Image 01 Image 03
Sign In or RegisterLogout

Author: Mary Chastain

Profile photo

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 March 26, 2017 18 Comments
Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) has resigned from the Freedom Caucus over the GOP healthcare fiasco because he wanted to vote for the bill:
“To deliver on the conservative agenda we have promised the American people for eight years, we must come together to find solutions to move this country forward," Poe said through his congressional office. "Saying no is easy, leading is hard, but that is what we were elected to do. Leaving this caucus will allow me to be a more effective member of Congress and advocate for the people of Texas. It is time to lead."

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 26, 2017 38 Comments
The GOP healthcare bill AHCA failed before Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) could even bring it to the floor. Of course, the Democrats have used this opportunity to gloat and take credit on television, even though they hold the minority in the House and Senate. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi led the charge.

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 26, 2017 2 Comments
Now that the GOP healthcare bill is dead, the administration will more than likely set its eyes on tax reform. However, this could very well end like the healthcare bill. House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) insisted that the party has "more agreement" when it comes to tax reform while Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin explained that the "plan to overhaul the U.S. tax code would face smoother sailing" than healthcare. Oh really?

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 25, 2017 12 Comments
If you're an Apple snob like me, I'm pretty sure you became concerned when Wikileaks published documents about the hacking tools the CIA used to sneak into Apple products. A person could not disable the tools even by resetting their phone. But Apple has come out to assure customers that the company has fixed the vulnerabilities in its newer products.

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 24, 2017 3 Comments
Last week, former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn acknowledged that he worked as a foreign agent with the firm Inovo, owned by Turkish-American businessman Ekim Alptekin, who has links to the Turkish government. The firm hired Flynn to investigate Fehtullah Gulen, a Turkish cleric living in Pennsylvania, that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has blamed for many attempts coups. Today, ex-CIA director James Moosley released a bombshell with The Wall Street Journal, stating he attended a meeting with Flynn and Turkish foreign ministers to discuss removing Gulen back to Turkey. At the time, Flynn served as a Trump campaign advisor.

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 24, 2017 2 Comments
The U.K. police announced it made two "significant arrests" on Friday in connection with the terrorist attack that killed four people and injured 40 more. Top counterterror office Mark Rowley explained, but did not provide many details:
The latest arrests were a man and a woman detained early Friday in Manchester, northwest England. Police believe Masood acted alone but Rowley said police were trying to determine whether others "encouraged, supported or directed him."

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 23, 2017 8 Comments
According to reports, the State Department will approve the needed Keystone pipeline permit before Monday. The decision "comes 16 months after Obama blocked construction of the 1,200-mile pipeline." From Politico:
Undersecretary for political affairs Tom Shannon plans to sign the pipeline’s cross-border permit on or before Monday, the last day for the 60-day timeline that President Donald Trump ordered in January. Secretary of State and former Exxon Mobil Chief Executive Rex Tillerson recused himself from the process.

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 23, 2017 4 Comments
A shooter assassinated former Russian lawmaker Denis Voronenkov, who was also a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, outside of a hotel in Kiev, Ukraine. Voronenkov, former member of the Communist Party, fled to Ukraine last fall with his wife when he found out he would face fraud charges "over the alleged misappropriation of a Moscow building in 2011." The Ukrainian government granted him citizenship and he provided evidence against former Russian-backed President Viktor Yanukovych, who ran to Russia after parliament ousted him on February 22, 2014.

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 23, 2017 14 Comments
Yesterday, a man in an SUV mowed people down on Westminster Bridge before he drove into the perimeter fence at Parliament. The man exited the car and stabbed a police officer before other officers shot him down. Overall, four people died, including the assailant and American Kurt Cochran. Today, the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility while British officials arrested seven or eight in six raids across London and Birmingham. The authorities have identified the attacker as Khalid Masood, 52-years-old.

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 22, 2017 1 Comment
President Trump's second pick for labor secretary, Alexander Acosta, faced the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee today for his confirmation hearing. The hearing lasted three hours. During that time, he defended his recorded as a United States attorney and promised to push back against Trump if he disagrees with the president:
“If confirmed, I will work to enforce the laws under the department’s jurisdiction fully and fairly,” Mr. Acosta said in his opening pitch to senators. “As a former prosecutor, I will always be on the side of the law and not any particular constituency.”

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 22, 2017 16 Comments
Four people have died, including a policeman and the attacker, in London outside of Parliament in the terrorist attacks that left 20 people injured. From Fox News:
Police said a vehicle mowed down pedestrians on London's Westminster Bridge, leaving more than a dozen with injuries described as catastrophic. Around the same time Wednesday, a knife-wielding attacker stabbed a police officer and was shot on the grounds outside Britain's Parliament, sending the compound into lockdown

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 22, 2017 5 Comments
Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch will face the Senate Judiciary Committee for the third day starting at 9:30 AM EDT. Today should be the last day of Gorsuch's testimony. Hearings will continue after today but will feature witnesses both in favor and opposed to Gorsuch's nomination. Yesterday, Senate Democrats attempted to nail Gorsuch on political issues unsuccessfully.

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 22, 2017 6 Comments
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson received massive backlash when the media reported he planned to skip a formal NATO meeting on April 5-6, but kept his Moscow trip in mid-April. A Secretary of State has only missed a formal meeting twice in the past 21 years. However, the media has buried the fact that Tillerson planned to skip the meeting because he scheduled to meet with Chinese President Xi Jingping in Florida with President Donald Trump on April 6-7. They also casually mention that he will travel to a G7 meeting in Italy between his weekend with Xi and the trip to Russia.

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 21, 2017 6 Comments
The Department of Veterans Affairs' Office of Inspector General has found that officials have not made necessary changes to the suicide hotline for veterans. From The Wall Street Journal:
The Department of Veterans Affairs’ suicide crisis hotline is understaffed, poorly supervised and sometimes leaves veterans on hold so long that they simply hang up, according to an investigation released Monday.

Posted by Mary Chastain on March 21, 2017 10 Comments
The Department of Homeland Security has banned electronics larger than a smart phone on flights from eight countries: Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. Officials said the ban comes from intelligence about terrorism risks:
“We’re concerned about ongoing interest in targeting commercial aviation,” a DHS official said. The official cited terrorist attacks on airports in Brussels and Istanbul as part of a pattern or attacks that justified the ban
Some people have lashed out at President Donald Trump, thinking its another slap in the face towards Muslims. However, the United Kingdom has also adopted this same rule and Canada may follow.
Accessibility by WAH