Free Republic

Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has announced that he will send a diplomatic note to the U.S. regarding Texas's border cargo inspections that are causing significant delays to U.S.-bound traffic.Mr. Obrador said that 19,000 trucks carrying goods worth $1.9 billion have been impacted by the increased security.He criticized Texas Governor Greg Abbott's decision, denouncing it as both irresponsible and "politically motivated," accusing Mr. Abbott of exploiting the illegal immigration crisis for political gain.The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) initiated "enhanced commercial vehicle safety inspections" on Sept. 19 in the vicinity of El Paso and Del Rio to combat...

Earlier this month, on the floor of the Texas House, Palestine Republican Cody Harris spoke about HB 3729, a piece of legislation that could impact tens of millions of Texans. He was brief: “Members, it’s time to end mandatory vehicle inspections,” he said in an unanimated voice, “and that’s exactly what this bill does.”

TheHill.com BUSINESS & LOBBYING Abbott border inspections threaten fresh produce supply in US BY KARL EVERS-HILLSTROM - 04/15/22 5:18 PM ET SHARE TWEET ... MORE Getty Images Semi-trucks wait for inspection before crossing the border at the Zaragoza International Bridge, in Juarez, Mexico, across the border from El Paso, Texas on May 31, 2019. – President Donald Trump escalated his abrupt tariff threats against Mexico, triggering alarm about the likely economic fallout, spooking global markets and raising the prospect of US trade wars on multiple fronts. Trump unexpectedly announced his readiness to levy tariffs on all Mexican imports, beginning at...

...Iranian administration has prevented the entry of inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency into one of its nuclear sites. Iran claimed that the inspectors were not admitted to the site due to safety issues.

Boat counters on the Northway for the Memorial Day weekend say that 89% of the trailered motorboats traveling north into the Adirondacks on Interstate 87 passed the inspection/decontamination station without stopping, according to the Adirondack Council. It is illegal to transport invasive plants, fish or wildlife from one water body to another in New York. The surest way to avoid contaminating one lake, pond or river with species from another is to have the boat inspected and cleaned by trained personnel. New York has installed a network of inspection stations in and around the Adirondack Park. Boat inspections and decontaminations...

The head of the UN’s atomic watchdog said Thursday that Iran continued to abide by the nuclear deal reached in 2015 with major world powers that aimed at preventing Tehran from building atomic weapons in exchange for economic incentives. Speaking at a board meeting Thursday in Vienna of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Director General Yukiya Amano reiterated the agency’s findings in a report distributed to member states earlier this month that “Iran is implementing its nuclear-related commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.” The issue has grown more complicated since the US withdrew unilaterally in May from the...

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has agreed to allow nuclear inspectors in and permanently shut down nuclear and missile testing sites. Trump made the remarks in a tweet after Kim held his third summit with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Pyongyang where the reclusive ruler reaffirmed his commitment to the denuclearization of the peninsula. "Kim Jong Un has agreed to allow Nuclear inspections, subject to final negotiations, and to permanently dismantle a test site and launch pad in the presence of international experts," Trump said in the tweet. "In the meantime there...

AMESBURY — A recent quality inspection of the $300 million John Greenleaf Whittier Bridge replacement project turned up evidence of substandard work – for the second time – that could push back the project’s estimated late summer/early fall completion date. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation began work to demolish the 62-year-old Interstate 95 bridge over the Merrimack River and replace it with separate northbound and southbound bridges in 2013. While the northbound bridge was completed in 2015, quality inspectors for MassDOT recently found that concrete poured for a pier cap on the southbound bridge by an unnamed contractor did not...

The Texas Senate has approved a bill that would eliminate the state's mandatory safety inspections for most vehicles. Texas is one of slightly more than a dozen states that still require safety inspections that test for things like properly-working horns, brakes and brake lights, headlights and seat belts. According to a Senate study, more than 500,000 vehicles didn't pass safety inspection in 2014 and 2015.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Thousands of new jobs are coming to every industry in Florida and it's all because of drones. “I can have fun and I can get paid wooh!” Shawn Morse typically gets that reaction when he sells drones to customers from his TB Drones and Hobby Store on Ulmerton Road. St. Petersburg College professors typically get that reaction too when they introduce students to careers with drones. Nearly every industry from emergency workers to realtors are turning to the high flying contraptions. “The industry is just going to blow up,” explained Program Coordinator Fred Tucker, who coordinates the...

Solomon reports part of concern about the information being unsecured on Clinton’s home server is that it could have been hacked by the North Koreans–who would then know more about U.S. spying capabilities. Solomon reports the information was likely summarized from a secure site and sent in unclassified systems up the chain to Clinton. “One of the most serious potential breaches of national security identified so far by the intelligence community inside Hillary Rodham Clinton’s private emails involves the relaying of classified information concerning the movement of North Korean nuclear assets, which was obtained from spy satellites. “Multiple intelligence sources...

