Free Republic

The piece is made up of 98 balls of thread. "Rather than a sense of constriction, the various sized pieces are like precious small gifts, hiding happy mysteries," writes the art blog "Studio and Garden." "Lares and Penates are Roman deities who protected the household. We might see these small pieces as votive objects, made with a kind of prayerful attention in the repetitive motions of wrapping." The piece was purchased for the New Embassy Compound in Islamabad, which was completed last summer. The $699 million embassy was built using "green construction techniques," uses low-flow faucets, and is "fully compliant"...

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton completed no security briefings or courses on the proper handling of classified materials and how to conduct secure communications while at the Department of State, according to new Obama administration legal filings before the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The surprise admission was released late Friday and could reignite the controversy over Clinton’s “careless” handling of classified materials as asserted by FBI Director James Comey, which has already been a central part of the presidential race. The revelation also could renew calls for the Department of State to strip her of...

Change.org is hosting an online petition calling for the removal of air conditioning from U.S. State Department property, following Secretary of State John Kerry’s comments that climate change is as dangerous, if not more, than threats from ISIS. As of the time of this publication 33,576 supporters have signed the petition, which, according to the site, will be delivered to President Barack Obama. …

Only a Trump Justice Department can put Hillary behind bars. ‘Lock her up! Lock her up! Lock her up!”Republicans convened in Cleveland this week and rhythmically chanted for the incarceration of Hillary Clinton, the candidate the Democrats will nominate for president next week in Philadelphia. Some pundits found the Republicans’ new slogan harsh and extreme. But who are the real extremists here? In what must be a historical first, Democrats are about to anoint a contender for the White House who faces at least four federal investigations and a serious, private anti-corruption lawsuit. Even after the Watergate break-in, Richard Nixon’s...

One of the larger drawbacks to having John Kerry as secretary of state is his inane statements now have worldwide impact, instead of being limited to a domestic audience as was the case previously. Even worse, what he says now can cause real damage, while as a senator Kerry’s bloviating was relatively harmless since he was part of large collection of publicity-seeking bloviators. Kerry’s latest occurred last Sunday when he compared the jihadists trying to break Israel’s Gaza blockade aboard the Mavi Marmara with the victims of the Boston bombing. .... Israeli commandos were lowered to the deck from a...

A State Department official deleted emails that included information about a secret campaign to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the countryÂ’s last election, according to a Senate investigatory committee that determined the Obama administration transferred tax funds to anti-Netanyahu groups. The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations disclosed in a massive report on Tuesday that the Obama administration provided U.S. taxpayer dollars to the OneVoice Movement, a liberal group that waged a clandestine campaign to smear and oust Netanyahu from office.OneVoice, which was awarded $465,000 in U.S. grants through 2014, has been under congressional investigation since 2015, when it was...

The offices of a Dallas law firm representing a high-profile State Department whistleblower were broken into last weekend. Burglars stole three computers and broke into the firm's file cabinets. But silver bars, video equipment and other valuables were left untouched, according to local Fox affiliate KDFW, which aired security camera footage of the suspected burglars entering and leaving the offices around the time of the incident. The firm Schulman & Mathias represents Aurelia Fedenisn, a former investigator at the State Department's Office of the Inspector General. In recent weeks, she raised a slew of explosive allegations against the department and...

The Council of American Islamic Relations [CAIR] may tout itself as an “organization that challenges stereotypes of Islam and Muslims,” and as group that was formed “to challenge anti-Muslim discrimination nationwide.” But in fighting the good fight against hate, at least one of its regional leaders demonizes Jews as the source of Muslims’ problems. “Who are those who incurred the wrath of Allah?” CAIR-Michigan Executive Director Dawud Walid asked in a May 25 sermon at the Islamic Organization of North America mosque in Warren, Mich. “They are the Jews, they are the Jews,” he answered himself in Arabic. Aside from...

DEVELOPING: The State Department is reopening an internal investigation of possible mishandling of classified information by Hillary Clinton and top aides. Spokesman John Kirby says the emails probe is restarting now that the Justice Department isn't pursuing a criminal prosecution. The State Department suspended its review in April to avoid interfering with the FBI's inquiry. Kirby set no deadline for the investigation's completion.

Defending the Obama Administration’s geopolitical record, the secretary of state laid out a vision of an America that is globalist, engaged, and deeply interventionist. ___ Amid tumult in world affairs, with a deadly attack on an airport in Istanbul, Turkey, EU countries grappling with Britain’s impending exit, and an ongoing war against ISIS, Secretary of State John Kerry sought to reassure an Aspen audience Tuesday that “the world is not witnessing global gridlock. We are not frozen in a nightmare. Where we are engaged with a clear strategy, using our power thoughtfully, we are making progress, most places.” There are...

