a picture of a lesbian couple who plan to marry as others in the background jumped in the air waving the rainbow...

Seventy years ago, we celebrated the end of World War II in Europe. That celebration is not the first memory of my childhood but it is one of the clearest. I was a 5-year-old boy in Cape Town, South Africa, proudly displaying a paper Union Jack, the familiar British flag, and watching the victory parade. I often wonder where the flags came from — before offset printing and photocopying — in time for the parade. Someone knew victory was at hand. There was a palpable, universal happiness — though more subdued, I am told, than the outbursts that greeted the...

Nothing quite so blatantly sums up the victory of neoliberalism in 21st-century London, and that city’s relentless commodification of every aspect of its literary and historical legacy, like Platform 9 ¾ at King’s Cross. If anything, the vulgarity and banality of Platform 9 ¾ are too blatant; it’s a crack in the façade that demonstrates how thoroughly London has become Londonland, a nearly convincing scavenger-hunt simulation of itself, chock-full of royal bones and references to Dan Brown novels. To enter Westminster Abbey – which is still nominally a house of worship for the Anglican Communion, rather than a historical theme...

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Orrin Hatch may soon give the President authority to write gun control restrictions into a “trade agreement.” So click here to contact your Senators –- whether they are liberal or conservative. Urge them to vote against the anti-gun “fast track” bill (S. 995). Will UN-style gun control be rammed down our throats? Gun import bans ... Microstamping of firearms ... Ammunition bans ... The full implementation of the anti-gun UN Arms Trade Treaty ... Illegal amnesty which locks in millions of new, anti-gun voters.

President Vladimir Putin signed a bill into law Saturday giving prosecutors the power to declare foreign and international organizations “undesirable” in Russia and shut them down. […] The law is part of a Kremlin campaign to stifle dissent that intensified after Putin began his third term in 2012. His return to the presidency had been accompanied by mass street protests that Putin accused the United States of fomenting. Russian suspicions of Western intentions have been further heightened because of tensions over Russia’s role in the conflict in Ukraine. The new Russian law allows prosecutors to declare an organization undesirable if...

[The writer begins with a quick synopsis of 9/11.] Fast-forward fourteen years to Garland, TX. Jihadists drove a thousand miles to enforce Sharia blasphemy laws. The cop who shot them to death likely prevented a gruesome massacre. We are now being told that this would not have happened and everything would have been okay if Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer had stayed quiet and didn't make any stupid moves, such as, organizing the exhibition of Mohammed cartoons. This is exactly the behavior of passengers on a hijacked plane. We hope that everything will be okay as long as we remain...

[1]The Goldberg interview with Obama reads like a conversation with an idiot. Actually make that two idiots, both of whom are also compulsive liars.One of the highlights of their insane exchange is when Obama tries to insist that Iran won’t be more dangerous if it gets another $150 billion. Obama: The question is, if Iran has $150 billion parked outside the country, does the IRGC automatically get $150 billion? Does that $150 billion then translate by orders of magnitude into their capacity to project power throughout the region? So Obama brings out the math, and by math, I mean...

State Department deputy spokesperson Marie Harf was widely ridiculed in February for saying [1] of the Islamic State (ISIS): We cannot win this war by killing them, we cannot kill our way out of this war. We need, in the longer term, medium and longer term, to go after the root causes that leads people to join these groups, whether itÂ’s lack of opportunity for jobs. On Wednesday, Barack Obama made it clear that HarfÂ’s ridiculous analysis did not originate with her; rather, she was reflecting the company line. Said [2] Obama: Climate change constitutes a serious threat to...

Ireland became Saturday the first country in the world to legalize same-sex marriages by popular vote. Within the U.S., Maine, Maryland and Washington in 2012 were the first states to legalize such unions through popular votes. Meanwhile, 37 states and the District of Columbia recognize same-sex marriages, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. A measure to legalize such unions via popular votes could be added to the ballots in the 13 other states during the 2016 general elections, when it conceivably could have the support of at least one presidential candidate, as IrelandÂ’s action motivated one White House...

Ireland has voted by a huge majority to legalise same-sex marriage, becoming the first country in the world to do so by popular vote in a move hailed as a social revolution and welcomed around the world. Some 62% of the Irish Republic’s electorate voted in favour of gay marriage. The result means that a republic once dominated by the Catholic church ignored the instructions of its cardinals and bishops.

A rare glimpse into Hezbollah's underground tunnels was provided on Friday by Lebanese publication As-Safir, which is associated with the militant organization. The report praised Hezbollah's activities and painted it as a strong army ready for battle. While it is difficult to verify the claims in the article, it contained a rare discussion of the tunnels by Hezbollah members. The reporter wrote that in order to meet Hezbollah fighters near the Israeli border in southern Lebanon, he travelled from the city of Tyre and was required to stop at a house known to locals as a Hezbollah headquarters, where he...