Image 01 Image 03

Author: Mary Chastain

Profile photo

Mary Chastain

Mary is the resident libertarian. She covers stories in every vertical, but her favorite thing to do is take on the media. She saw its bias against the right when she was a socialist.

Mary loves the Chicago Cubs, Chicago Blackhawks, tennis, cats, Oxford comma, Diet Coke, and needlework.

Spanish authorities killed several in Cambrils in an anti-terror operation to stop a second deadly attack only hours after terrorists killed 13 people in Barcelona. From Fox News:
State-owned broadcaster RTVE reported police killed four people and injured another, after police suspected they were planning a second terror attack.

A grand jury has indicted Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz's former IT aide Imran Awan on four counts. The indictment includes his wife Hina Alvi, who escaped to Pakistan with their daughters earlier this year. Authorities arrested Awan at Dulles airport in July, where he planned to fly to Pakistan after he wired almost $300,000 to the country.

The Texas legislature failed to pass a bathroom bill that regulated the use of public restrooms for transgender people after a 29-day special session. There's a possibility that Republican Governor Greg Abbott will call another special session to address this bill along with other issues. From The Associated Press:
When asked if the governor plans to call another special session, a spokesman referred to a Monday radio interview during which Mr. Abbott said, “Obviously, all options are always on the table.”

I came across an article at The Hill that the EPA planned to rewrite a regulation from President Barack Obama's administration that limited toxic waste from power plants. But before the left loses its mind, it's important to note that Energy Secretary Scott Pruitt didn't promise to change anything, just review it.

Did anyone honestly think Iran would not try to find a way to restart its nuclear program? Iranian President Hassan Rouhani threatened that the country would restart the program if the U.S. imposes more sanctions. From The New York Times:
Mr. Rouhani said that a reconstituted nuclear program would be “far more advanced,” a veiled threat that the country could start enriching uranium up to the level of 20 percent, a step toward building a nuclear weapon. Such enrichment activities were a major concern before 2015, when Tehran signed a landmark agreement with the United States and other world powers that lifted crippling economic sanctions in return for severe limits on Iran’s nuclear activities.

Musician Kid Rock has made waves since he hinted that he may challenge Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) in November 2018. But Michigan rules may prohibit the name Kid Rock and force him to use his real name Robert Ritchie. Roll Call reported:
If Ritchie were to submit enough valid signatures to make the ballot and indicate that he wanted to be listed as “Kid Rock,” the Michigan Bureau of Elections staff would have to research the question of whether that name would be allowed. At an initial glance, Ritchie’s stage name isn’t an obviously acceptable one under the state’s criteria.

The majority of females in Iceland choose to murder their unborn child if the down syndrome prenatal test comes back positive, which has led to almost no one left on the island with Down syndrome. Key thing to remember: The people on the island are NOT eliminating Down syndrome. They are murdering people with Down syndrome. In 2009, Thordis Ingadottir became pregnant with her third child when she was 40. The test showed that her child had a slim chance of having Down syndrome, but Agusta was born with it. Only three children born in 2009 in Iceland had Down Syndrome.

The MTA has received some bad press lately with officials asking private companies for money for repairs, massive delays, and derailments. Now members of the Transport Workers Union (TWU) have accused the MTA of storing dead bodies within employee break rooms until emergency responders arrive to the scene.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) shocked the country last year when he said he planned to step down from his seat. Now those in his GOP-dominated district will hit the polls on Tuesday to determine the GOP candidate for the special election, who will probably have no problem winning next November. Who will win tomorrow? The GOP establishment has backed a candidate "with a Democratic past" while two other candidates have received backing "from national GOP heavy-hitters." Massive money donations from outside super PACs have also helped narrow the lead from the establishment pick.

A report from Politico shows that national security officials warned former President Barack Obama of Russian interference in Western political systems, including the United States. Politico reported:
As early as 2014, the administration received a report that quoted a well-connected Russian source as saying that the Kremlin was building a disinformation arm that could be used to interfere in Western democracies. The report, according to an official familiar with it, included a quote from the Russian source telling U.S. officials in Moscow, "You have no idea how extensive these networks are in Europe ... and in the U.S., Russia has penetrated media organizations, lobbying firms, political parties, governments and militaries in all of these places."

The last 14 months or so have not been kind to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz. First the DNC had emails leaked, which led to her losing her position as chairwoman. Then she caught fire when she kept IT aide Imran Awan on her payroll even after the FBI placed him under an investigation for stealing equipment and breaching the House IT system. She didn't fire him until officials arrested him on bank fraud charges. Now her party wants nothing to do with her. Some members spoke to Politico and put their names on their statements.

Radio host, TV host, and NRA spokeswoman has had quite a week. Journalists caused outrage after they claimed she said she wanted to fist The New York Times (she actually said fisk). Huffington Post's Yashar Ali penned a great and gracious apology on Twitter to Dana for his mistake. Now others have gone after Loesch for her explanation of the death of Philando Castile, including Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY).