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How the CIA Came to Doubt the Official Story of JFK’s Murder Politico / August 3, 2017 Newly released documents from long-secret Kennedy assassination files raise startling questions about what top agency officials knew and when they knew it. After the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963, the CIA appeared eager, even desperate, to embrace the version of events being offered by the FBI, the Secret Service and other parts of the government. The official story: that a delusional misfit and self-proclaimed Marxist named Lee Harvey Oswald killed the president in Dallas with his $21 mail-order rifle and there was no evidence of a conspiracy, foreign or domestic. Certainly, the CIA’s leaders told the Warren Commission, the independent panel that investigated the murder, there was no evidence of a conspiracy that the spy agency could have foiled. But thousands of pages of long-secret, assassination-related documents released by the National Archives last week show that, within a few years of Kennedy’s murder, some in the CIA began to worry internally that the official story was wrong—an alarm the agency never sounded publicly. Specifically, key CIA officials were concerned by the mid-1970s that the agency, the FBI, the Secret Service and the White House commission led by Chief Justice Earl Warren had never followed up on important clues about Oswald’s contact with foreign agents, including diplomats and spies for the Communist governments of Cuba and the Soviet Union, who might have been aware of his plans to kill Kennedy and even encouraged the plot. (There is no credible evidence cited in the documents released so far that Cuban leader Fidel Castro or other foreign leaders had any personal role in ordering Kennedy’s murder.) The CIA documents also offer tantalizing speculation about the chain of events in late 1963 that explained Oswald’s motives for killing Kennedy, which have previously never been established with certainty—how he may have become enraged after reading a detailed article in his hometown newspaper in New Orleans in September suggesting that his hero Castro had been targeted for assassination by the Kennedy administration. According to that theory, Oswald, who had rifle training in the Marine Corps, then set out to seek vengeance on Castro’s behalf—to kill Kennedy before the American president managed to kill the Cuban leader. If that proved true, it would have raised a terrible question for the CIA: Was it possible that JFK’s assassination was, directly or indirectly, blowback for the spy agency’s plots to kill Castro? It would eventually be acknowledged the CIA had, in fact, repeatedly tried to assassinate Castro, sometimes in collusion with the Mafia, throughout Kennedy’s presidency. The CIA’s arsenal of weapons against Castro included a fungus-infected scuba suit, a poison-filled hypodermic needle hidden in a pen—and even an exploding cigar. The Warren Commission, never told about the CIA’s Castro plots, mostly ducked the question of Oswald’s motives, other than saying in its final report that he had expressed a “hatred for American society.” JFK historians and the nation’s large army of private assassination researchers are still scrambling to make sense of the latest batch of tens of thousands of pages of previously secret CIA and FBI documents that were unsealed last week by the National Archives. The documents—441 files that had previously been withheld entirely, along with 3,369 other documents that had been previously released only in part—were made public under terms of a 1992 law that requires the unsealing of all JFK assassination-related documents by October, the law’s 25-year deadline. Since the release last week, researchers do not appear to have identified any single document that could be labeled a bombshell or that rewrites the history of the assassination in any significant way. Many of the documents, which were made public only online, are duplicates of files that had been released years earlier. Other documents are totally illegible or refer to CIA and FBI code names and pseudonyms that even experienced researchers will take months to decipher. Several documents are written in foreign languages. Still, the newly released documents may offer an intriguing glimpse of what comes next. The National Archives is required to unseal a final batch of about 3,100 never-before-seen JFK-assassination files by the October deadline, assuming the move is not blocked by President Donald Trump. Under the 1992 Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act, the president is the only person empowered to stop the release. (Congressional and other government officials have told us in confidence that at least two federal agencies—likely the CIA and FBI—are expected to appeal to Trump to block the unsealing of at least some of the documents. Even after 54 years, some government officials apparently still want to keep secrets about this seminal event in U.S. history. The CIA and FBI acknowledged earlier this year they are conducting a final review of the documents, but have been unwilling to say if they will ask the president to block some from being released.) None of the files released last week undermines the Warren Commission’s finding that Oswald killed Kennedy with shots fired from his perch on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository in Dallas’ Dealey Plaza—a conclusion supported by 21st century forensic analysis—and that there was no credible evidence of a second gunman. But the new documents do revive the question of why the CIA, so skeptical internally of many of the commission’s other findings by the 1970s, never acknowledged those suspicions to later government investigators—or to the public. Documents released decades ago show that CIA and FBI officials repeatedly misled—and often lied outright—to Chief Justice Warren and his commission, probably to hide evidence of the agencies’ bungling in their surveillance of Oswald before the president’s murder. The CIA appears also to have been determined to block the commission from stumbling on to evidence that might reveal the agency’s assassination plots against Castro and other foreign leaders. In 2013, the CIA’s in-house historian concluded that the spy agency had conducted a “benign cover-up” during the Warren Commission’s investigation in 1963 and 1964 in hopes of keeping the commission focused on “what the Agency believed was the ‘best truth’ — that Lee Harvey Oswald, for as yet undetermined motives, had acted alone in killing John Kennedy.” But what if the “best truth” was wrong? According to documents made public last week, the CIA was alarmed by the mid-1970s to realize that no one had properly followed up on clues about an especially mysterious chapter in Oswald’s life—a six-day, apparently self-financed trip to Mexico City beginning in late September 1963, two months before the assassination. The reason for the trip has never been determined with certainty, although he told his wife, Marina, that