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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 September 19, 2017 25 Comments
For almost a year, the Myanmar army has conducted "clearance operations" in Rokhine state against the Muslim Rohingya minority. 417,000 of those who survived have fled to Bangladesh, telling stories of rape and murder in their villages. The UN and human rights groups have described the situation as genocide and ethnic cleansing. De facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, has largely remained silent. But on Tuesday she broke that silence with a speech that is laughable, mainly because she said she has no idea why the Rohingya have fled to neighboring Bangladesh.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 18, 2017 53 Comments
Failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton appeared on NPR's Fresh Air to plug her memoir What Happened. She told host Terry Gross that would not rule out questioning the legitimacy of the 2016 presidential election if more proof comes out that Russia did meddle in the election. Former FBI James Comey also comes up in the conversation and yes, Hillary pointed the finger at him...again.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 18, 2017 14 Comments
In July, major national credit-reporting company Equifax was hit by a cyberattack that exposed personal information of about 143 million U.S. consumers. Three executives at the company sold shares that totaled $1.8 million only a few days after the company learned of the breach. However, Equifax didn't reveal details about the breach until September 7. Now the Department of Justice (DOJ) has reportedly opened an investigation to find out if those executives violated insider trading laws.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 18, 2017 5 Comments
President Donald Trump and U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley spoke today at a UN special forum called "Reforming the United Nations, Security, and Development" to kick off a week of meetings. In his remarks, Trump urged the UN to reform, make results its top focus, and reduce its bureaucracy.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 18, 2017 15 Comments
Wait a second. I thought big banks are bad. Back in 2009, President Barack Obama called those on Wall Street "fat cats," which helped establish an uneasy relationship between banks and the White House. But less than a year out of office, Obama has had NO problem taking money from said "fat cats" for his speeches. Obama cannot run for president again, but remains an influence and just how will this affect a party that's already in shambles?

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 17, 2017 5 Comments
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that closing the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Cuba, is under review after numerous diplomats have suffered health problems due to possible sonic attacks. From The Associated Press:
"We have it under evaluation," Tillerson said of a possible embassy closure. "It's a very serious issue with respect to the harm that certain individuals have suffered. We've brought some of those people home. It's under review."

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 17, 2017 12 Comments
Four U.S. female tourists were attacked with acid in France's Marseille main train station on Sunday. Authorities arrested a woman afterwards. From The Associated Press:
Two of the tourists were injured in the face in the attack in the city’s main Saint Charles train station and one of them has a possible eye injury, a spokeswoman for the Marseille prosecutor’s office told The Associated Press in a phone call.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 16, 2017 20 Comments
I've been documenting the horrors that the Rohingya people have endured at the hands of the Myanmar army. This Muslim minority has faced oppression for decades, but the battle to liquidate them has spiked this year. Those who have managed to escape have fled to Bangladesh and have started to speak about what happened when the army raided their villages. The details from Myanmar's "clearance operation" of the Rohingya will make anyone cringe and cry. Officers raping girls over and over, slitting their throats afterwards. They also set fire to villages and shot indiscriminately at those who ran out of the buildings.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 16, 2017 7 Comments
President Donald Trump's administration announced it will fully support the Taylor Force bill, which will stop U.S. funds to the Palestinian Authority until it stops rewarding terrorists that kill Americans and Israelis. From The Associated Press:
The State Department announcement comes nearly six weeks after the Senate Foreign Relations Committee backed the measure. The legislation, which is named after an American who was stabbed to death in Israel by a Palestinian, reflects bipartisan outrage over what lawmakers have termed a “pay to slay” program endorsed by the Palestinian Authority.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 15, 2017 7 Comments
In August, health insurance company Anthem, the nation's second-largest health insurer, decided to leave Obamacare exchanges in Virginia due to "uncertainty about the future of Obamacare" due to "an unbalanced risk pool." Anthem changed its mind on Friday and has decided to stick it out in parts of the commonwealth that would have had no insurers for the residents.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 15, 2017 19 Comments
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have filed a lawsuit on behalf of eleven people against the federal government to end warrantless searches of electronics at the border by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). From The New York Times:
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, claims the plaintiffs’ First and Fourth Amendment rights were violated when United States agents searched, and in some cases confiscated, their devices without a warrant. The government has said those searches happen to fewer than one-hundredth of one percent of international travelers, and that they are authorized by the same laws that allow border agents to look through suitcases without a judge’s approval.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 15, 2017 13 Comments
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) announced today that he is very close to have the votes needed to repeal Obamacare with the bill he coauthored with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC). From The Washington Times:
“We are thinking that we can get this done by Sept. 30,” Sen. Bill Cassidy, Louisiana Republican who co-wrote the bill with Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, said Friday.

Posted by Mary Chastain on September 15, 2017 19 Comments
A homemade bomb went off on a filled London Underground subway car this morning near Parsons Green that left 22 people injured. The police have announced they are treating it as a terrorist attack. From The London Times:
Officers believe that the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device and hundreds of detectives are now investigating, with the assistance of MI5.
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