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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

South Korea's government reported that North Korea fired another missile over Japan from Sunan, which is located just north of Pyongyang, at 6:30AM local time. From CNN:
The missile flew about 3,700 kilometers (2,300 miles) and reached an altitude of 770 kilometers (480) miles. It landed in the Pacific Ocean, South Korea said.

Disgraced former Democrat Rep. Anthony Weiner's lawyer told a court today that Weiner is not at fault for sexting with a 15-year-old female in North Carolina because she wanted to affect the 2016 presidential election. Weiner's estranged wife is Huma Abedin, failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's closest aide and confidant.

Myanmar government officials have confirmed that the army targeted Rohingya villages in Rakhine state, leaving 40% emptied as of now. From The Guardian:
Of 471 villages targeted in “clearance operations” by the Burmese army since late August, 176 were now empty and at least 34 others partially abandoned, Zaw Htay said.

Authorities decided to ban Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz's (D-FL) IT aide Imran Awan from the House network due to a secret server. From The Daily Caller:
Now-indicted former congressional IT aide Imran Awan allegedly routed data from numerous House Democrats to a secret server. Police grew suspicious and requested a copy of the server early this year, but they were provided with an elaborate falsified image designed to hide the massive violations. The falsified image is what ultimately triggered their ban from the House network Feb. 2, according to a senior House official with direct knowledge of the investigation.

The U.S. Senate has voted to table Sen. Rand Paul's (R-KY) amendment to repeal the 2001 and 2002 war authorizations that have allowed the U.S. military "to fight terrorism across the globe" in everlasting wars. Paul wanted Congress to "reassert its authority to declare war from the Executive Branch." Paul and others, including Democrats, have said that "the Senate is ceding its constitutional war powers" with these amendments.

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives passed amendments to stop the Department of Justice's civil asset forfeiture program, which Attorney General Jeff Sessions introduced in July. The amendments received support from those within the House Freedom Caucus and some of the biggest liberals in Congress.

Last season, quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided to kneel for the national anthem before football games, which led to players to do the same and activists lavished him with praise. He is not playing this year, but some players have decided to continue his actions. While Kaepernick's choice gave him a lot of media attention, Cincinnati Bengals tight end Tyler Eifert decided to explain why he still stands for the national anthem.

Music to our ears! Failed Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton told CBS Sunday Morning that she is through with being a candidate:
Clinton says her career as an active politician is over but says she will stay involved politically. "I am done with being a candidate. But I am not done with politics because I literally believe that our country's future is at stake," she said.

In February, The New York Times reported that agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) established a secret bank fund filled with millions from "a web of shadowy cigarette sales" before it closed in 2013. No one knows for sure how much entered the account because no one tracked it. New unsealed records revealed to the NYT that the scheme was more than just a few agents. Instead, it grew to "a highly unorthodox merger of an undercover law enforcement operation and a legitimate operation."

On Thursday, major national credit-reporting company Equifax revealed that a cyberattack from July exposed personal information of about 143 million U.S. consumers. The company wrote in a statement:
The information accessed primarily includes names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver's license numbers. In addition, credit card numbers for approximately 209,000 U.S. consumers, and certain dispute documents with personal identifying information for approximately 182,000 U.S. consumers, were accessed. As part of its investigation of this application vulnerability, Equifax also identified unauthorized access to limited personal information for certain UK and Canadian residents. Equifax will work with UK and Canadian regulators to determine appropriate next steps. The company has found no evidence that personal information of consumers in any other country has been impacted.