he went there to obtain a visa that would allow him to defect to Cuba, much as he had once attempted to defect to the Soviet Union. The CIA acknowledged long ago that the agency’s Mexico City station had Oswald under surveillance during the trip, and that he met there with Cuban and Soviet diplomats and spies. The CIA station chief said later he was convinced that Oswald had a brief sexual relationship with a Mexican woman who worked in the Cuban consulate. Although there is no credible evidence of Soviet involvement in the assassination, Oswald’s other contacts in Mexico included—shockingly enough—a KGB assassinations expert who doubled as an accredited Soviet diplomat. A top-secret June 1964 FBI report, made public in the 1990s but apparently never seen by key investigators for the Warren Commission, suggests that Oswald was overheard threatening to kill Kennedy during his visits to the Cuban diplomatic compound in Mexico. The files released last week also show that the CIA and other agencies failed to pursue clues that Oswald, who publicly championed Castro’s revolution even while serving in the Marine Corps, had been in contact with Cuban diplomats years before the Mexico trip—possibly as early as 1959, when he was deployed to a military base in Southern California. The information initially came to the FBI and the Warren Commission from a fellow Marine who recalled how Oswald boasted about his contacts with Cuban diplomats in Los Angeles, where Castro’s government then had an office. The account from the fellow Marine was of “a lot more possible operational significance” than was realized in the months after the assassination but was never “run down or developed by investigation,” according to a 1975 CIA internal memo released last week. “The record of the beginning of OSWALD’s relationship with the Cubans starts with a question mark.” That 27-page memo, which does not identify its author, is among the most intriguing of the documents in last week’s batch unsealed by the National Archives. Copies of the document were found inside larger CIA files released last week, including thick agency files labeled HELMS HEARING DUPLICATE. That seems to suggest the memo was given to former Director of Central Intelligence Richard Helms, who led the agency from 1966 to 1973, when he was later summoned to testify secretly to Congress about his involvement in the CIA assassination plots against Castro and other foreign leaders. Similar documents about the Kennedy assassination and Oswald were written in the 1970s by a senior CIA counterintelligence official, Raymond Rocca, who had served as the agency’s chief liaison to the Warren Commission. Labeled “SECRET” and stamped “REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED” on each page, the 1975 memo lists several important clues about Oswald that went unexplored in the months and years after Kennedy’s death. (Versions of the same CIA memo were part of the flood of millions of pages of documents released after the 1992 law, although it has never attracted detailed attention outside a small circle of assassination researchers. Brian Latell, a respected former CIA analyst on Cuban intelligence, cited a version of the document in his 2012 book Castro’s Secrets, which suggested much closer links between Oswald and Cuba than had previously been known.) The 1975 document noted the failure of the CIA, FBI and the Warren Commission to interview a key witness in Mexico City—Silvia Duran, the Mexican woman who worked in the Cuban consulate and was reported to have had the affair with Oswald. She is the “sole live witness on the record regarding Oswald’s activities,” yet her testimony “was taken and presented, solely, by the Mexican governmental authorities,” the CIA memo said. Duran, who is still alive, has repeatedly insisted she had no sexual relationship with Oswald, although she readily acknowledges that she helped him with his unsuccessful visa application for Cuba. It was that same CIA memo that offered a detailed theory of the chain of events that led Oswald to kill Kennedy—how Oswald, who lived in his hometown of New Orleans for much of 1963, may have been inspired to assassinate the president if, as seemed probable, he read an article on Monday, September 9, in the local newspaper, that suggested Castro was targeted for murder by the United States. The article, written by a reporter for The Associated Press in Havana and then published prominently in the Times-Picayune, was an account of an AP interview with Castro two days earlier, in which the Cuban strongman angrily warned the Kennedy administration that he was aware of U.S. assassination plots aimed at Cuban leaders, presumably including him, and was prepared to retaliate. The article quoted Castro as saying: “U.S. leaders would be in danger if they helped in any attempt to do away with leaders of Cuba.” The CIA memo suggested that if Oswald, who was known to be an “avid reader” of the Times-Picayune, saw the article, it might have put the idea in his head to kill Kennedy as retaliation for the threat the United States posed to Castro—an idea that would have been in his mind as he left for his trip to Mexico that month. The possibility that Oswald read the article “must be considered of great significance in light of the pathological evolution of Oswald’s passive/aggressive makeup” and “his identification with Fidel Castro and the Cuban revolution,” the CIA memo said. Immediately after the assassination, the CIA’s Mexico City station warned CIA headquarters that the AP article might contain a vital clue about Oswald’s motives for killing Kennedy—and even about possible Cuban involvement. But according to the 1975 analysis, “There is no evidence in the files on the Kennedy assassination that the Castro interview was considered in following up leads or in dealing with the Warren Commission, although Mexico Station specifically directed headquarters to the AP story very shortly after the Dallas killing.” Previously released internal documents from the Warren Commission show that one of the commission’s most aggressive staff lawyers believed that Castro’s remarks to the AP—and the possibility that Oswald read the article—might be of great significance in explaining Oswald’s motives. But the internal files show that more senior staff members decided against any reference to the AP article in the commission’s final report for fear of feeding conspiracy theories about a possible Cuban link to Kennedy’s death. It does not reflect well on the legacy of either the CIA or the commission that, half a century after those gunshots rang out in Dealey Plaza, the newly released documents suggest that at least some of those conspiracy theories might be true. http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB493/docs/intell_ebb_026.PDF http://www.politico.com/magazine/f/?id=0000015d-a54b-d494-a77f-e75f2a570001 http://www.politico.com/magazine/f/?id=0000015d-a4cc-dd39-a75d-afdfd18d0001 http://static.politico.com/e9/d5/e052c650448ea8576d922d1657d0/timespicayune.JPG

