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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 August 24, 2016 34 Comments
The Clinton Foundation has a dark cloud over them due to emails showing major donors asking then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for huge favors. They have tried to mend their ways by deciding to stop accepting foreign donations if Hillary wins the presidency, but they may have taken a big step back. Chelsea just decided to remain on the board even if her mom wins. Conflict of interest much? Besides Bill, who else has better access to Hillary than Chelsea?

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 24, 2016 16 Comments
The GOP has worried it may lose its Senate majority in November and Toomey may be one of the victims. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA) has received an endorsement from former Democratic congresswoman Gabby Giffords as he faces a tough reelection in November. The endorsement from Giffords and her anti-gun violence group Americans for Responsible Solutions might be just what Toomey needs to defeat his Democratic challenger Katie McGinty, who has slightly pulled ahead in four polls.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 23, 2016 9 Comments
How is this for an armed citizen story?! A 91-year-old man in Michigan shot a man who tried to rob him on Monday in a parking lot at a local Rite Aid pharmacy. As the suspect walked closer, the man told him he holds a concealed pistol license (CPL), but the suspect didn't care. When the suspect aimed something at him, the elderly man whipped out his gun and shot him:
"The person who fired the shots had a CPL and was lawfully carrying a handgun," said [deputy Chief Eric] Keiser. "He said he defended himself when he was attacked."

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 23, 2016 10 Comments
The FBI has decided to investigate a stabbing in Virginia as a possible terrorist attack after the man allegedly yelled "Allah Akbar." Wasil Farooqui, 20, stabbed two people at an apartment complex on Saturday night. Both people survived. Witnesses told the police Farooqui yelled "Allah Akbar" as he attacked them.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 23, 2016 58 Comments
I've been keeping an eye on the tough Congress elections headed into November, especially since the GOP could easily loses its majority in the Senate. North Carolina could lose one of its GOP senators while New Hampshire could lose its only GOP senator in Kelly Ayotte. The tough reelection has led her to distance herself from GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump. Ayotte said she would vote for Trump, but stopped before giving him her full endorsement. This has frustrated the independent voters she needs to win. She didn't even attend a rally attended by Vice President candidate Mike Pence where he told the crowd they need her "back in the U.S. Senate." As The Washington Post described it, she "is stuck between Donald Trump and a hard place."

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 23, 2016 12 Comments
Judicial Watch revealed another batch of Hillary Clinton emails they received from their Freedom of Information Act request they sent in last year. The group insists Hillary has not fully explained why she had a private server, but the investigation has presented details that a lot more went on than we thought. This latest batch has grown the hole Hillary dug for herself as major donors to her Clinton Foundation used her status as secretary of state to ask for special favors for friends. Unlike the previous release, though, these emails shows donors asking for access to Hillary herself. In other emails, they asked for access to other State Department officials. The release comes on the same day a federal judge told the State Department to quickly release another 15,000 Hillary emails the FBI discovered in July.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 22, 2016 3 Comments
The House Oversight Committee recently received classified documents and notes from the FBI's untaped interview with Hillary Clinton in order to understand why Director James Comey didn't recommend charges against her. The FBI said it wants to remain as transparent as possible, but Chairman Jason Chaffetz said he has a few problems with the documents, especially since many are heavily redacted:
"Hillary Clinton is out there saying there's not very much sensitive information in there, that she didn't trade in sensitive classified information. It's so sensitive and so classified that even I as the chairman of the Oversight Committee don't have the high level of clearance to see what's in those materials," Chaffetz said. "I think the documents are overly classified. We're going to call on the FBI this week to give us a version where there's non-classified, the unclassified material and the classified material redacted so that that could be out there in the public. I think that's the right thing to do."

