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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 May 22, 2017 29 Comments
*We will update this post through the night* (UPDATES BELOW) An explosion occurred at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England. Police confirmed 19 dead and 50 injured, but have not confirmed exactly what caused the explosion or who caused it. Police have told Sky News that they decided to treat the incident as a "possible terrorist incident" until the officials know otherwise.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 22, 2017 8 Comments
The Turkish government has summoned the U.S. ambassador over a brawl that Turkish bodyguards instigated in front of the Turkish Embassy in Washington, D.C., last week. From USA Today:
In a statement Monday, Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the ambassador was summoned and “a written and verbal protest was delivered due to the aggressive and unprofessional actions taken, contrary to diplomatic rules and practices, by U.S. security personnel toward the close protection team of H.E Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.”

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 22, 2017 23 Comments
The Supreme court has ruled that Republicans in North Carolina used race and not politics when they drew congressional districts in 2011. A lower court ruled the same, which "forced legislators to create new maps last year." The News & Observer continued:
The 5-3 ruling, written by Justice Elena Kagan, is among a series by the justices against the excessive use of race in redistricting that state lawmakers across the country take up every 10 years after the release of new Census data. Justice Clarence Thomas joined the majority, taking a stand with more liberal justices with whom he often disagrees.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 22, 2017 23 Comments
Between 2010-2012, the Chinese government murdered or imprisoned 18 to 20 CIA agents after it demolished America's spying operations within the country. The CIA has been investigating how this happened, whether a mole leaked information to Beijing or the Chinese managed to break our codes. The New York Times reported:
Assessing the fallout from an exposed spy operation can be difficult, but the episode was considered particularly damaging. The number of American assets lost in China, officials said, rivaled those lost in the Soviet Union and Russia during the betrayals of both Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen, formerly of the C.I.A. and the F.B.I., who divulged intelligence operations to Moscow for years.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 22, 2017 9 Comments
President Donald Trump has arrived in Israel, which he will visit for two days. In fact, his flight to Israel from Saudi Arabia is the first non-stop flight between the two countries that have no diplomatic ties. We will publish updates on Trump's visit, a truly historic one since Israel remains our most important ally in the Middle East. Israeli President Reuven Rivlin and his wife Nechama and Prime Minister Netanyahu and his wife Sara greeted Trump and First Lady Melania Trump as the two descended from Air Force One.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 20, 2017 27 Comments
A federal court has thrown out a lawsuit against Irving, TX, and the local school district brought on by Ahmed "Clock Boy" Mohamed and his family after authorities arrested him in September 2015. From Fox News:
The lawsuit alleged that the city of Irving and Irving school district discriminated against Ahmed Mohamed at Irving MacArthur High School in September of 2015. Mohamed, a Muslim teenager who was 14 years old at the time, brought a homemade clock to school to show his engineering teacher. But an alarm on the clock went off in his English class and the teacher confiscated it. He was sent to the principal’s office.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 20, 2017 6 Comments
OKC Thunder star Enes Kanter has tweeted out that Romanian officials have detained him at the airport after Turkey canceled his passport. Kanter has spoken out against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and voiced support for Fetullah Gulen, the preacher Erdogan has blamed for failed coups. From ESPN:
Kanter, who arrived in Bucharest from Jakarta, Indonesia, as part of his 2017 Enes Kanter Light Foundation global tour, posted a video on Twitter in which police officers have "been holding us here for hours." "The reason behind it is just, of course, my political views," Kanter, who turned 25 Saturday, said in the video. "And the guy who did it is Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey."

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 19, 2017 5 Comments
Five years ago, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange sought refuge at the Ecuadorean embassy in London after Sweden launched a rape investigation against him. Today, Swedish officials have dropped the investigation. From The Local Sweden:
In a statement on its website, the Swedish prosecution authority said that the "Director of Public Prosecution, Ms Marianne Ny, has today decided to discontinue the investigation regarding suspected rape (lesser degree) by Julian Assange".

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 19, 2017 11 Comments
The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee has passed Sen. Rand Paul's (R-KY) Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, which means it will finally proceed to the Senate floor. This is a major victory for us who despise too much regulation. From Reason:
Sponsored by Sen. Ran Paul (R-Kentucky), the REINS Act would require every new regulation that costs more than $100 million to be approved by Congress. As it is now, executive branch agencies can pass those rules unilaterally, and even though those major rules account for only 3 percent of annual regulations, they are the ones that cause the most headaches for individuals and businesses.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 19, 2017 14 Comments
*UPDATE* Weiner has pleaded guilty and the judge said "he would have to register as a sex offender. Former Rep. Anthony Weiner has decided to enter a guilty plea in federal court for sexting with a 15-year-old girl. He might have to register as a sex offender. From NBC 4 New York:
Weiner surrendered to the FBI Friday morning, officials familiar with the matter said, and will plead guilty to one count related to transferring obscene material to a minor. Prosecutors are expected to recommend two years in prison, though Weiner's attorneys are likely to ask for probation.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 18, 2017 3 Comments
President Donald Trump has officially alerted Congress that he will begin NAFTA renegotiation talks. This gives Trump's administration, Congress, and businesses a 90 day consultation period before he sits down with Canada and Mexico. From Fox Business:
"Today, President Trump is fulfilling one of his key promises to the American people," U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told reporters on Thursday. In a letter to congressional leaders, Mr. Lighthizer said the administration will start talks with Canada and Mexico as soon as 90 days from Thursday, in line with congressional rules on negotiating trade deals subject to expedited consideration by lawmakers.

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 18, 2017 8 Comments
Roger Ailes, who founded and built news powerhouse Fox News, died today at the age of 77. No one has released a cause of death. His wife released this statement via CNBC:
In a statement to Drudge Report, his wife Elizabeth Ailes said, "I am profoundly sad and heartbroken to report that my husband, Roger Ailes, passed away this morning. Roger was a loving husband to me, to his son Zachary, and a loyal friend to many. He was also a patriot, profoundly grateful to live in a country that gave him so much opportunity to work hard, to rise—and to give back. During a career that stretched over more than five decades, his work in entertainment, in politics, and in news affected the lives of many millions. And so even as we mourn his death, we celebrate his life..."

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 17, 2017 30 Comments
The Department of Justice has appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller III as special counsel to its investigation into possible Russian interference in our presidential election. The Wall Street Journal reported:
Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced the appointment because Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from any investigation related to the 2016 race. Mr. Rosenstein said in a statement that “I determined that it is in the public interest for me to exercise my authority and appoint a Special Counsel to assume responsibility of this matter.”

Posted by Mary Chastain on May 17, 2017 5 Comments
The world faced a massive ransomware attack using WannaCry, an NSA hacking tool last week, which affected 150 countries. While investigating the WannaCry attack, experts found another ongoing cyber attack. The cybersecurity firm Proofpoint said the newly discovered attack, using Adylkuzz, is a lot quieter than WannaCry, but "has likely generated millions of dollars in cryptocurrency for the unknown attackers." ABC News continued:
According to Ryan Kalember, the senior vice president for cybersecurity at Proofpoint, the attack employed the same hacking tools developed by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) and leaked to the public by the hacker group Shadow Brokers in April to exploit vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Windows operating system.
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