Big Rigs / August 3, 2017 Caught filling in for our old mate "Jacko”, it was great to catch up with Ben Allen from Westbury when we dropped in to the Epping Forest Caltex on our way to Bridgenorth. He was driving a distinctive RBA Line Haul 2002 Mack Magnum with a 600 Signature up front, (with almost three million on the clock) and towing a B-double at the time, and he was on his way to Hobart, and then return. "I've been with Bruce for 12 months now, and am really enjoying the job,” he said. "In fact I have been working as a diesel mechanic now for 15 years, interspersed with driving off and on for the last six of them. "It's all good, but I admit I enjoy the driving too, especially working for Bruce, you couldn't get a better boss, and he keeps all his gear in top nick as well. "Yes, I am happy, as long as I am working around or in trucks, wouldn't swap it for quids!” Asked about his spare time, he said it's all devoted to the family, and the four kids. Oh and a heap of animals as well! .

Vintage San Francisco Fire Trucks Seeking a Home Joe Rosato Jr., Bay Area NBC / August 2, 2017 A collection of historic antique San Francisco fire engines is slowly deteriorating beneath the rain and sun in an industrial parking lot, as a group historians sound the alarm to city officials. The group of more than a dozen trucks, one used to fight the1906 earthquake and fire, has been without an indoor home in years, after bouncing around between city warehouses on Treasure Island and Bayview-Hunters Point. Several years ago the Academy of Art donated space for the collection in a warehouse in the industrial Bayshore area, but bounced the collection to the parking lot about a year ago when it needed the space. “As you can see there’s extensive deterioration due to it’s being stored outside,” said James Lee, a retired San Francisco firefighter who is trying to find the trucks a new home. Lee said the collection, which includes water tenders, ladder trucks and other unique apparatus, is rotting in the elements — especially following a particularly wet winter which repeatedly blew off the protective tarps. Lee’s group, Guardians of the City, has been providing care for the trucks though they are officially city property. “What I see here now,” Lee said, “is there is a benign neglect with regards to the protection of this historical equipment.” Last week, Lee and his group issued a plea to the San Francisco Fire Commission to find shelter for the collection. Commission members said it was urgent the city find shelter for the beleaguered trucks — though they didn’t offer an immediate solution. They set an October hearing date to consider more options. Both San Francisco fire department officials and the office of Mayor Ed Lee said they support finding a new home for the trucks — though no specific plan is yet in place Lee and his group have proposed finding space for the collection on Pier 19 or possibly in the city’s vast storage space beneath Civic Center. “I believe there is space within the city,” Lee said, “and it could happen very easily.” During his first days in the fire department back in the early 1960s, Lee worked on one of the old ladder trucks now languishing in the lot. He climbed up on the truck’s running board and demonstrated how he would grip its wooden ladder for support as the truck responded to calls. He rode the truck for six months. “It was a great ride when it was pouring rain,” he chuckled. He’d also seen a water tender in the collection in action back in the 1970s just before it was retired. The truck, which hailed from the 1920s had reported to a large, stubborn fire in the city’s Tenderloin. “This thing drove up,” Lee recalled. “They put it up, turned it on, fire went out.” Lee eventually hopes to see the collection restored to its original glory. He wants to find companies and benefactors to sponsor the trucks’ restoration. But before that can happen — he said — they first need a home. “It brings a lot of memories,” Lee said pacing past the row of trucks. “There’s a lot of water under the bridge.” Video - http://www.nbcbayarea.com/on-air/as-seen-on/Vintage-San-Francisco-Fire-Trucks-Seeking-a-Home_Bay-Area-438225733.html

Land Line (OOIDA) / August 2, 2017 Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) has issued a safety recall for certain Freightliner and Western Star trucks, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documents. Recalls deal with tow hooks and battery cables. The first recall affects certain 2018 Freightliner and Western Star trucks equipped with tow hooks used for recovery purposes. Tow hooks may fail during use without warning, leading to a sudden release of the vehicle. Affected trucks include: 2018 Freightliner 114SD 2018 Freightliner 122SD 2018 Freightliner Cascadia 2018 Freightliner M2 Business Class 2018 Western Star 4700 2018 Western Star 5700 Owners will be notified and faulty tow hooks will be replaced for free. The recall is expected to begin on Sept. 14. For more information, call 800-745-8000 with recall number FL-742. The second recall affects 2014-2017 Freightliner Custom XCR chassis. A battery cable mounting bracket may not have been installed correctly. Consequently, the improperly routed and clipped battery cable can contact the frame rail, possibly causing chafing and short circuiting. Owners will be notified and dealers will inspect and revise the battery cable mounting bracket and cable routing for free. The recall is expected to begin on Sept. 14. For more information, call 800-745-8000 with recall number FL-741.

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JLTV makes strides, Oshkosh receives USD195 million order IHS Jane's Defence Weekly / August 2, 2017 Oshkosh yesterday announced an order for 748 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs) worth more than US$195 million. It marks the fifth order to date and includes “2,359 installed and packaged kits”. The JLTV contract for low-rate initial production (LRIP) of 16,901 vehicles was awarded to Oshkosh on 24 August 2015. The White House’s fiscal year 2018 (FY 2018) budget request for JLTV is up approximately US$366 million compared with the US$775.8 million enacted in FY 2017 for the program. In FY 2018, the request includes funding for 2,110 vehicles for the US Army, 527 for the US Marine Corps (USMC), and 140 for the US Air Force. .

The "deep state" that guides the markets has made a science of manipulating the ill-informed investing masses. When one should be selling, they tell you to buy (e.g. Enron, all the way to the end). When one should be buying bargains (e.g. Navistar - Jan 2016), they have most afraid to do so until the price has risen above bargain levels.