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 22, 2016 14 Comments
The GOP has panicked lately about their majority in Congress, especially in the Senate, as the party divides over Donald Trump and the lack of fundraising. Their worst fears appear to becoming true in North Carolina, once seen as a lock for the GOP. The Wall Street Journal reports that Democrat Deborah Ross may beat two term GOP Senator Richard Burr. The Democrats also gained a rise because Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has placed North Carolina high on her priority list. Ross tends to climb the polls as Clinton does the same. When Clinton went up nine points, Ross found herself up two points on Burr for the first time in the election.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 22, 2016 17 Comments
Whoops! Judicial Watch's investigation into the Hillary Clinton email scandal continues as a federal judge told the State Department to expedite the release of 15,000 emails the FBI discovered that her attorneys did not turn over. The watchdog group has kept a close eye on the scandal, at first questioning Clinton aide Huma Abedin's jobs before she went to the State Department. It unraveled to show that Hillary used an unsecure server and that many of her foundation's donors asked her for special favors when she served as Secretary of State.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 21, 2016 31 Comments
The rise of Donald Trump has divided the GOP more than ever, leading many to worry if the party could maintain their majority in Congress whether he wins or loses the presidency. The Democrats have noticed and now Politico reports that Hillary Clinton plans to raise $1 billion to defeat the vulnerable GOP members of Congress:
The new concern inside the highest levels of Republican politics is that Hillary Clinton will raise $1 billion for Democrats and the party will train some of their efforts -- and that money -- on defeating House and Senate Republicans. Party leaders privately concede that the Senate could be lost either way. But senior House Republicans say they’re in good shape across the country, and see no evidence that the control of the chamber is in play.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 21, 2016 6 Comments
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said a suicide bomber aged between 12-14 murdered 51 people at a wedding late Saturday night in Gazientep, which is located only 60 miles north of Aleppo, Syria. He also said the authorities believe the Islamic State was behind the terrorist attack:
"The initial findings of the governor and our police forces indicate the attack has been perpetrated by Daesh," said Erdogan, using another term for the terror group.
Mahmut Tagrul, lawmaker with the Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party, said the majority "of the victims that died were children."

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 21, 2016 23 Comments
Judicial Watch has tried for years to get records of Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin's employment outside of the State Department, which has led to questions about Clinton's private email server. The watchdog group has continuously received her emails from her time as Secretary of State, but overall the group does not believe Hillary has ever provided a justified answer as to why she used this server. Now, Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of Federal District Court in Washington put Judicial Watch a step closer by telling Hillary she must provide written testimony under oath, also known as interrogatories, about her private email server in connection to Judicial Watch's lawsuit.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 20, 2016 3 Comments
Last fall, Louisiana State University (LSU) reached out to University of South Carolina (USC) when their state had epic floods, offering them space and transferring their home stadium into USC's home stadium. Now USC has decided to return the favor as Louisiana faces historical flooding that has killed 13 people:
"LSU was so gracious to assist us in our time of need," South Carolina president Harris Pastides said in a statement. "Now it is our turn to help our SEC friends. I encourage all Gamecocks to drop off items needed for the Baton Rouge flood relief."

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 19, 2016 31 Comments
Former President Bill Clinton told staffers at the Clinton Foundation if Hillary wins the presidency they will stop accepting foreign and corporate donations. From Fox News:
While Hillary Clinton stepped down from its board after launching her 2016 campaign, her husband and daughter have remained in leadership roles, leading to questions about the ability of the organization to continue its work should Clinton win the White House.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 19, 2016 18 Comments
The 2016 primaries and election so far has rattled the GOP, leaving many to wonder if the political party can hold their majority in the House and Senate. GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump's numbers aren't helping:
But, as Trump's numbers — nationally and in key swing states — continue to tank, a creeping fear has taken root within the Republican establishment that maybe, just maybe, a landslide loss at the top of the ticket could cost the party not only the upper chamber of Congress but the lower one, too.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 19, 2016 7 Comments
Univision has decided to end production at Gawker after they bought the company for $135 million at an auction. Reporter J.K. Trotter wrote:
After nearly fourteen years of operation, Gawker.com will be shutting down next week. The decision to close Gawker comes days after Univision successfully bid $135 million for Gawker Media’s six other websites, and four months after the Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel revealed his clandestine legal campaign against the company.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 18, 2016 17 Comments
The State Department has confirmed the U.S. used the $400 million payment to Iran as leverage for the prisoners they released in January. From The New York Post:
State Department spokesman John Kirby was asked at Thursday’s press briefing: “In basic English, you’re saying you wouldn’t give them $400 million in cash until the prisoners were released, correct?” “That’s correct,” Kirby replied.

Posted by Mary Chastain on August 18, 2016 43 Comments
The city of Seattle, WA, has offered a class on "white fragility" to white people in order to explain white guilt and why white people cannot "handle matters involving race." From Fox News:
Lecturer Robin DiAngelo, who coined the term, is teaching the taxpayer-funded class for the city Officeof Arts and Culture. She defines white fragility as "a state in which even a minimum amount of racial stress becomes intolerable, triggering a range of defensive moves."
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