Jeryl Bier

The SPLC’s haphazard reporting.

Early in March, the Congressional Progressive Caucus met in Baltimore for its Strategy Summit 2018. Participants came from a wide range of liberal, progressive, and left-leaning groups and included individuals such as House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Women's March co-founder Linda Sarsour,…

Two days after tweeting a link to an uplifting story in the New York Times about experimental prenatal surgery to treat a baby boy for spina bifida, Planned Parenthood of Maryland deleted the tweet. The article about the "small person who had surgery before he was even born" was a follow up on an…

As the deadline draws closer for the Trump administration to decide whether or not to certify Iranian compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal and another decision on sanctions, U.S. aerospace giant Boeing will be watching with extreme interest. The outcome has the potential to scuttle a pair of…

The new year is less than a week old, and so far, the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS is reporting there have been no strikes against the terrorist group ISIS in Iraq. A single strike on New Year's Eve day near Bayji, Iraq was the last such attack. The four days with no strikes matches a previous…

The Trump administration stumbled a bit out of the gate with its response to the ongoing anti-government protests in Iran, but quickly recovered with strong expressions of support for peaceful protesters and condemnation of the Iranian regime. After a day of silence on Friday, a State Department…

When the Congressional Accountability Act (CAA) passed in 1995, the vote was 98-1 in the Senate and 390-0 in the House. However, in light of recent allegations of sexual misconduct against Rep. John Conyers and a settlement with at least one former staffer, the "accountability" promised by the…

Longtime congressman and civil rights icon John Conyers is under fire for a previously undisclosed settlement with a former staffer who claimed she was fired for rejecting Conyers's sexual advances. Buzzfeed broke the story that after the woman was fired in 2014, she filed a complaint with…

In the wake of the New York City truck attack that killed eight and for which ISIS claimed responsibility, President Donald Trump tweeted that "the Military has hit ISIS 'much harder' over the last two days." However, there is no direct evidence of a spike in anti-ISIS strikes, and the broader…

The man in charge of internal security of the nation's intelligence services says there is so much leaking of classified information right now that "we’re not dealing with it." Bill Evanina, the director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center made the admission in a recent…

The Southern Poverty Law Center invests almost 20 percent of its nearly $320 million endowment fund in offshore equities and other investments. The 2016 annual report of the Alabama-based civil rights organization reports $69,093,576 of "non-U.S. equity funds" among the assets comprising the total…

Several websites pushed out a fresh accusation of plagiarism against First Lady Melania Trump—and once again, the alleged source for the supposedly ill-gotten words is former First Lady Michelle Obama.

Two U.S. Army soldiers were killed and another five injured in Iraq Sunday while "conducting combat operations" according to a U.S. Central Command news release. A CENTCOM official told THE WEEKLY STANDARD that the Army artillery unit was engaged in a "counter-fire mission against an ISIS mortar…

President Trump has made no secret of his plans to dramatically reduce both the budget of the State Department and the size of its workforce. The department is now preparing for those eventualities with some innovative and unconventional ideas, including "crowd sourcing... via the Internet" and…

Planned Parenthood has long been known for its frank, scientific, and matter-of-fact advice on how parents should talk to their kids about their bodies and sex. But the organization's recently revamped website has scrapped biological explanations for male-female distinctions in favor of a…

On Monday, the Trump administration issued a warning to the Syrian regime. If Syria conducted another chemical weapons attack, the regime would "pay a heavy price," the White House said. It was a sign that President Trump intends to enforce the "red line" President Obama threatened Bashar al-Assad…

On Monday secretary of Defense James Mattis appeared to break with the Obama administration's position of the preceding eight years that there is "no military solution" to the conflict in Afghanistan. At an appearance with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and the Defense and Foreign ministers of…

Thursday on Facebook, cartoonist Berkeley Breathed (of Bloom County fame) posted a letter purportedly from President Donald Trump's New York attorney, Marc E. Kasowitz, taking Breathed to task for disseminating "flagrantly altered photos [of the president] wearing apparel featuring your artwork."…

Michael Flynn appears destined to spend much more time in the spotlight than he spent working at the White House, where he served as President Trump's National Security Adviser for three and a half weeks. On Monday, the AP reported that Flynn's lawyers told the Senate intelligence committee that…

Soon after President Trump issued his executive order on "Promoting Free Speech and Religious Liberty," which includes potential "conscience protections" for those with religious objections to certain health insurance mandates, Planned Parenthood issued a press release noting that some "faith…

As the Trump administration scrambles to tamp down reports (via the New York Times) that the National Security Council and the State Department were caught flat-footed by President Trump inviting Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte to the White House, details included in the State Department's…

This week, the State Department released an annual report on compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC). The most notable findings in the report, which covers Russia, Iran, and Syria, not surprisingly relate to Syria. The report states unequivocally that the "United States assesses that…

In the aftermath of the chemical weapons attacks in Idlib province and the subsequent response of cruise missile strikes on a Syrian airbase authorized by President Trump, both National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have asserted that the Syrian government has…

Despite repeated public pronouncements from President Obama, Susan Rice, and others in the Obama administration that a 2013 deal with Russia and Syria had "eliminated Syria's declared chemical weapons program," the evidence from continued attacks increasingly and overwhelmingly contradicts this…

While reports Monday said the Pentagon delivered plans to President Trump with options to ramp up the war against the Islamic State, an escalation of sorts is already in motion during the latter half of February. Information from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) concerning coalition air strikes in…

