Free Republic

Japanese news is all awash this morning in every news agency with the bulletins that "President Obama announced that the debt ceiling agreement has been reached." They appear to be following CNN's international news lead and are leaving out critical facts. For example, this erroneous "flash alert" is typical and is seen also in Asahi, Sankei, Yomiuri, Nikkei, NHK and others: "米債務問題：上限引き上げで与野党合意 　【北米総局】オバマ米大統領は７月３１日、ホワイトハウスで会見し、米債務上限引き上げで与野党が合意に達したと発表した。"

Here is the first set of bullets from a seven page pdf, Emerging framework has three main features: (1) cuts government spending more than it increases the debt limit; (2) implements spending caps to restrain future spending; (3) advances the cause of a Balanced Budget Amendment Framework accomplishes this without tax hikes, which would destroy jobs, while preventing a job-killing national default. Read the whole thing (small file): http://www.speaker.gov/UploadedFiles/3-7-31-11-Debt-Framework-Boehner.pdf

Sacramento, Calif. (AP) -- California officials have released thousands of insects in the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta to combat an invasive weed that has clogged the waterway. The state Department of Food and Agriculture let more than 5,000 water hyacinth plant hoppers go at several locations in San Joaquin and Sacramento counties this month. Officials hope the insects, which are native to South America, will establish self-sustaining colonies and begin chomping down on water hyacinth. The invasive plant forms a dense carpet on the surface of waterways, impeding boat access and clogging water intake systems.

It's exotic and beautiful, a 15-foot tall plant with clusters of dainty white flowers and human-sized leaves -- resembling, it is often said, Queen Anne's Lace on steroids. But giant hogweed is an invasive species that is spreading around much of the northern United States. Even worse, its sap is extremely poisonous, with the potential to cause blistering burns and even blindness. Now that the giant hogweed's flowering season is here again, experts are taking the opportunity to draw people's attention to the plant -- for the sake of human health as well as for the health of the environment....

Ill. gov signs bill boosting coal-to-gas plantAP – Wed, Jul 13, 2011 CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation Wednesday that could lead to the construction of a new plant in Chicago that converts coal to natural gas. Quinn signed the legislation at a former steel mill site on Chicago's southeast side where New York-based Leucadia National Corp. wants to build the $3 billion plant. "This project protects Illinois consumers, while continuing our position as a leader in clean energy technology by utilizing home grown resources to create the jobs of today and tomorrow," Quinn said in a...

The surprise generated by the throwing of Donald Trump's hat into the ring of 2012 presidential hopefuls is in part based upon his relative wealth, and professional and social status. He certainly needs no political clout to better command any situation he chooses, so that can't be his motivation. In part it is based upon his own unchallenged political history, having donated to both Republicans and Democrats over the years. While his donations number fairly evenly between the two, he has been more generous with Democrats, who also seem better to mirror his personal lifestyle. The heads that are scratched...

CBS News) THE PENTAGON - The Defense Department was considering Monday night ordering the mandatory departure of all American military personnel and their families from the areas of Japan threatened by radiation, CBS News national security correspondent David Martin reports

First the House GOP required Democrats to get their three week continuing resolution passed — a continuing resolution that cuts less money than the interest on our national debt that will accumulate over the next three weeks. Then the House GOP started bad mouthing the conservatives who voted against their plan. Now the House GOP is launching a direct assault on . . . wait for it . . . conservatives. One reporter called me today. He is a long time acquaintance for a national newspaper. In shooting the breeze he dropped the names of leadership staffers pushing several of...

Goodyear's plant manager placed its bad-news call to City Hall at 7:58 a.m. Thursday: The Union City plant where 1,900 employees make radial tires will close by year's end. "We were just all surprised, I guess," City Clerk Carolyn Moran said, adding most everyone in this border town of 10,200 knows someone who works at the plant four miles north of City Hall. Union City sits at the Kentucky line, 115 miles northeast of Memphis. The area unemployment rate is 9.9 percent. Goodyear's fourth-quarter earnings report, released Thursday, disclosed the Akron, Ohio-based company will take a one-time $160 million charge...

If elected, Radnor Township resident Jim Schneller, the Independent conservative candidate in the 7th Congressional District race, said he would fight government corruption....Schneller has also described the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks of the World Trade as an “inside job.”“Once the (Obama) birth-certificate theory started bouncing around, people started rethinking the World Trade Center issue,” he said.....

