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Author: Mary Chastain

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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.

German authorities have detained an alleged high-ranking member of the Islamic State in Mutterstadt in Rhineland Palatinate state, located near the French border. https://twitter.com/SarahHarman53/status/763035694025609216

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced at a rally that he would approve the death penalty if parliament votes to bring it back:
“If the parliament accepts the reintroduction of death penalty, I will accept it,” he told the crowd, adding that the death penalty exists in the U.S., Japan and “many other countries.” “If the people want death penalty, I think the political parties will also accept it,” he also said, as he noted that the death penalty existed until 1984 in Turkey.

The Belgium government has opened a terrorism investigation into the machete attack on Saturday that injured two female cops in Charleroi. A third cop shot and killed the attacker. The attacker, a 33-year-old Algerian, yelled "Allahu Akbar!" when he attacked the females. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the man.

The Washington Post once again called out Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's claims that the FBI confirmed the FBI confirmed all of her public comments have "been consistent and truthful with what I've told them." Hillary responded today by saying she "short-circuited" over response:
"That's really the bottom line here. And I have said during the interview and many other occasions over the past months, that what I told the FBI, which he said was truthful, is consistent with what I have said publicly," Clinton explained Friday. "So I may have short-circuited it and for that, I, you know, will try to clarify because I think, you know, Chris Wallace and I were probably talking past each other because of course, he could only talk to what I had told the FBI and I appreciated that."

A Turkish court has officially issued an arrest warrant for Fehtullah Gülen, an Islamic scholar who resides in Pennsylvania, over the failed coup a few weeks ago. The government insists he and his followers coordinated it even though they have not given out concrete evidence. Officials have sent extradition documents to the U.S. over Gülen at least twice.

The Department of Justice did not want the Obama administration to send $400 million as Iran released four Americans due to the image it may portray. The administration struck down the request:
The timing and manner of the payment raised alarms at the Justice Department, according to those familiar with the discussions. “People knew what it was going to look like, and there was concern the Iranians probably did consider it a ransom payment,’’ said one of the people.

PETA never misses an opportunity to spread their propaganda! They have chosen golfer Andrew Johnston as their latest target, whose nickname "Beef" has sent the animal rights group into a tizzy. They want him to change his nickname to Tofu. Yes....TOFU. They even asked him to become a vegan.

Authorities in Washington, D.C., arrested a Metro officer who allegedly attempted to help ISIS with material support. Officials have never arrested a member of law enforcement before for helping the group. Nicholas Young, 36, lived in Fairfax, VA, and met an FBI informant 20 times. He passed on "22 digital gift cards to this person for intended use with mobile messaging accounts that ISIS uses in recruiting."

Australian artist Lushsux has removed his mural of Hillary Clinton after the local council voted on it. He first put her in a very revealing swimsuit, but placed a burqa on it when the council first told him to paint over it. https://twitter.com/lushsux/status/760235998353559552

The U.S. sent $400 million to Iran in January just as the country decided to release four Americans. The administration claims they did not pay a ransom, but many have raised their eyebrows. President Barack Obama said the payment "represented the first installment of a $1.7 billion settlement the Obama administration reached with Iran to resolve a decades-old dispute over a failed arms deal signed just before the 1979 fall of Iran’s last monarch, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi."

The Dallas Police Department lost five officers on July 7, but instead of people backing away from the job, the department still receives applications from people to join the force. Officials received 467 applications days after the attack with more coming in each week.

Jessica McClard in Fayetteville, AR, decided to open the Little Free Pantry in her neighborhood, which supplies food and hygiene items to those in need. She said:
“I check on it about once every day because it’s at the church,” McClard told ABC News of the small structure located in front of the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Fayetteville. “I know it turns over in about 30 minutes. That suggests to me that are more people on the demand side than the supply side.”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has continued his rhetoric that the West had a hand in the failed coup three weeks ago. Why is all of this important? Turkey is still a member of NATO and the U.S. uses their base to strike ISIS in Syria. He said:
"The West is supporting terrorism and taking sides with coups," Erdogan said, adding that forces unhappy with Turkey's rise as a regional power were behind the coup.

The Department of Defense inspector general found that the Pentagon cannot maintain proper bookkeeping on expenses, which means they have not audited $6.5 TRILLION they spent on wars, equipment, etc. Lorin Venable, the assistant inspector general wrote:
Army and Defense Finance and Accounting Service Indianapolis personnel did not adequately support $2.8 trillion in third quarter adjustments and $6.5 trillion in yearend adjustments made to the Army General Fund data during FY2015 financial statement compilation. We conducted this audit in accordance with generlly accepted government auditing standards.

Wyatt Gillette, 8, passed away on Sunday a day after the Marines made him an Honorary Marie at Camp Pendleton in California. He always wanted to become a Marine like his father. https://twitter.com/GinaAHarkins/status/759910248148705280