As the Trump administration rolled back President Obama's guidelines to public schools regarding transgender students' access to the bathroom of their choice, a new rule from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has taken effect to ensure that transgender individuals have full…

In the final week of the Obama administration, the Treasury Department made unannounced payments totaling $375 million to Dow Chemical and Boeing to reimburse the two Department of Energy (DOE) contractors for judgments awarded in the 2016 settlement of a lawsuit dating all the way back to 1990. A…

Monday morning, Stephen Hayes broke news of Republican accusations that Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer went back on a promise to allow an Inauguration Day vote on the confirmation of Rep. Mike Pompeo to head the CIA. Witnesses told of an angry exchange between Senator Tom Cotton and Schumer…

A file consisting of over 500 pages of heavily reacted documents was posted to the FBI's Freedom of Information Act website Wednesday. The subject of many of the documents is a mystery due to the redaction, but the investigation into Bill Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich and a 2006 incident involving…

As John Kerry wraps up his tenure as secretary of state, he seems determined to defend his and President Obama's legacy regarding the conflict in Syria. At this week's U.S. Institute of Peace's conference, Judy Woodruff asked Kerry about the perception that U.S. leadership could not be relied on…

Just days after the U.S. military confirmed the existence of an Islamic State (ISIS) drone factory in Iraq, the coalition targeted four more "unmanned aerial vehicle [UAV] construction facilities." The first drone factory was located near Mosul, while the more recent targets were closer to Tal…

To promote Barack Obama's final public address as president Tuesday in Chicago, the White House invokes a tradition established by the Father of Our Country, President Washington. "Since George Washington, U.S. presidents have often delivered a final address to the American people," the White House…

The United States military has confirmed what previously was only hinted at: the Islamic State, otherwise known as ISIS, is producing its own drones—and they are weaponized. A "rocket and unmanned aerial vehicle factory" was among the many targets hit by the coalition near Mosul, Iraq this week.

In President Obama's first inaugural address in January 2009, he declared, rather grandly, "We'll restore science to its rightful place..." The president has often prided himself on his devotion to science, and earlier this year the White House posted "100 Examples of Putting Science in Its…

President-elect Trump is set to take office on January 20th. This week, the website of the city of San Francisco's Bay Area Rapid Transit system listed an event marking the inauguration of the soon-to-be 45th president. The event is entitled "Inauguration Day P*ssy March."

President Barack Obama's administration has indisputably done more to advance the LGBT agenda than any prior administration. Ending Don't Ask-Don't Tell for the military, vigorous support of gay marriage, and bathroom choice for the transgendered are only a few of the boxes checked off the LGBT…

In the first reported strike of its kind, U.S. Central Command (CENTOM) targeted an Islamic State (ISIS) drone facility in the ongoing offensive against the terrorist organization. The attack on the "unmanned aerial vehicle [UAV] facility" near Mosul, Iraq was listed among other routine targets in…

As Barack Obama's tenure as president comes to a close, his administration is not backing off the apocalyptic climate-change rhetoric. The same week that the president used executive action to ban new offshore oil and gas drilling in federally controlled areas of the Arctic and and Atlantic oceans,…

The U.S. State Department updated its travel warning for Ukraine this week, backing off a recommendation that U.S. citizens currently in Crimea and the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk leave the area. The warning posted Wednesday advises U.S. citizens "to avoid all travel to" those regions of…

As Bashar al-Assad's government in Syria celebrates the retaking of Aleppo amidst a horrific humanitarian disaster, President Obama and his administration are increasingly taking heat for ineffective action in the face of the crisis. But just a month ago, the president seemed to suggest that if it…

The White House Monday is going directly after the couch-sitting, video-game-playing consumer in an effort to boost Obamacare sign-ups before an enrollment deadline later this week. The Obama administration recruited Shaquille O'Neal, retired NBA center, to play point for the first-ever "White…

Keith Ellison, currently the most prominent name being floated as the next head of the Democratic National Committee, has long faced criticism for his connections to Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam, as well as other anti-Semitic individuals. Recent scrutiny of Ellison's past associations…

An unadvertised (so far) sale is underway at the Hillary Clinton campaign store, including the "Woman Card" the campaign issued in April to tweak Donald Trump. When the card was introduced, the campaign wrote:

As more and more of Hillary Clinton's emails come to light, previously obscure connections with and influences on Clinton during her tenure as secretary of state have also arisen. The latest batch of emails revealed one such case involving Clinton's daughter Chelsea and, by extension, the Clinton…

One of the more humorous aspects of the Hillary Clinton email kerfuffle has been the former secretary of state's penchant for asking various staffers to print out her emails (the federal government's Paperwork Reduction Act notwithstanding) with the short instruction "Pls print." A search for the…

A computer-related "theft of information" at the Clinton Foundation, confirmed by United States Secret Service personnel but so far denied by the Foundation, is prompting new questions about the Clintons' use of public resources for Hillary Clinton's private email server. The cyber crime committed…

When long-time Hillary Clinton aide and confidant Huma Abedin came under fire in 2012 for alleged links to a radical Islamic group, the legendary Clinton damage-control squad sprang into action, with one member of the unofficial team telling another, "We don't f*ck around when it comes to Huma."