A fifth of world's plant species at risk of extinctionThe Irish Times - Thursday, September 30, 2010 LONDON – ONE in five of the world’s 380,000 plant species is threatened with extinction and human activity is doing most of the damage, according to a global study published yesterday. Scientists from Britain’s Botanic Gardens at Kew, London’s Natural History Museum and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), found that more than 22 per cent of species were endangered, critically endangered or vulnerable. “The single greatest threat is conversion of natural habitats to agricultural use, directly impacting 33 per...

When the Tea Party first started out, I was a enthusiastic supporter.. The Tea Party perfectly represented what my views are.. I'm a 100% fiscal conservative and I believe in small government on ALL issues. In the beginning, the Tea Party seemed to be such movement that would support candidates based on FISCAL issues. Initially, that was the case and people like Scott Brown have been elected. However, since then, it seems like the Tea Party Express and other Tea Party organizations have been hijacked by the social conservative wing of the GOP (i.e. Sarah Palin). Social issues were introduced...

Yesterday, a video was released featuring an obvious Tea Party plant in Kentucky wearing a tin foil hat, holding a sign with Dora the Explorer attached, and speaking proudly of his support of racism, and ultimately, a Rand Paul supporter. Later in the video, they found the same man– minus the fake southern accent he used in the initial interview. It was speculated, but not proven, that this man could possibly be working on Jack Conway campaign– Paul’s opponent. However, this is only speculation. The Conway campaign denied the accusation yesterday. Now someone contacted Dave Weigel via Twitter and lead...

Sparrows Point to idle portion of steel plant, lay off workers About 600 employees work in areas to be affected June 04, 2010|By Andrea K. Walker, The Baltimore Sun Several hundred workers at the Sparrows Point steel mill are in danger of temporarily losing their jobs as the plant prepares to shut down for 30 days because of low demand. The primary steelmaking facilities at the Baltimore County plant — three main divisions at the sprawling facility — will be shut down by July 1, company spokeswoman Elizabeth Kovach confirmed Friday. Union leaders had notified workers of the temporary layoffs...

(Memphis 6/1/2010) A mystery is unfolding across MidSouth farms. Something is killing crops, trees, even weeds and nobody can explain why. Farmers are scratching their heads and some are worried their crops may be lost to the mysterious plague. It's happening along a large swath of land near the Shelby and Tipton county border along Herring Hill Road and elsewhere near the Mississippi River bottoms. Tiny dots appear to have burned onto leaves of all types of plants, and they appear different depending on the plant. On corn stalks, the dots seem to turn white in the center. On other...

Eidsmoe reportedly spoke at an Alabama Secession rally, Zielinski said. He covered topics touching on slavery and the Constitution. Eidsmoe’s speech in the rally claimed God ordained slavery, and Jefferson Davis was a much better President of the Confederate States than Abraham Lincoln ever was for the United States. “He’s a pseudo-intellectual racist who belongs to the League of the South and whose writings happen to pop up on neo-Nazi websites,” Zielinski said.

BAGHDAD, Jan. 28, 2010 – U.S. soldiers joined U.S. Agriculture Department representatives to witness the reopening of a poultry processing plant southwest of here Jan. 10. Juan Alsace, team leader of the U.S. Agriculture Department’s embedded provincial reconstruction team, attaches the first chicken to go through the newly reopened Al Kanz poultry processing plant, southwest of Baghdad, Jan. 10, 2010. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Daniel Schneider  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The Al Kanz poultry processing plant in Yusifiyah, near Contingency Operating Station Falcon, closed in 2004 due to the poor condition of its facilities and the lack...

Irish authorities say a Slovak man unwittingly carried hidden explosives on board a weekend flight to Dublin after a Slovakian airport-security test went awry. The 49-year-old electrician was arrested Tuesday, but released without charge after Slovak security officials alerted their Dublin counterparts to the screw-up.

A plant that started life during the last Ice Age is still going strong in the arid scrublands of California, scientists revealed today. Researchers believe the Jurupa Oak has been around for 13,000 years, making it the oldest living plant in the world. The oak is made up of a community of cloned bushes and scientists believe it has managed to survive the extreme effects of climate change by regenerating.

Volkswagen has received more than 65,000 applications in total as the company closed its application line for production team member positions on Sunday. During the three-week period since Oct. 26, more than 35,000 people applied for production team member positions at Volkswagen’s new production plant which will go into operation in 2011. In addition, the company has received approximately 30,000 applications for skilled maintenance and professional positions to date. “We are overwhelmed by the response and we are very satisfied with the result. It gives us the confidence that we will be able to hire all the capable and flexible...