Mercedes-Benz Trucks introduces its first 3D-printed spare part made of metal Green Car Congress / August 2, 2017 Mercedes-Benz Trucks has introduced its first 3D-printed spare part made of metal (an aluminum-silicon material), a thermostat cover for truck and Unimog models from older model series. In contrast to the Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) process used in plastics 3D printing, 3D printing of metallic components uses Selective Laser Melting (SLM). In the case of the thermostat cover, for example, the powdered aluminium/silicon material (ALSi10Mg) is applied in individual layers and melted by an energy source—usually one or more lasers. When one layer is completed, a new layer of powder is applied automatically and the melting process is repeated. The process is repeated until a high-strength, three-dimensional aluminium component suitable for use in areas of high temperature has been produced. With the layered structure, the process also offers a level of geometrical freedom that cannot be matched by any other production method. In the Customer Services & Parts division of Mercedes-Benz Trucks, automotive 3D printing began its increasing success in the production departments for the after-sales and replacement parts business a year ago. Since then, Customer Services & Parts has worked together with the researchers and pre-developers at Daimler AG to constantly improve and expand the use of the latest 3D printing processes for plastic parts. 3D printing of high-quality plastic components has now successfully established itself as an additional production method, and is particularly suitable for the production of smaller batches. Metal parts from the 3D printer excel with their very high strength and thermal resistance, and the process is therefore particularly suitable for the production of mechanically and thermally stressed components required in small numbers. Metallic components can be produced “at the touch of a button” with any geometry and in any numbers. 3D replacement parts production began with rarely ordered aluminium parts. These excel with almost 100% density and greater purity than conventional die-cast aluminium parts. Apart from their high strength and hardness, as well as high dynamic resistance, their production requires no cost-intensive development work or procurement of special tools. Conceivable areas of use are peripheral engine parts made of metal, in-engine parts and also parts in cooling systems, transmissions, axles or chassis. Especially when they have complex structures, 3D-printed metal parts in small numbers can be produced cost-effectively as infrequently requested replacement parts, special parts and for small and classic model series. The new thermostat cover is an example of cost-effective spare and special parts production in top quality, made possible by use of the 3D printing process for highly resistant metal parts made of die-cast aluminium alloy. This replacement part is only ordered in small numbers, and is used in older truck and Unimog models whose production ceased around 15 years ago. .

http://guardiansofthecity.org/sffd/museum_collections/apparatus/eng_co_no14.html

At the moment, the world is overflowing with political uncertainty. Markets appear to have factored in more of the good news than the potential risks. Unable to factor in one extreme outcome or another, the market has once more chosen to assume the status quo. There are reasons to be concerned.

What’s behind the Dow’s stunning rise to 22,000 The Washington Post / August 2, 2017 The Dow surged past the 22,000 mark Wednesday for the first time. The Dow Jones industrial average closed above 22,000 Wednesday, setting a new record high in what has become one of its longest bull markets in history. The extraordinary rise of the stock markets since early 2009 — when the Dow was a mere 7,063 — has greatly fattened the portfolios of American investors, especially the wealthiest ones. And it has played a role in boosting the political fortunes of President Trump who on Wednesday once again took credit for the markets’ performance. The surprisingly persistent gains this year have come courtesy of robust profits at big companies, low interest rates, and a rare alignment of developed economies in good or improving health at the same time. So far, those have been more powerful forces on stocks than world events such as North Korean nuclear missile tests, Venezuela’s economic and political meltdown, or legislative gridlock in Washington. The markets’ most recent run-up does indeed have something to do with Trump’s win in November, several analysts said. Back then, some on Wall Street cheered the ascent of a businessman into the White House and his promises to cut taxes, invest in infrastructure and increase military spending. The Dow turned sharply up right after the election and has risen 23 percent since then. Some companies had more to gain from Trump’s pronouncements than others and saw their stocks jump, an effect Wall Street brokers call the “Trump Trade.” Boeing, which generates much of its profits from its Defense, Space and Security division, has seen its shares soar more than 70 percent since Trump’s election. It has accounted for 45 percent of the Dow’s rise this year, far more than any of the other 29 companies in the index. “We’ve picked up over $4 trillion of net worth in our country, our stocks, our companies,” Trump said at a White House event on immigration Wednesday. “The stock market hit the highest level that it has ever been and the country is doing very well.” Since becoming president, Trump has taken credit for stock market gains he once dismissed. (Meg Kelly/The Washington Post) By the late spring, a series of reports from prominent analysts showed Wall Street was growing skeptical of Trump’s pledges on taxes and infrastructure. But the markets kept marching higher. Stock analysts attribute this to a simple fact: Big corporations, such as Apple, McDonalds and Boeing — which lean heavily on overseas sales — continue to make a lot of money. “The market has pretty much shrugged off Washington’s dysfunction,” said Chris Gaffney, president of World Markets at EverBank. “The larger story is about the return of the consumers both here in the states and in the emerging markets of China and India.” A weakening dollar – an unusual trend during a bull market – has only helped boost earnings at big corporations because American goods have become cheaper to overseas customers and sales to those customers have greater value when they are converted into U.S. currency. The effect of the dollar is “starting to show up in company earnings,” said Craig Birk, executive vice president of portfolio management at Personal Capital, a California investment firm with $4.9 billion under management. “It’s also provided some confidence that the strength we saw in [quarterly] earnings… can continue for the rest of the year. The dollar weakness has been pretty universal around the world. July was the fifth consecutive month of dollar declines.” Yet not everyone has shared in the stock market’s stunning rise. Nearly half of America has no money invested in the stock market, according to the Federal Reserve. And the rich are far more likely to own stocks than middle or working-class families, surveys show. Eighty-nine percent of families with incomes over $100,000 have at least some money in the stock market compared to just 21 percent of households earning $30,000 or less, a recent Gallup survey found. “Lot of people in America tragically aren’t participating in the stock market,” says Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial Network, a financial advisory firm that works mainly with “Main Street” America. Many ordinary investors are still sitting in the sidelines, missing out on one of the longest-running bull markets in American history because they are still scared from the financial crisis, McMillan added. Stock ownership before 2008 was 62 percent, Gallup found. Even after recent inflows, only 54 percent of Americans are invested now. And most ordinary investors who are in the markets invest through mutual funds, retirement plans, or 529 college-savings plans. According to a 2016 paper by the Tax Policy Center, only 25 percent of Americans owned individual stocks in 2015. Others worry that average investors have been pouring more money into the markets this year, with more than eight years of gains already passed. Michael Farr, a Washington investment manager said the Dow’s 22,000 mark “should be celebrated. It heralds the success of the American economy. “But,” he continued, “the individual investor should remember that the rule is buy low and sell high. This is not low. Market’s don’t say high forever. This will come down.” The Dow’s record on Wednesday was its sixth consecutive record high. Ed Yardeni of Yardeni Research called the most recent surge in stocks a “summertime lullaby” in a recent blog post. “For stock investors, the living has been relatively easy since March 2009, when this great bull market started,” he said. “It would have been far easier if we all fell asleep since then and just woke up occasionally to make sure we were still getting rich. “Now it seems that we are all getting lulled to sleep by the monotonous advance of stock prices,” Yardeni wrote. “ They just keep heading to new record highs with less and less volatility.”

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VW, Daimler and BMW to Upgrade 5 Million Diesels in Rescue Pact Bloomberg / August 2, 2017 Recalls include 2.5 million VW cars that are already fixed Automakers will contribute to fund for cleaner urban transport Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW agreed to upgrade more than 5 million newer diesel cars in Germany and offer trade-in rebates on older models, avoiding more costly remedies in a bid to salvage diesel technology and avoid driving bans in cities. The recalls, hashed out at an emergency summit in Berlin on Wednesday, will cost about 500 million euros ($593 million) and largely sticks to commitments that the automakers had already made. The deal allows them to dodge expensive hardware recalls, which would have ballooned costs. Meanwhile, about half the fixes have already been carried out as part of Volkswagen’s response to its cheating scandal. “What the agreement doesn’t do is restore consumer confidence in diesel engines,” said Arndt Ellinghorst, a London-based analyst with Evercore ISI. “Two years into the VW diesel scandal, having learned about the shortcomings of bench emission testing and ways to trick the system, consumers rightly demand new technologies.” Top executives from the German auto industry were summoned to face off with ministers and state leaders amid a steady drumbeat of negative news about diesel pollution, dialing up concerns over the technology’s impact on urban air quality. The manufacturers agreed to absorb the costs of the upgrades, which they said wouldn’t diminish performance, fuel usage or durability. Recall breakdown by automaker: Volkswagen - 3.8 million vehicles Daimler - 900,000 BMW - 300,000 The aim of the fixes, which also involve vehicles from PSA Group’s Opel and some other brands, is to cut emissions of smog-inducing nitrogen oxides by 25 percent to 30 percent on average, German auto industry lobby VDA said in a statement. The bulk of the costs to the industry will come from incentives for scrapping older models. While overall details were unavailable, BMW outlined plans to offer 2,000-euro trade-in bonuses. “I understand that many people think that the German car industry is the problem,” Daimler Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche said in an emailed statement. “It’s our job to make clear that we’re part of the solution.” There’s a lot at stake for all sides. German automakers need diesel as a stop-gap technology to buy time to catch up with the electric offerings of Tesla Inc. and Nissan Motor Co. And with less than two months until a federal election, Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose ruling bloc runs the ministry overseeing carmakers, has to ward off criticism that the government is too lenient on carmakers while also not endangering the country’s 800,000 auto jobs. Diesel was once the calling card of German auto-engineering prowess, with the industry boasting about the technology offering more power while emitting about 15 percent less carbon dioxide than equivalent gasoline engines. German politicians in turn heavily backed diesel for decades with tax incentives that make the fuel cheaper at the pump and offered little oversight. That all started coming crashing down in September 2015 following Volkswagen’s admission that it duped regulators and consumers for years with diesels rigged to cheat on emissions tests. “We’re in a very tough spot here, and it’s the car industry that’s responsible for this. There’s been cheating going on,” Stephan Weil, the prime minister of Lower Saxony and VW supervisory board member, said in an interview with N24 television in Berlin. “There are numerous unresolved questions, but what must be avoided at all cost is a driving ban for large parts of the German car fleet.” Dealing with the crisis is a difficult balancing act in Germany, where every fifth job depends on the automotive industry and the sector accounts for more than half of the country’s trade surplus. Last year, some 46 percent of the cars sold in the country had a diesel engine, but demand has been sliding since Volkswagen’s scandal. And German politicians agreed there was more to be done to revive faith in the technology. “Today’s agreement is not yet enough,” Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks told reporters after the meeting. “Software updates won’t completely resolve diesel’s NOx problem,” and the government expects “a new culture of responsibility from manufacturers.” The turmoil compounds an already tense situation for the industry which is also struggling with the switch to electric cars and adding self-driving features, while new challengers like Tesla, Uber Technologies Inc. and Apple Inc. ready strategies to grab a slice of future profits. The chummy relationship between the industry and German politicians has also come into focus during the scandal, with critics questioning why Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt only now called the meeting nearly two years after U.S. authorities exposed VW’s cheating. While American consumers received generous compensation payments from the automaker, affected owners in Europe are only offered fixes. ‘Only Losers’ “In this game, there are only losers,” said Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the University of Duisburg-Essen’s Center for Automotive Research. “But the biggest loss is the credibility of the politicians,” who could have made more fundamental reforms in response to the crisis. To comply with environmental rules, German carmakers rely on diesel to power their big sedans and a growing fleet of brawny sport utility vehicles, as consumers remain reticent to buy a sparse lineup of electric cars. The industry’s reliance on diesel has been attributed to a slow pivot to battery-powered vehicles. In the statement, the auto industry underscored the commitment to boost electric-car demand by building a fast-charging network along German highways. “There will have to be a co-existence of electric and combustion engines in coming decades, which is why we’re investing in both technologies,” VW CEO Matthias Mueller said. .