The Obama administration has tried to put a good face on the news this week that Obamacare premiums are spiking an average of 25 percent for 2017. The department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the increases under the heading, "More Than 70 Percent of Consumers Can Find Marketplace…

Despite Hillary Clinton's repeated assurances that her use of a personal email account and server was not an issue in the security and preservation of her correspondence as secretary of state, evidence continues to pile up to the contrary. Not only did Secretary Clinton use her own personal…

As recently as last month, the White House insisted that illegal immigrants are "are not eligible to collect benefits associated with the Affordable Care Act." But undocumented immigrants accessing the Obamacare website, Healthcare.gov, could be forgiven if they thought otherwise.

New figures released by the Census Bureau Thursday show undergraduate and graduate enrollment at colleges and universities dropped 1.2 million—or 6 percent—from 2010 to 2015. The drop accompanies an overall decrease in school enrollment at all levels from 78.6 million to 77.1 million during the…

A Secret Service agent assigned to protect former President Bill Clinton performed "network assessments" and information technology troubleshooting for the Clinton Foundation and also provided research on security issues for Bill and Hillary Clinton's email server in Chappaqua, New York. These…

John Kerry painted a dire picture of impending climate doom Friday in Kigali, Rwanda. At a meeting of parties to the 1987 Montreal Protocol, an early climate agreement, the secretary of state said in part:

Just a few weeks ago, Secretary of State John Kerry admitted that "one of the most successful environmental agreements in history" was actually now a huge driver of climate change. Late last week, Kerry went further, saying that "HFCs [hydrofluorocarbons], which was supposed to be the solution,…

The federal government's National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is hosting a series of three "Edit-A-Thons" to "improve Wikipedia entries related to gender equality." The collaboration is part of NARA's "Amending America" initiative celebrating the 225th anniversary of the Bill of…

The Russian government's alleged involvement in disrupting or influencing the 2016 elections in the United States is one factor that prompted the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to offer cybersecurity services to state, county and local election agencies. Just a month out from the elections,…

In Donald Trump's "apology" for his vulgar and sexually-charged "locker room" comments caught on tape in 2005, the Republican nominee for president asserted that his opponent's spouse, Bill Clinton, "said far worse to me on the golf course—not even close." At least one other golf partner of the…

"You put the 'B' in LGBT"—these lyrics from a song performed in the White House last week encapsulate the message of the third annual Bisexual Community Briefing hosted by the Obama administration.

On July 28, 2009, newly elected President Obama made a "guarantee" during an AARP town hall pushing the then-newly introduced Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare:

As reported, the White House Friday struck "Israel" from a press release concerning the location (Jerusalem) of the memorial service for former prime minister Shimon Peres. But the White House has not always been so successful in "correcting" what it apparently believes is an error. A July 2015…

Now that Secretary of State John Kerry has the Paris Agreement on climate change under his belt, he has set his sights on amending the 1987 Montreal Protocol that phased out "ozone-depleting substances" (ODS) such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and halons to help close the ozone hole over the…

In keeping with Hillary Clinton's quest to attract Millennials, her campaign store now offers an adult coloring book for sale for $15. Although the description reads "For Hillary supporters of all ages," the coloring book is clearly in the style targeted at post-adolescent amateur artists.

Secretary of State John Kerry addressed fellow world leaders Wednesday at an "Entry into Force" event for the United Nations Paris Agreement on climate change with a salutation that sounded like a throwback to 1970s Saturday morning cartoons: "Thank you, warriors for the planet," he praised the…

The words President Obama used to sell his signature initiative, Obamacare—"if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor"—may end up the most memorable of his eight years in office. But according to information posted on Healthcare.gov, this "guarantee" from the president was wholly without…

Last Friday's document release by the FBI revealed a stark contradiction between then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's signed Classified Information Nondisclosure Agreement and her July statements to FBI agents, as THE WEEKLY STANDARD reported. Clinton told the FBI that she could not recall…

Either Hillary Clinton lied to the FBI or she lied on a State Department form as she began her tenure as Secretary of State. This conclusion appears inescapable after Friday's FBI document release related to the Clinton email investigation.

During Secretary of State John Kerry's first official visit to Bangladesh, he met with top Bangladeshi government officials and held a press conference at the Edward M. Kennedy Center in Dhaka. In light of recent terror attacks in that country, Kerry addressed the problem of terrorism, including…

The phrase "Lock her up" has become a common chant at Donald Trump campaign rallies when the Republican nominee talks about his opponent Hillary Clinton, but generally Trump and other speakers have tried to redirect supporters to "beat her" in November.

"If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor" was President Barack Obama's signature catchphrase he used to sell the Affordable Care Act to the American people. Now Obamacare's flagship website, healthcare.gov, no longer even addresses the issue.

Secretary of State John Kerry, in Nairobi, Kenya for discussions on regional security and counterterrorism issues, made a "birther" joke about President Obama during a joint appearance with the Kenyan foreign minister Monday.

Less than two months after Iran received $400 million in foreign currency in January, the world's top state sponsor of terror acquired another $1.3 billion in cash from the United States, based on statements of U.S. government officials.

For months, Donald Trump has been talking about how the political system in the United States is "rigged." Now his campaign is looking for "election observers" to prevent "Crooked Hillary Clinton" from "rigging the election" in November.

Under the category "with friends like these," Jack Moss, founder of the Black Hat and DefCon hacking conferences, called Hillary Clinton "the devil we know" while headlining a Las Vegas fundraiser for the Democratic candidate for president Wednesday night. Moss's comments echoed remarks Donald…

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the transfer of $400 million in cash for Iran in January coincided with not only the implementation of the Iran nuclear deal but with the release of American detainees as well. The cash came not from sanctions relief, but from the settlement of a…

The Hillary Clinton campaign released revised versions of four campaign pins that had been quickly withdrawn from sale late last week apparently due to inadvertent offensive messages. As THE WEEKLY STANDARD reported Friday, Clinton's online store introduced a collection of pins created by…

The Hillary Clinton campaign is holding a fundraiser in Las Vegas this week during the annual Black Hat "global information security event." The announcements says that participants include Jeff Moss, the founder of Black Hat; Michael Sulmeyer, who, according to CSO Online is the Clinton campaign's…

The same day the Hillary Clinton campaign store introduced a new collection of pins designed by various artists and graphic designers, The Forty-Five Pin Project, the collection is already one short. Within hours of listing the collection Thursday, the pins designated by Polish artist Agniezka…

As Hillary Clinton prepared this week to become the first woman in U.S. history to be nominated for president by a major political party, her campaign reposted a video ad on Twitter originally produced by the Hillary for President campaign late in 2015. The ad, titled "44 boys is too many",…

Former President Bill Clinton spoke Tuesday evening at the Democratic National Committee Convention in Philadelphia, the same night his wife Hillary received the Democratic nomination for president. Around that time or shortly thereafter, the Donald Trump campaign website briefly added a press…

Last Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry met in Washington with leaders of forty-five nations to discuss the Islamic State, which he calls "ISIL," and terrorism. Refering to that meeting, Kerry said Friday during a remarks at the Vienna International Center in Austria that working on climate…

Secretary of State John Kerry met with Russian President Vladimir Putin Thursday in Moscow, a meeting that stretched to one in the morning, according to Kerry. Although the session centered on Syria and restoring the "cessation of hostilities", spokesperson John Kirby noted that Kerry also raised…

Thursday marks the one year anniversary of the Iran nuclear deal with China, Russia, Germany, France, Great Britain, and the United States. The deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), has been controversial since its inception. Critics say that the deal gives Iran far too…

The New York Times reported this week that the Democratic super PAC American Bridge had discovered plagiarism in a real estate investing publication produced and used by Donald Trump's Trump Institute in 2006. While Alan Garten, Trump's attorney, said that "obviously" Trump was not aware of the…

FBI Director James Comey delivered a litany of damaging findings Monday from the bureau's investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of personal email while serving as secretary of state. Not only did Clinton violate numerous security protocols, but many of the statements made by Clinton and her…

Donald Trump is no stranger to conspiracy theories. Mother Jones recently reported some of Trump's thoughts on asbestos. The toxic material "got a bad rap," Trump wrote in his 1997 book The Art of the Comeback, adding that he believed the mafia was behind the asbestos removal frenzy because…

President Obama hosted the 2015 WNBA champion Minnesota Lynx at the White House on Monday for the third time in five years. As the president wound down his remarks praising the players for the examples they set for young people, he quoted one of the Lynx's players, Maya Moore:

The State Department just released a "guide for educators to create gender-inclusive classrooms" for use by teachers and schools around the world. While the document is titled "Creating Supportive Learning Environments for Girls and Boys," the wording sometimes attempts to take into account recent…

On May 18, the Department of the Interior announced a contract award of $329,042 for Tonkawa Indian Casino Hotel parking lot project. The casino, located in Tonkawa, OK, is owned and run by the Tonkawa tribe. Although the money comes from federal highway funds, the tribe has the discretion to use…

Secretary of State John Kerry and Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew are in China for two days of talks on a variety of issues with his Chinese counterparts. In his opening remarks for the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, Kerry said the Americans and the Chinese are increasingly anxious…

Celebrating the start of National Ocean Month Wednesday, Secretary of State John Kerry spoke to students at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland. The group he addressed included the Chesapeake Bay Regional Champions of the Ocean Science Bowl, as well as the winners of the…

While Secretary of Veterans Affairs Bob McDonald is under fire for comments minimizing the impact of wait times for veterans seeking care at veterans' health care facilities, over the past eight years the VA has spent upwards of $2 million to building "smoking shelters" at various VA locations…

Politico, the Virginia-based media organization, launched subscription-based Politico Pro in 2011. In the intervening years, the federal government has increasingly come to rely upon Politico Pro as the go-to publication to keep abreast of information and developments relating to a wide spectrum of…

Most students headed to college in the fall have applied for financial assistance via the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). The process can be complicated and confusing for high school seniors who may be thinking about paying their own bills for the first time, but the government…

Secretary of State John Kerry took part Monday in a multilateral meeting on the future of Libya, a country perennially riven by war, crime, and terrorism. The nations represented at the meeting gathered to show support for the Government of National Accord currently attempting to establish order in…

Earlier today Secretary of State John Kerry addressed the staff of the U.S. Embassy in Vienna, Austria, where much of the work on last year's Iran nuclear deal took place. Kerry often addresses the embassy staff as he travels from country to country, thanking them for their behind the scenes work…

At an Anti-Corruption Summit in London recently, Secretary of State John Kerry lumped in the U.S. electorate along with others around the world who are "angry" because of a "sense that the system is rigged." Kerry said that the "extremism that we see in the world today comes in no small degree from…

Secretary of State John Kerry recently spoke at the Oxford Union and addressed a range of issues from climate change to extremism to political corruption. During the question and answer after Kerry's remarks, one audience member asked the secretary of state to name the "proudest achievements of the…

The Maryland Health Connection is the state's Obamacare Marketplace. Monday, an agency press release noted that Maryland "has cut by 40 percent the number of Marylanders who were eligible for private insurance coverage when the state marketplace began three years ago." However, the breakdown of…

Global Engagement (formerly known as Think Again, Turn Away) is the State Department's anti-terrorism communications division specializing in social media messaging to dissuade would-be terrorists from joining ISIS or similar groups. Tuesday, the Global Engagement Twitter account tweeted a link to…

The State Department announced Monday that the agency found no emails to or from Bryan Pagliano, Hillary Clinton's IT specialist, while Clinton was secretary of state.

Tuesday the Washington Free Beacon reported that the Hillary Clinton campaign paid Nevada-based American Document Destruction $187 for document and/or computer hard drive destruction. The payments are reported on documents filed with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) by the campaign.

During the final days of Ted Cruz’s now defunct campaign, the GOP's presumptive nominee Donald Trump repeatedly raised and amplified a largely debunked story in the National Enquirer linking Cruz's father Rafael to John F. Kennedy's assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. The story is based on a photo…

Donald Trump created a stir in Indiana Thursday by touting an endorsement by boxing legend (and convicted rapist) Mike Tyson (via the IndyStar):

While announcing new humanitarian aid for Iraq, the Obama administration has acknowledged that nearly 10 percent of the Iraqi population, or 3 million people, is living in territory controlled by ISIS (or ISIL).

Responding to a journalist's inquiry at a press availability in Bahrain with Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa, Secretary of State John Kerry said that, based on the nuclear deal struck with Iran, "now there is no path to the nuclear weapon."

The COP 21 climate conference held in Paris in December was no low-budget affair. Two different expenditures for hotels alone for the gathering came to over $2.5 million. A single contract alone came to almost $2 million. That contract involved five different hotels and totaled and estimated…

At least since President Obama referred to the Islamic State (ISIS/Daesh) as a "JV" team, his administration has been criticized for approaching the rapidly expanding terror organization with a lack of seriousness. Especially in light of last week's San Bernardino slaughter, the State Department's…

The Pentagon Friday announced the death of Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler, a soldier who had been serving in Operation Inherent Resolve in Iraq. He died of wounds received during a hostage rescue mission. But in keeping with the Obama administration's insistence that the president ended combat…

Secretary of State John Kerry spoke Wednesday at a Department of Energy event at the U.S. Navy Heritage Center in Washington, D.C., where he noted the official implementation of the nuclear deal reached with Iran this summer. Throughout the negotiations with Iran, that country's religious leader,…

In May 2014, French foreign minister Laurent Fabius declared during a joint appearance with Secretary of State John Kerry that "we have 500 days to avoid climate chaos." Late last week, time ran out. Fabius's original remarks were as follows:

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) confiscated a record 67 firearms located in passengers' carry-on baggage during the week of September 11, 2015. On September 11 alone, ten guns were found. Out of the 67 firearms found during the week, 56 were loaded and 26 actually had a round…

The latest official report of a drone in the possession of the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) is tucked in an August 3rd press release from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), the overseers of the air campaign in Syria and Iraq against the terrorist organization. 

Secretary Kerry passed up the opportunity this week to recognize one of the most important holidays on the Jewish calendar, Rosh Hashanah. In recent weeks, however, Kerry took time to recognize the Independence/National Days of Guatemala, Papua New Guinea, and Andorra, among others. He also issued…

Weekend remarks concerning Russia's current activities in Syria by Gen. Philip Breedlove, commander of U.S. European Command and NATO's supreme allied commander, are far from reassuring. Speaking to reporters after NATO's Military Committee Conference in Istanbul on Saturday, Breedlove…

In a tweet calling for a constitutional amendment to reverse the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, Hillary Clinton inadvertently invited supporters to "Stand with Hillary and overturn Planned Parenthood." While the main part of the tweet (archived here) says "Overturn Citizens United", the…

In the 1990s, Hillary Clinton famously accused a "vast right-wing conspiracy" of trying to bring down her husband, President Bill Clinton. Emails from Mrs. Clinton's tenure as secretary of state demonstrate that the specter of a conspiracy of some sort continued to haunt her years later.

Details of President Obama's travel to Warren, Michigan this Wednesday intended only for the press are revealed in an apparent inadvertent posting of a media advisory on the White House website over the weekend. The posting, which includes a reminder that "MEDIA LOGISTICS BELOW ARE FOR PLANNING…

On Wednesday, according to a report by WJLA in Washington, "Barvetta Singletary, a White House staffer, resigned today following assault charges." This dramatic news, however, received scant coverage in the major media. As of Thursday morning, only The Hill and Roll Call had covered the…

Presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton finds herself under growing scrutiny over the classified contents of dozens of emails (perhaps hundreds once the State Department finishes releasing them all) she sent and received as head of the State Department. As it turns out,…

StemExpress is the bio-medical company featured in a number of the undercover videos released by the Center for Medical Progress in connection with its Planned Parenthood exposé on fetal organ and tissue harvesting. StemExpress made several changes to its website last week, some cosmetic but others…

In apparent retaliation for Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush's statements critical of Planned Parenthood, the Democratic party has launched an attack on crisis pregnancy centers. A blog post on Democrats.org said that crisis pregnancy centers "have zero understanding of what women’s…

President Obama spent two days in Ethiopia on his recent four-day trip to Africa. To house the president and his entourage during their stay, the government required four hotels costing over $1.3 million. 

