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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.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 14, 2018 24 Comments
Just because North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un met with President Donald Trump, shook hands, and signed a vague agreement doesn't mean the sanctions against the evil regime will disappear right away. From Reuters:
"President Trump has been incredibly clear about the sequencing of denuclearization and relief from the sanctions," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters after meeting South Korea's president and Japan's foreign minister in Seoul.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 13, 2018 17 Comments
Less than a month after they passed it, Seattle's city council voted to repeal the corporate head tax after facing legitimate pressure from companies like Starbucks and Amazon. The tax would have forced companies that make "more than $20 million a year pay an annual $275 tax per employee." The council predicted the tax would raise $47 million a year for "affordable-housing and homeless services." The city council planned to use that extra tax money to counter the city's growing homeless problem.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 13, 2018 16 Comments
A new Politico/Morning Consult Poll shows the public's image of Special Counsel Robert Mueller has hit an all-time low. Now 53% of the public view him "in an unfavorable light." Maybe because the investigation has gone for over a year and all the charges have led to everything but collusion? Maybe because the American people care about the economy more than anything else?

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 12, 2018 25 Comments
I just rolled my eyes so hard I'm shocked they're not stuck in the back of my head. Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) surgery resident Eugene Gu, 32, became an internet star after he sued President Donald Trump for blocking him on Twitter. Gu tweeted his support for Colin Kaepernick, the ringleader of the NFL's anthem-kneeling protest. Now Dr. Gu claims Vanderbilt refused to renew his contract politics and racism instead of taking responsibility for his actions. Gu's claims don't tell the whole story. The hospital refused to renew Gu's contract due to disciplinary action for "work performance and professionalism."

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 12, 2018 105 Comments
President Trump and Kim Jong Un met at the luxurious Capella Resort on Sentosa island in Singapore and their warm handshake and smiles seem to signal that the days of name-calling and North Korean rocket launching may be over.
“Nice to meet you Mister President,” Kim said as he sat alongside Trump, against a backdrop of North Korean and U.S. flags, beaming more broadly as the U.S. president gave him a thumbs up. Trump said he was sure they would have a “terrific relationship”

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 11, 2018 33 Comments
Remember when the FCC repealed net neutrality last December? Net neutrality supporters went into hyperbole-overload. Some even spewed racial slurs at FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and stalked his house. You would've thought the world, or at the least, the internet would end. The FCC's Restoring Internet Freedom Order went into effect today, June 11, and...the internet is still working. The world is still turning.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 08, 2018 38 Comments
The Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted James Wolfe, the Senate Intelligence Committee's former security director, for allegedly lying to the FBI about possible leaks to three reporters. The FBI investigated how New York Times reporter Ali Watkins "learned that Russian spies in 2013 had tried to recruit Carter Page, a former Trump foreign policy adviser" after she published an article about it at BuzzFeed. Turns out, Watkins and Wolfe had a relationship for three years.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 07, 2018 21 Comments
Senate Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has started to apply pressure on those in her party to oppose the GOP "minibus" spending package that will likely hit the floor on Friday. The minibus bill has "three appropriation bills: Energy and Water, Legislative Branch, and Military Construction and Veterans Affairs." Rejecting this bill could lead to a shutdown.

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 06, 2018 5 Comments
The Argentine soccer team had to cancel a friendly match against Israel in Jerusalem. So I googled "Argentina soccer Israel" and unfortunately I am not shocked to find that many outlets have framed this story as a win for the BDS movement. I hate to break it to you anti-Semites and anti-Israel crowd, but the ACTUAL REASON is because Argentine players received threats that "exceeded those of the Islamic State."

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 06, 2018 11 Comments
President Donald Trump signed the VA MISSION Act into law this afternoon, which gives veterans more health care options in the private sector. Veterans now have the ability "to see private physicians if they do not receive needed treatment from VA medical facilities, as long as it is approved by a health provider."

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 06, 2018 15 Comments
Holy cow. The Associated Press has reported that former President Barack Obama's administration attempted to give Iran access to U.S. banks despite sanctions in place and lied to Congress about said plans. In 2016, a license issued by the Treasury Department gave Iran permission "to convert $5.7 billion it held at a bank in Oman from Omani rials into euros by exchanging them first into U.S. dollars."

Posted by Mary Chastain on June 06, 2018 9 Comments
June 5 was the most important primary night for 2018 with a handful of states hitting the polls. Most eyes stayed on California since the state has a crazy jungle primary, which means the top two candidates will land on the ballot even if they're in the same party. It looks like the important House races in California remain undecided and we won't have an answer for days, which means the GOP could still shut out Democrats in those districts. The Democrats also had a huge blow on the governor's ballot as a Republican grabbed the second spot over a former Los Angeles mayor. What about other states? Here are a few key points I put together from a crazy night.
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