Reference: https://www.iveco.com.au/product/powerstar

Trump, GOP senators introduce bill to slash legal immigration levels The Washington Post / August 2, 2017 President Trump on Wednesday endorsed a new bill in the Senate aimed at slashing legal immigration levels over a decade, a goal Trump endorsed on the campaign trail that would represent a profound change to U.S. immigration policies that have been in place for half a century. Trump appeared with Sens. Tom Cotton (Ark.) and David Perdue (Ga.) at the White House to unveil a modified version of a bill the senators first introduced in April to cut immigration by half from the current level of more than 1 million green cards per year granting foreigners permanent legal residence in the United States. The outlines of the legislation reflect the aims Trump touted on the campaign trail, when he argued that the rapid growth of immigration over the past half century had harmed job opportunities for American workers and led to risks to national security. Trump had met twice previously at the White House with Cotton and Perdue to discuss the details of their legislation, which is titled the Reforming American Immigration for Strong Employment (RAISE) Act. “This would be the most significant reform to the immigration system in half a century,” said Trump, flanked by the senators in the Roosevelt Room. “It is a historic and very vital proposal.” The legislation would mark a major shift in U.S. immigration laws, which over the past half century have permitted a growing number of immigrants to come to the country to work or join relatives already living here legally. To achieve the reductions and create what they call a “merit-based system,” Cotton and Perdue are taking aim at green cards for extended family members of U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents, limiting such avenues for grown children and siblings. Minor children and spouses would still be eligible to apply for green cards. The senators also propose to end a visa diversity lottery that has awarded 50,000 green cards a year, mostly to areas in the world that traditionally do not have as many immigrants to the United States, including Africa. And the bill caps refugee levels at 50,000 per year. Under the bill, the new immigration system would award points to green card applicants based on such factors as English ability, education levels and job skills. The senators said the proposal is modeled after immigration programs in Canada and Australia. Cotton said that while immigrant rights groups might view the current system as a “symbol of America virtue and generosity,” he sees it “as a symbol we’re not committed to working-class Americans and we need to change that.” Trump's appearance with the senators came as the White House moved to elevate immigration back to the political forefront after the president suffered a major defeat when the Senate narrowly rejected his push to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The president made a speech last Friday on Long Island in which he pushed Congress to devote more resources to fighting illegal immigration, including transnational gangs. The event on Wednesday illustrated the president's efforts to broaden his push to reform border control laws beyond illegal immigration. Trump called the changes to legal immigration necessary to protect American workers, including racial minorities, from rising competition for lower-paid jobs. “Among those who have been hit hardest in recent years are immigrants and minority workers competing for jobs against brand new arrivals,” Trump said. “It has not been fair to our people, our citizens and our workers.” But the bill's prospects are dim in the Senate, where Republicans hold a narrow majority and would have difficulty getting 60 votes to prevent a filibuster. The legislation is expected to face fierce resistance from congressional Democrats and immigrant rights groups and opposition from business leaders and some moderate Republicans in states with large immigrant populations. Opponents of slashing immigration levels said immigrants help boost the economy and that studies have shown they commit crimes at lower levels than do native-born Americans. “This is just a fundamental restructuring of our immigration system which has huge implications for the future,” said Kevin Appleby, the senior director of international migration policy for the Center for Migration Studies. “This is part of a broader strategy by this administration to rid the country of low-skilled immigrants they don't favor in favor of immigrants in their image.” Other critics said the RAISE Act, which maintains the annual cap for employment-based green cards at the current level of 140,000, would not increase skilled immigration and could make it more difficult for employers to hire the workers they need. And they noted that Canada and Australia admit more than twice the number of immigrants to their countries as the United States does currently when judged as a percentage of their overall population levels. "Just because you have a PhD doesn't mean you're necessarily more valuable to the U.S. economy," said Stuart Anderson, executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy. "The best indication of whether a person is employable is if someone wants to hire them."

Germany makes last-ditch play to save diesel at emergency summit Bloomberg / August 2, 2017 MUNICH/BERLIN -- After nearly two years of constant crisis, the German car industry is looking to salvage its beleaguered diesel technology and draw a line under an emissions scandal that shows no signs of abating. At an emergency summit in Berlin called by the government, the CEOs of Volkswagen Group, Daimler and BMW Group will face off with ministers and state leaders to convince them that, despite the steady stream of negative news, diesel has a future. Automakers are willing to further upgrade existing vehicles to lower their pollution in return for political support to avoid driving bans. There's a lot at stake for all sides. German automakers need diesel as a stop-gap technology to buy time to catch up with the electric offerings of companies such as Tesla. And, with less than two months until a federal election, Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose ruling bloc runs the ministry overseeing carmakers, has to ward off criticism that the government is too lenient on carmakers while also not endangering the country's 800,000 industry jobs. "The manufacturers will play their part to improve air quality in cities and make diesel fit for the future," said Matthias Wissmann, head of German auto lobby VDA, proposing reduction in nitrogen oxide emissions of at least 25 percent on average. "Diesel is enormously important for climate protection as well as prosperity in Germany." Driving bans The two sides are expected on Wednesday to agree to a host of measures designed to lower emissions of nitrogen oxide, which causes smog and health problems, in Germany's 15 million diesels to avoid driving bans by cities. In the run-up, carmakers and the government were haggling over software fixes -- costing several hundred million euros -- and much more expensive hardware changes that would lift the total bill to around 5 billion euros ($5.9 billion). Much of that would be paid for by the companies. Dealing with the crisis is a difficult balancing act in Germany, where every fifth job depends on the industry and the sector accounts for more than half of the country's trade surplus. Last year, some 46 percent of the cars sold in the country had a diesel engine. The turmoil compounds an already tense time for the industry that's struggling with the switch to EVs and a host of new challengers like Tesla, Uber and Apple, who are readying their strategies for a slice of future profits. "The significance of the car industry is extremely high. VW is more important to Germany's economy than Greece," said Carsten Brzeski, Frankfurt-based chief economist at ING-Diba AG. "The industry has to find a solution together with government over how to face the big questions head on around the structural transformation." The relationship between the industry and politicians in Germany has also come into focus during the scandal, with critics questioning why it's taken Transport Minister Alexander Dobrindt, who called Wednesday's meeting, nearly two years to take decisive action after U.S. authorities exposed VW's emissions cheating in September 2015. Carmakers, and especially Germany's premium manufacturers, need diesel to power their luxury sedans and a growing fleet of thirstier SUVs, as consumers remain reticent to buy a sparse lineup of electric cars. Diesel emits about a fifth less of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide compared with equivalent gasoline engines, making the technology key in meeting the European Union's tough emissions regulation, which will tighten further in 2020. To shore up diesel, BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen have announced voluntary recalls of several million cars with Euro 5 and Euro 6 emissions standards, costing less than 100 euro per car. The expected reduction in NOx -- about 20 percent -- isn't enough to clean up city centers, according to environmental advocacy group Deutsche Umwelthilfe, which last week won a case at Stuttgart administrative court seeking broad diesel bans for Daimler's and Porsche's hometown. "Getting a deal and getting it right is extremely important as trust in the carmakers has been steadily eroding," said Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the University of Duisburg-Essen's Center for Automotive Research. "Industry needs to explain how the upgrades really work. Software fixes sound like smoke and mirrors to the consumer."