Advertisements in Japanese for handbags, backpacks, running shoes, and more began showing up on the website of the U.S. National Archives this week. Hackers managed to compromise a subdomain of the site, eisenhower.archives.gov. Below are screen captures of just two of the unauthorized pages:

Since news broke of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server, Mrs. Clinton and her campaign have sought to downplay the significance of using non-government equipment to conduct electronic correspondence as the nation's top diplomat. During her first press…

Hillary Clinton may be looking to tweak her opposition, or perhaps just to turn the page on her infamous 1992 campaign comment, "I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies and had teas" with the latest item for sale in her campaign store. A cookie cutter in the shape of Mrs. Clinton's…

Last week, THE WEEKLY STANDARD reported on a $412,000 contract for 1,280 sleeping room nights at the Hilton Hotel in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital. However, at least two other hotels were booked for the visit, and a fourth hotel was also used, although no contract has yet been posted. The new…

The websites of several federal government agencies, including the National Weather Service (NWS), are unprotected from scammers looking to exploit a security weakness to fool potential victims. The sites in question allow what are known as "unvalidated redirects." An unvalidated redirect is a link…

President Obama visited Kenya and Ethiopia during his recent trip to Africa, and the hotel bill for the president and his entourage totaled approximately $412,390.86 for the Ethiopia stay alone. A contract with the Hilton in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa was posted online recently:

While cyber security incidents and computer system breaches such as the recent Office of Personnel Management (OPM) hack grab the headlines, a recent government reports shows that more mundane non-cyber incidents have skyrocketed as well. A graphic in a recent Government Accountability Office…

The federal agency that oversees individuals on probation, parole or supervised release in Washington, D.C., is looking to expand options for "counseling and behavioral interventions" for offenders under its charge. The Court Services and Offender Supervision Agency for the District of Columbia…

Although Planned Parenthood's most recent controversy revolves around "fetal tissue" trafficking, the organization is no stranger to eyebrow-raising activities. A recent solicitation for participants for Planned Parenthood's Sexual Health Evaluation (SHE) study promised at least $70 with a chance…

When the president of the United States travels, the White House and the Secret Service bring along a tremendous amount of communications equipment. Not only does the Secret Service set up a command post to coordinate communications for the visits, but secure connections are also needed for the…

When Hillary Clinton first launched her campaign in April, THE WEEKLY STANDARD reported that her website was asking for donations up to $2,700 on the English version of the site, but only up to $250 on the Spanish language version. Within hours after the story was published, the…

The State Department will hang the Cuban flag in the lobby of the State Department building on Monday in recognition of the imminent reopening of the communist nation's embassy in Washington. The AP's Matt Lee reports:

In the midst of revelations about a massive data breach at the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), the agency awarded a $4.3 million two-month contract extension to Northrop Grumman for the OPM's Data Warehouse Program (DWP). According to the award documents, the follow-on contract includes…

As he has for much of his post-presidency, Bill Clinton was on the road again in June, traveling to Europe at the end of the month for various conferences and other public appearances. After a few days in London, the president popped over to Paris for a day or two to shop at Hermès, a well-known…

 The Iran nuclear talks deadline was recently extended for a week until July 7 according to the Associated Press. This extension could conceivably raise the already enormous financial cost of the diplomatic home-stretch effort even higher. Even before the extension was granted, contracts for…

Although President Obama has not yet fulfilled his promise to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the population there is gradually shrinking as detainees are repatriated or released into the custody of foreign governments. The Miami Herald noted recently that of 116 remaining…

Justice Anthony Kennedy, while dictating one of the most sweeping social changes in history in his opinion in the Obergefell v. Hodges case that legalized same-sex marriage across America, waxes magnanimous towards foes of the expansion of the millennia-old definition of marriage. He said those who…

If the world is looking for a go-to expert on links between Twitter and heart health, the University of Pennsylvania might just be the place. Earlier this year, The Telegraph reported on a study entitled "Psychological Language on Twitter Predicts County-Level Heart Disease Mortality" conducted at…

A top commander in southwest Asia reminded U.S military personnel stationed in Muslim countries in the Middle East of the restrictions placed on them during Ramadan. According to a report by the U.S. Air Forces Central Command Public Affairs, Brig. Gen. John Quintas, 380th Air Expeditionary Wing…

Bill and Hillary Clinton vacationed in the Dominican Republic around New Years, visiting at least two exclusive resorts, Punta Cana and the Casa de Campo. The once-and-possibly-future first couple spent the week, of course, under the watchful eye of the U.S. Secret Service, but the security…

According to National Security Council (NSC) chief of staff Suzy George, the NSC is "downsizing," but not "for its own sake." George calls it "right-sizing," a way for the White House to "align our staffing with our strategic priorities." 

Hillary Clinton is offering a chance for one lucky person and a guest to join her for dinner. The campaign is inviting supporters to "chip in" to be automatically entered in the contest, although no contribution is required:

Neil S. Rodgers, a former D.C. government official, was sentenced Tuesday for his role in the misappropriation of $110,000 earmarked for D.C.'s Children at Risk and Drug Prevention Fund to cover a deficit for the 51st State Inaugural Ball for President Obama's inauguration in 2009. Rodgers, found…

A review of $2.8 billion in subsidies paid to health insurers on behalf of Obamacare enrollees during the early days of the program could not verify the accuracy of those payments. The Office of the Inspector General found that during January through April 2014, the Centers for Medicare and…

Hillary Clinton will certainly have supporters at Sunday's rally in Des Moines at the Iowa State Fairgrounds, but could face some stiff competition from another event: the final day of a three-day gun show. The show is one of six being held during 2015 at the fairgrounds, and one of more than a…

A $100,000 donation given to a New York Times charity campaign in 2008 by Bill and Hillary Clinton's family foundation is not included in a Times list of large gifts from various other foundations, such as George Soros's charitable foundation.