President Obama on Thursday nominated a former CIA officer and longtime lawyer who examined missteps in U.S. intelligence to be the spy agency’s next inspector general, hoping to fill a position at the watchdog office that’s been vacant for more than a year. If confirmed by the Senate, Shirley Woodward would fill the role left empty since David Buckley stepped down from in January 2015, on the heels of a landmark determination that CIA officials had gained unauthorized access to Senate computer files. Lawmakers called the episode a potential violation of constitutional separation of powers, and the spat led to...

Omar Mateen's father, Seddique. He is many things. He is an immigrant. He is an outspoken supporter of the Taliban. He's the father of an ISIS terrorist who murdered 49 Americans in cold blood and injured more than 50 more. He's someone who has meetings with Obama Administration officials in the White House, people in the State Department, and senior Senate Democrats. He's also a guy who goes on television and blames the Pulse Nightclub for his son's murder spree...

FULL TITLE: Whoa “Jihadi Dad” – Orlando Terrorist’s Father Seddique Mateen Visited State Dept. – Political Activist, Taliban Sympathizer… This is a little disturbing. Remember Amed Mohamed and the exploited islamic opportunism with 14-year-old “clock boy” bomb hoax from Irving Texas and how his father was running for political office in Sudan? Well, apparently 29-year-old terrorist Omar Mateen (below left) comes from a similarly engaged political family and his father, Seddique Mateen (below right), was/is running for national office in Afghanistan and not happy with the government of Pakistan. orlando 11 Omar mateenorlando 10 seddique mateen - father - orlando...

South Sudan’s Child Soldiers and Hillary Clinton’s Complicity Published 10 June 2016 The former Secretary of State’s department allowed military aid to the region, despite laws against this. Rebel forces in South Sudan used child soldiers and the U.S. State Department under Hillary Clinton sent arms there despite passing a law that banned providing military assistance to nations that used child soldiers, The Intercept reported Friday. Waivers were issued by the White House that kept aid flowing there and U.S. President Barack Obama said in 2012 the waivers were in “the national interest of the United States.” The move was...

At the center of a criminal probe involving Hillary Clinton’s handling of classified information is a series of emails between American diplomats in Islamabad and their superiors in Washington about whether to oppose specific drone strikes in Pakistan. The 2011 and 2012 emails were sent via the “low side’’—government slang for a computer system for unclassified matters—as part of a secret arrangement that gave the State Department more of a voice in whether a Central Intelligence Agency drone strike went ahead, according to congressional and law-enforcement officials briefed on the Federal Bureau of Investigation probe. Some of the emails were...

The State Department said it would take 75 years for the release of emails from top aides to Hillary Clinton while she was serving as secretary of State. Lawyers said it would take that long to compile the 450,000 pages of records from former Clinton aides Cheryl Mills, Jacob Sullivan and Patrick Kennedy, according to a court filing from last week, which was first reported by CNN . "Given the Department's current [Freedom of Information Act] (FOIA) workload and the complexity of these documents, it can process about 500 pages a month, meaning it would take approximately 16-and-2/3 years to...

Gay rights activist, U.S. government employee one of two hacked to death by radical Islamists in Bangladesh THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Monday, April 25, 2016, 6:33 PM NEW DELHI — Unidentified assailants fatally stabbed two men in Bangladesh’s capital Monday night, including a gay rights activist who also worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development, police said, in the latest in a series of attacks targeting atheists, moderates and foreigners. Police said they suspected radical Islamists in the attack, which occurred two days after a university professor was hacked to death. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The U.S. State Department’s annual Country Reports on Terrorism 2015, released on Thursday, counts 11,774 terrorist attacks in 92 countries last year, but it says that’s an improvement over 2014. “The total number of terrorist attacks in 2015 decreased by 13% and total deaths due to terrorist attacks (28,328) decreased by 14%, compared to 2014,” the report says. “This was largely due to fewer attacks and deaths in Iraq, Pakistan, and Nigeria. This represents the first decline in total terrorist attacks and deaths worldwide since 2012.” […] The State Department report notes that the global terrorist threat “continued to evolve...

The State Department admitted Wednesday that a 2013 press briefing video was purposefully altered to remove a portion of a discussion about the Iran nuclear talks, after an unknown State Department official asked that it be edited out. Spokesman John Kirby's announcement contradicted the position held by the department for the last three weeks, during which officials said the video was missing because of a "glitch." But Kirby said officials didn't know who asked for the video to be edited, and said the department is unlikely to investigate further into who wanted the video to be edited. Kirby said he...

A report by the State Department’s inspector general has concluded that Hillary Clinton did not comply with the agency’s policies on records, Politico is reporting. The report was released to lawmakers on Wednesday. It also revealed that Clinton and her top aides chose not to cooperate with the inspector general’s review, though current Secretary of State John Kerry and several predecessors were interviewed. A copy of the report was obtained by POLITICO. While it concludes there are “longstanding, systemic weaknesses” with State Department records — weaknesses that “go well beyond the tenure of any one Secretary of State,” it specifically...