EPA review seeks array of data Automotive News / August 1, 2017 EPA expands testing for CAFE midterm review TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- The EPA will expand its real-world testing of automotive powertrains as it begins to compile data for the new review of the agency’s 2025 model year fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards. Speaking Tuesday at the CAR Management Briefing Seminars, Christopher Grundler, director of the EPA’s Office of Transportation and Air Quality, said the review will incorporate test data to a greater extent than ever. The review is due by April 1 and could change the 50.8 mpg fleetwide average fuel economy goal enacted Jan. 13 in the final days of the Obama administration. Some feel the fuel economy standard was rushed through without proper vetting in order to secure the outgoing president’s legacy on the environment. In March, the Trump administration ordered the EPA to reopen the midterm review. Grundler said engineers working at the EPA’s Ann Arbor, Mich., emissions lab will tear down and benchmark a greater number of powertrains this time, including a diesel engine, a 10-speed transmission, a downsized and turbocharged engine and Toyota’s new 2.5-liter four-cylinder that had a thermal efficiency rating at 41 percent. There will be another new twist this time, he revealed: The EPA will buy consumer data that quizzes new-vehicle buyers on such things as their satisfaction with their real-world fuel economy. As part of the drive to collect new data, Grundler said, EPA officials are working with automakers, suppliers, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and government agencies in Europe and China. “We are also stepping up our work to test vehicles once they are in customers’ hands. We’re developing new screening methods to ensure these engines are behaving in the real world in a correlated manner when we test them in the laboratory, so we no longer have defeat-device cases to pursue,” said Grundler. In February, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, representing the Detroit 3 and several import brands, asked the Trump administration to reopen the review of the 2025 model year standards. Automakers felt the adoption of the goals was rushed to cement Obama’s legacy on the environment. Former EPA administrator Gina McCarthy finalized the 2025 model year standards on Jan. 13, some 15 months before April 1, 2018, the latest date the EPA could accept, reject or adjust the 2022-25 model year standards. That April 1, 2018, date has been restored. EPA researchers are gathering new data that will help determine if fleet average fuel economy should stay at 50.8 mpg or be rolled back. The original standard called for the equivalent of 54.5 mpg by the 2025 model year, but surging demand for less fuel efficient pickups and SUVs lowered the 2025 fleet average to 50.8. The standard is written to be adjustable to take into account the mix of vehicles sold. Grundler said the EPA is ensuring that its testing methods are uniform across all its labs and that the data are certified by other labs as being accurate. He also said the EPA is working to streamline and simplify the confusing labyrinth of rules, regulations and laws that govern fuels. “The midterm review is another golden opportunity for us to rethink how well the regulations are working and to improve them,” Grundler said. “You have heard me say from this exact podium that with all the changes going on in this business, we in the public sector ought to be willing to rethink and change the way we do business and how we are approaching this, and I still believe that.” One change this time is that the EPA is buying consumer data from a company that surveys new-car buyers, although Grundler did not identify the company. However, he cited examples of questions that were similar to the consumer fuel economy questions normally asked on J.D. Power’s Initial Quality Survey. “We pledged that this will be a robust, transparent and inclusive process, and the main goal is to allow more time to gather more information, more up to date information and to allow us more time to coordinate with NHTSA and what we are doing,” he said. Grundler’s message this year did not focus on CO2 levels, which were the centerpiece of his presentation at the seminars last year. “Elections do have consequences and politics are changing and will continue to change. That’s part of American democracy,” he said. “But one thing is constant, and that’s the mission of the Environmental Protection Agency, to protect public health and the environment because that is rooted in the law. “Our job remains to provide the best technical advice, scientific advice and what the law says to our political leadership.”

Prime Mover Magazine / August 1, 2017 Hino Australia has reported June as the highest one order month since 2015 with strong sales, an increase in dealership investments and an ongoing customer service focus for the first half of 2017. “June was a record breaking month for the truck industry and the overall market sales of 3,879 units around the country was also the highest June number since 2009,” said Brand and Franchise Development Manager for Hino Australia, Bill Gillespie. “Likewise, deliveries of 1,233 light-duty trucks bettered a previous Australian market sales number set in 2005. “Buoyed by the all-new 500 Series Wide Cab, Hino led the growth in the medium-duty segment – while the size of the market decreased by 64 units (eight per cent) compared to June 2016, our volume remained the same and were the only Japanese manufacturer to achieve growth in this segment year-to-date. “In June, Hino had record retail orders, recording the highest one month order number since June 2015 primarily led by the all-new 500 Series Wide Cab, which has contributed to our significant year-on-year growth in both the medium-duty (11.2 per cent) and heavy-duty (62 per cent) segments. “The success of the 500 series Wide Cab has been so significant that we currently lead the medium-duty market in South Australia and Tasmania for the year, and are in second position in Victoria and the Northern Territory by relatively narrow margins.” Customer experience is another area of focus for the Japanese manufacturer. “At Hino, we say we are driven to do more for our customers,” said Gillespie. “An example of this is our in-house customer care centre, which is the only one of its type in the Hino world. “After a year of operation, and a concerted effort across the business to focus on our customers and their experiences, we have seen an increase in positive customer outcomes after their enquiry, and a reduction in the time taken to resolve enquiries.” Gillespie said Hino is forecasting a strong end to 2017 with the expected arrival of Amazon forecast to further drive the ‘last mile’ delivery market and fuel light duty truck and van sales. Hino also anticipates a seasonal lift in its light duty trucks, particularly the Built-To-Go models, in spring. “With the launch of our much anticipated 300 Series 4x4 model and six full months of 500 Series Wide Cab sales, we are confident of reaching our sales targets for the year,” said Gillespie. “A strong focus in the second half of 2017 will be the continued investment in our dealer network in locations around the country including Coffs Harbour, Sydney and Melbourne, with additional sites to be confirmed in the coming months." .