In an exclusive interview with the FARtz News Agency, President Obama today voiced firm support for any deal bewteen Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency permitting Iran to know for sure what it hasn't been doing at its alleged military sites.Editor’s note: This is a guest post by my (imaginary) colleague, the Very Honorable Ima Librul, Senator from the great State of Confusion Utopia. He is a founding member of CCCEB (Climate Change Causes Everything Bad), a charter member of President Obama’s Go For it Team, a senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Chairman of the Meretricious Relations Subcommittee. He is also...

Iranian leaders prevented a top International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) official from disclosing to U.S. officials the nature of secret side deals with the Islamic Republic by threatening harm to him, according to regional reports. Yukiya Amano, IAEA director general, purportedly remained silent about the nature of certain side deals during briefings with top U.S. officials because he feared such disclosures would lead to retaliation by Iran, according to the spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization (AEOI). Amano was in Washington recently to brief members of Congress and others about the recently inked nuclear accord. However, he did not discuss...

Indiana is known for its targeting of truckers relative to the behavioral aspects of on-highway safety — no state devotes a larger share of its focus to ticketing and issuing warnings to drivers for moving-type violations. When officials in the northern part of the state in late June announced a weeklong “Operation Truck Stop” three-county enforcement effort during the July 4 holiday week along U.S. 20, a common Indiana Toll Road alternate, in late June, regular readers could have been forgiven for seeing little news there. As Overdrive‘s reports on the state made clear in the last year, such efforts...

A nice detail from the JPost’s write-up of today’s grand sellout. Turns out “snap inspections” are actually “nearly-a-month’s-notice inspections.” Negotiators failed to meet the standard of achieving “anytime, anywhere” access that several members of the United States Congress had demanded as a part of any nuclear deal. Instead, in the event Iran objects to an IAEA request for access to a specific site, a “clock” will begin that grants the two sides 14 days to negotiate.If that period expires without any resolution reached directly between Iran and the IAEA, the Joint Commission would have seven days to advise them...

VIENNA (AP) — Iran took a hard line Thursday on two of the biggest demands of world powers in a final nuclear accord, rejecting any extraordinary inspection rules and threatening to ramp up enrichment of bomb-making material if the United States and other countries re-impose sanctions after the deal is in place. Speaking to reporters in Vienna, where diplomats are trying to clinch a comprehensive nuclear pact, a senior Iranian negotiator said the U.N. nuclear agency's standard rules governing access to government information, sites of interest and scientists should be sufficient to ensure that Iran's program is solely for peaceful...

The P5+1 countries led by the United States under Barack Obama have caved in to Iranian demands and will not insist on inspections of nuclear installations as part of a deal on Iran’s nuclear weapons program, Channel 1 reported Sunday. The channel’s Arab affairs correspondent reported that the June 30—Tuesday night—deadline for the talks has been set back to an unspecified date but that the negotiations are good-natured and the feeling is that the deal is nearly done. …

It is likely that the P5+1 nuke deal with Iran will be approved soon. Military and other nuke sites which Iran has not "disclosed" will not be inspected. Nor will Iran's nuke ties with North Korea -- which P5+1 member China seems to be helping, Iran's massive support for terrorism and abysmal human rights record be considered because they are also deemed unnecessary for deal approval. Sanctions against Iran are moribund and will not be revived regardless of whether there is a "deal." However, a bronze bust of Obama may soon be displayed prominently in Supreme Leader Khamenei's office and one of Khamenei may soon be displayed proudly in Dear Leader Obama's office.Part...

The South Carolina Legislative Audit Council has issued a scathing report criticizing the state health department for numerous deficiencies in its inspection of the state’s three freestanding abortion facilities that could “result in serious problems for patients” if the problems are not addressed. The three free-standing abortion facilities operating in South Carolina are: The Women’s Clinic of Greenville, Planned Parenthood of Columbia, and the Charleston Women’s Medical Center in Charleston. Discrepancies were noted in the number of abortions performed at one facility and the number reported to the Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Public Health Statistics and Information Services....

Much of today's Morning Joe was devoted to a discussion of Rolling Stone's failed journalism on the UVa story. Maybe Mika Brzezinski should look in the mirror: she began her interview of Wendy Sherman, the chief US negotiator on the Iran deal, by offering her "congratulations." Even Sherman herself had the sense to suggest that congratulations were not yet in order. In contrast, Joe Scarborough actually tried to get Sherman to answer an important question: how much advance notice of inspections does the deal give Iran? Sherman skated away faster than Apolo Ohno, refusing to answer other than to claim...