The Centers for Disease Control recently announced the availability of $76 million in grants for the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance (NHBS) program. This program is designed to "monitor the HIV epidemic" and detect changes in HIV-risk behaviors among high-risk population groups with an eye…

First, Imagination Playground fell victim to Hillary Clinton's re-announcement of her presidential campaign on Roosevelt Island in New York City this Saturday. Now, comes a second casualty: yoga. Four Freedoms Park has posted notices on its website that the Kids & Family Yoga class scheduled…

A review conducted by the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security found that two and a half years after a scathing report on the state of intra-agency communications in the event of an emergency, "DHS components’ inability to communicate with each other persists."…

Even as diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Russia remain decidedly chilly over the Ukrainian conflict, the State Department is reaching out to "up-and-coming" Russian journalists. A recent $150,000 grant offering from the U.S. embassy in Moscow seeks to establish a program to give Russian…

The Hillary Clinton campaign is looking for some Everyday Americans willing to open up their homes to strangers. On a webpage entitled "Host a Hillary for America Volunteer," the campaign asks for name, email address, phone number and home address for those willing to host a fellow Clinton…

The Obama administration has not been shy about partnering with religious leaders on issues such as poverty, HIV/AIDS prevention, Obamacare, and even climate change. Now the White House is soliciting nominations for an upcoming Champions of Change ceremony to "honor faith leaders who are making a…

President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry both spent two days in April at the Summit of the Americas in Panama, but hotels and transportation for the entire delegation for the conference topped $1.4 million. An estimated total of 3,889 room nights were split between two hotels:…

Bill Clinton, no stranger to controversy, raised eyebrows again with a Clinton Global Initiative gathering last month, as ABC News put it, "at a five-star luxury hotel in Morocco [hosted] by one of the world's most controversial mining companies, criticized for 'serious human rights violations' by…

The speed with which the transgender agenda is moving may end up making the same-sex marriage debate look slow and deliberative by comparison. And now Scholastic, the children's publisher that specializes in distributing and selling books through schools, is poised to bring the issue to a middle…

As former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley emerges as perhaps the most significant threat to Hillary Clinton in her quest for the Democratic nomination for president, the Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation may be trying to downplay O'Malley's connections to the organization. At the…

Disclosure forms filed with the Federal Election Commission by Hillary Clinton provide fascinating details of the remarkable money-making machine that is the once-and-possibly-future first couple. Between January 2014 and the filing of the forms on May 15, 2015 (up to and including a speech by Bill…

As the 2016 Hillary Clinton campaign closed the books on its first month of operations, campaign manager Robby Mook emailed supporters with a rather remarkable claim: Hillary Clinton "didn't have a lot of the usual resources that other candidates might have" to launch a campaign. Tellingly, Mook…

As federal, state, and local governments continue to expand their laws and regulations regarding gender identity, conflicts over religious objections are sure to grow. Judging by an item on the website of the Department of Health and Human Services, one flash point could well be foster parenting.

Hillary Clinton wants you to wish her a Happy Mother's Day -- and maybe send a few dollars her way, as well. Often, organizations that support politicians or candidates (such as the Democrat or Republican National Committees) will solicit such greetings for holidays and special occasions. But in…

In an editorial for the new issue of THE WEEKLY STANDARD, Bill Kristol notes the "ludicrous" "guarantee" Secretary of State John Kerry made last week regarding Iran's so-called breakout capacity towards nuclear weapons. Kerry told Israelis:

Rural Alaska is well known for its wolves, bears, and moose, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has set its sights on a considerably smaller creature: the bed bug. The EPA is prepared to award a grant of up to $100,000 to help Alaska Native Village communities to right bed bug…

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) isn't just about hard hats and safer machinery anymore. The federal government agency charged with regulating workplace conditions has formed an "alliance" with a "national social justice advocacy organization for transgender people"…

Most American wouldn't know a donkey drop from a paddle scoop, but nevertheless, half a million taxpayer dollars will be going to support a cricket league in Afghanistan. The current grant opportunity looks to  build on what was considered a successful 2014 program. The plan is for at least five…

The State Department, through the U.S. Mission to India, is offering a $35,000 grant to develop a workshop for "sharing ideas on the role of editorial cartooning in India and the United States in creating public dialogue" with "print and broadcast journalists, bloggers, citizen journalists, and…

When President Obama visited Jamaica in early April, he held a town hall meeting with "Young Leaders of the Americas" at University of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica. The president made remarks and took questions for only about 75 minutes in the Assembly Hall building on the Mona campus of…

Inevitability is said to be one of Hillary Clinton's hinderances in securing the Democratic party's nomination for president, that she must earn the nomination rather than claim it as a right. But to listen to Mrs. Clinton's recent videotaped message to the South Carolina Democratic Party's…

Shortly after Hillary Clinton announced her candidacy for president, the Clinton Foundation announced: "In light of Secretary Clinton’s decision to run for President, Secretary Clinton has stepped down from the Clinton Foundation board." While Mrs. Clinton was removed from the board (she no longer…

Although neither the White House nor the State Department released statements or posted greetings on the 67th Independence Day of the nation of Israel last Thursday, Vice President Joe Biden did attend the annual Israeli Independence Day Celebration at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington…

A year after news broke of the waiting list scandal at the Veterans Affairs medical facility in Phoenix, Arizona, President Obama finally visited the facility in March. And while they didn't quite roll out the red carpet for the president, they did clean the floors -- and spent $5,000 to do it.