Lime Logistics has high hopes for lowered Mercedes-Benz Arocs Commercial Motor / August 1, 2017 Lime Logistics has committed to buying low versions of the Mercedes-Benz Arocs trucks in the future, because of their improved in-cab visibility and easier entry points for drivers. The Sittingbourne, West Hythe and Tonbridge operator recently took delivery of one of the first lowered 8x4 Arocs units, which sits six inches lower to the ground. Transport manager Dave Dixon said: "We’ll definitely be going for the reduced height version from now on. “The ground clearance is still very good but it’s easier for the drivers to maintain three points of contact when climbing in and out of the cab, while being that bit lower also helps by giving them a better angle for pedestrian and cyclist observation.” The 3240 truck with ClassicSpace M-cab is fitted with a Freuhauf tipper body, with a 19,500kg payload. It joins the remaining 28 vehicles on Lime Logistics's fleet, comprised of tippers and tractor units. The truck was provided by Sparshatts Truck and Van. .

Transport Engineer / August 1, 2017 Aggregates and bulk haulage firm Lime Logistics has taken delivery of its first lower cab Mercedes-Benz Arocs and says it will “definitely be going for the reduced height version” in the future. Supplied by dealer Sparshatts Truck & Van, the Kent-based operator’s new addition is a 32-tonne Arocs 3240 with alloy insulated asphalt body by Fruehauf, and joins its 28-strong fleet of double-drive tippers and tractors. The Arocs has a ClassicSpace M-cab with 320mm engine tunnel, sitting six inches lower than the other eight-wheelers. This, says the manufacturer, gives the driver 14% more direct vision from the cab. Dave Dixon, transport manager for Lime Logistics, praises the safety and operational advantages, adding: “We’ll definitely be going for the reduced height version from now on. “The ground clearance is still very good but it’s easier for the drivers to maintain three points of contact when climbing in and out of the cab, while being that bit lower also helps by giving them a better angle for pedestrian and cyclist observation.” The Arocs has a 10.7-litre, 394bhp straight-six engine [OM470LA] and is supplied with a Mercedes-Benz R&M contract. .

Thanks to more efficient batteries, today's battery-powered air conditioning systems do not require an auxiliary power unit (APU), eliminating cost and weight. Batteries should provide 8 to 10 hours of cooling.

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Jason Cannon, Overdrive / July 31, 2017 Despite significant legislative hurdles around much of the globe, a new report from Frost & Sullivan suggests “mega trucks” – generally defined as a vehicle measuring a minimum of about 100 feet long and weighing upwards of 160,000 pounds – could nearly double in population by 2025. Australia leads the current use of mega trucks in terms of penetration rates and are allowed nationwide in the Scandinavian region. Their limited use is allowed in Germany and Spain, and trials have occurred for mega trucks in France and the United Kingdom, but have been rejected. Citing a strong mandate and support infrastructure, the report says North America is expected to accommodate more mega trucks. It notes, however, overcoming legislative hurdles and negative public opinion will be critical in promoting mega truck usage. “Digital transformation and autonomous trucking will play an important role in expediting the adoption of mega trucks through better connectivity and safety features. With bigger engines and higher payload capacities, mega trucks are expected to incorporate more value features, especially in developing markets,” says Frost & Sullivan Mobility Research Analyst Marshall Martin. “Mega trucks in the future will be built on common platforms for similar markets such as China, India, and South America.” The report, Global Mega Trucks Market, Forecast to 2025, says global sales penetration of mega trucks is expected to increase from 3.4 percent to 5.7 percent for total heavy duty truck sales from 2016 to 2025, depending on lawmakers in specific regions laying down regulations that take into account the impact on infrastructure, environment, society and other modes of transport. The study examines trends, drivers, opportunities, challenges, and technology developments impacting the global mega truck market through 2025. “A proliferation of mega trucks, where on average two mega trucks would replace three normal-sized trucks, would have a negative impact on the sales of trucks, thereby affecting OEM revenues,” Martin says. “These companies should look toward creating alternate sources of revenue through investing in or acquiring companies present in the safety, lightweighting, telematics, and mobile-based freight aggregation fields.”

Pair this with battery-powered air conditioning and you have a nice fuel savings.

Freightliner Cascadia raised-roof sleeper trucks can now be ordered with the eNow eCharge solar system as a pre-delivery installation. The eNow system can be ordered through Freightliner dealerships and installed at Freightliner's Custom Truck Service centers located at each of the manufacturing plants. The eNow solar system's 0.125-inch thick design is flexible to follow the aerodynamic roof contour of the Cascadia. The eNow system supplies ongoing power to the batteries, to meet the cab’s power needs while reducing idle time and fuel costs. “The eNow system has continually proven its value in reducing costs, while also demonstrating its durability over diverse road conditions and in a variety of climates,” says Jeff Flath, president and CEO of eNow. “Drivers and fleet owners who order the eNow system pre-installed will begin realizing the benefits from solar the minute they take delivery.” For more information on the eNow eCharge system, click here. .