Mary Chastain | Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion - Part 452
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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.

The VA in Tomah, Wisconsin, has become entangled in a scandal after a dentist may have infected veterans with hepatitis or HIV:
Nearly 600 veterans who received care at the Tomah VA may have been infected with several types of disease due to violations in infection control procedures. VA administrators made the announcement Tuesday afternoon at a press conference. The Tomah VA says it's in the process of notifying 592 veterans that they may be infected with Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, or HIV after they received care from one particular dental provider. Acting Medical Center Director Victoria Brahm said the dentist was using his own equipment, then cleaning it and reusing it, which violates the VA's regulations.

President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden received praise when they said neither one would attend the funeral of Cuba's oppressive dictator Fidel Castro. It was too good to be true. It seems Obama used a loophole to avoid sending a U.S. delegation to the funeral...by sending two U.S. officials. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest stated that Obama will send Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes and acting U.S. Ambassador to Cuba Jeffrey DeLaurentis. Despite them being U.S. officials, it is not considered an official U.S. delegation "because the president did not abide by the formal process for naming a delegation." Oh, but it's totally okay because Rhodes planned on traveling to Cuba this week anyway.

Right before I left Breitbart I covered the news about HVAC company Carrier planning on moving its Indianapolis plant to Mexico, cutting over 1,000 jobs. During his campaign, President-elect Donald Trump talked about pushing Carrier to keep the jobs in America. It looks like its a promise he kept because Trump and Carrier announced a deal to keep those jobs in America.

On Monday, Ohio State University student Abdul Razak Ali Artan, 18, plowed his car into a crowd of people. He exited the car and stabbed bystanders, injuring eleven people, before a cop shot and killed him. Authorities have not found a specific motive, but they have started an investigation into Artan's social media posts. It appears he considered American-born Anwar al-Awlaki a hero:
"America! Stop interfering with other countries, especially the Muslim Ummah. We are not weak. We are not weak, remember that," Abdul Razak Ali Artan reportedly wrote on Facebook, using the Arabic term for the world's Muslim community.

President-elect Donald Trump has chosen former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao for Transportation Secretary. Chao served as Labor Secretary under George W. Bush and deputy secretary of transportation under George H. W. Bush. She is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Chao met with Trump last week at Trump Tower where they discussed "labor and transportation issues with a particular focus on America’s long-term infrastructure needs, and reducing or eliminating burdensome regulations."

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest has announced that President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will not attend the funeral for Cuba's oppressive murderous dictator Fidel Castro, who died this weekend:
In an effort to halt a series of questions about the potential attendance of various individual government officials, Earnest would confirm only that the president and vice president would not travel to Cuba for the funeral service. He pointedly refused to rule out that Secretary of State John Kerry would attend, but would not confirm his attendance, either.

Oh how the tables have turned! Only a few weeks ago we talked about vulnerable Republicans, but the election put the GOP in charge of Washington, D.C., leaving the Democrats scrambling for ways to remain relevant. According to The Hill, some of those Democrat politicians who face reelection in 2018 have expressed a willingness "to work with President-elect Donald Trump and Republican colleagues."

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel found Dylan Roof competent to stand trial for the murder of nine black people at a church in Charleston, S.C., last summer. Today, the judge has decided that Roof can represent himself in his trial:
Roof made the last-minute request as jury selection was set to begin this morning. U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel cautioned Roof against serving as his own attorney, noting his defense team's considerable legal expertise, but ultimately granted the request. He noted that Roof has a constitutional right to represent himself.

Media outlets & Ohio State reported an active shooter on campus, but it turns out the suspect mainly used a knife and a car. NBC has released the name of the attacker: Those transported to the hospital had stab wounds:
Ohio State Police Chief Craig Stone said the attacker purposely drove over a curb and into pedestrians. "This was done on purpose," he said. Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs said police were looking into whether it was a terrorist attack.
One official said the man "was a 'legal permanent resident.'"

President-elect Donald Trump has appointed Donald McGahn as White House counsel and Kathleen Troia McFarland as deputy national security advisor. McFarland currently works for Fox News as a national security analyst after working "under three Republican administrations." From The Hill:
“I am proud that KT has once again decided to serve our country and join my national security team,” Trump said in a statement. “She has tremendous experience and innate talent that will complement the fantastic team we are assembling, which is crucial because nothing is more important than keeping our people safe.”