Despite issuing statements commemorating the National Days or Independence Days of nearly 170 countries in the past twelve months, Secretary of State John Kerry allowed the 67th anniversary of the establishment of the nation of Israel to pass without comment. This is the third year in a row Kerry…

Speaking Tuesday at the 45th Annual Washington Conference of the Council of the Americas, Secretary of State John Kerry said that "countries are far more likely to advance economically and socially when citizens have faith in their governments and are able to rely on them for justice and equal…

As Earth Day approaches, the White House is once again pushing action on climate change, presenting a rather stark contrast between action and inaction on carbon emissions. On Monday, the following graphic appeared in a White House tweet, presenting an almost night-and-day difference between the…

Bloomberg's Eli Lake reports Tuesday that the Obama administration kept secret until the beginning of April Iran's two to three month breakout time for a nuclear weapon, saying "the administration only declassified this estimate at the beginning of the month, just in time for the White House to…

The U.S. State Department is looking to design and facilitate a media ethics course for journalists in India, and has even proposed appropriating the name of Robin Thicke's 2013 hit "Blurred Lines" as a title for the course. The U.S. consulate general in Hyderabad, India is looking for a non-profit…

The system of federal and state "exchanges" or "marketplaces" that offer health insurance through the Affordable Care Act lean heavily on "navigators" to guide consumers in their choices. Organizations such as community health centers, legal aid societies, social service groups, church groups and…

Although "life-sized roaring, breathing dinosaurs" may not typically be found at a Presidential Center, visitors to the Clinton Presidential Center will soon find not just one but thirteen of the prehistoric creatures as part of Dinosaurs Around the World, which runs from April 25 to October 18 at…

Every year since 2011, the White House has used tax time to post a "Federal Taxpayer Receipt" showing taxpayers how their federal tax dollars are being spent. President Obama introduced the concept in his 2011 State of the Union address, and Wednesday the White House posted the fifth installment so…

In recognition of Equal Pay Day Tuesday, Betsey Stevenson, a member of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, wrote an entry on the White House blog entitled Five Facts About the Gender Pay Gap. While touching on a number of factors influencing the "gender pay gap," Stevenson cites…

The brand new 2016 presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton will embrace "small donors in early fundraising," according to a Monday Politico story. The second-time presidential candidate wants to "make even small-dollar donors feel like they are part of the inner circle." Based on the campaign's…

Secretary of State John Kerry has often spoken to the Muslim world during his tenure, particularly during the past year as negotiations with Iran have intensified and conflict with the Islamic State has escalated. But what Kerry has not said during the past twelve months is also significant. A…

President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are no longer "broke" if their choice of holiday destinations is any indication. A short article at DominicanToday.com colorfully reports that the famous couple was in the Dominican Republic to "hobnob with tycoons at Dominican…

Citing a lack of cooperation from the Secret Service, Chairman Jason Chaffetz of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform issued subpoenas for two Secret Service agents to testify to the committee about recent security breaches and other disfunction at the agency. Chaffetz said that…

Less than four months ago, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Department of Justice had concluded that the transgendered are among the classes of persons protected, unbeknownst to the framers of the legislation at the time, by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Tuesday's press…

During President Obama's tenure, religious Americans have been increasingly marginalized by an administration that can be intolerant or at least unaccomodating of beliefs that conflict with its policies, regulations, or legislative goals. Perhaps most notably, President Obama campaigned by…

Since Politico, a politics-focused website and newspaper, launched its subscription-based news service Politico Pro in 2011, government agencies have increasingly turned to the service to keep abreast of the latest developments in their spheres of policy. Government records show fiscal year 2011…

A pair of statements about an hour apart on Monday by two top Obama administration officials give a clear if jarring look into the funhouse mirror that is current U.S. policy towards Iran and Israel. The two comments are recorded by CNN senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta on his Twitter…

Since Benjamin Netanyahu's victory in Israel's recent elections, the Obama administration has made its displeasure with the results abundantly clear. To help justify changes in its posture towards Israel, the White House appears anxious to point out what it sees as "divisive" rhetoric and attitudes…

When President Obama attended the G-20 summit in Brisbane, Australia last November, the entire delegation required over 5,000 room nights at five different hotels over the course of the summit, costing $2.1 million. Transporting all those people around Brisbane was not cheap: the State Department…

Sunday night, Stephen Hayes noted (via Twitter) a Times of Israel article that the 2015 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the U.S. Intelligence Communities delivered annually by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper to a Senate committee had "removed Iran and Hezbollah from its list of…

While addressing the press during a visit to Egypt, Secretary of State John Kerry spoke about the ongoing negotiations with Iran over that country's nuclear programs. As he and President Obama have several times in the past, Kerry cited a report that Iran's "Supreme Leader" issued a "fatwa" against…

Secretary of State John Kerry spoke at the Atlantic Council Thursday morning as part of the Road to Paris Climate Series and he compared the certainty of human-caused climate change to the law of gravity and to the temperature at which water freezes. He also questioned the right of anyone to…