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It's the Tesla way Paul. They're tight with information on new product.

A statement from the United Master Executive Council, the union representing the airline's 12,500 pilots. As the story of United Express Flight 3411, operated by Republic Airline, continues to virally circulate in the news and on social media, your United Master Executive Council (MEC) has intentionally withheld judgment because of the rapid pace at which information, both accurate and inaccurate, has been released and manipulated. The safety and well-being of our passengers is the highest priority for United pilots, and this should not have escalated into a violent encounter. United pilots are infuriated by this event. This occurred on one of our contracted Express carriers, separately owned and operated by Republic Airline, and was ultimately caused by the grossly inappropriate response by the Chicago Department of Aviation. It is important to review these baseline facts: 1. This violent incident should never have happened and was a result of gross excessive force by Chicago Department of Aviation personnel. 2. No United employees were involved in the physical altercation. 3. Social media ire should properly be directed at the Chicago Aviation Department. 4. This occurred on an Express flight operated by Republic Airline, as such, the flight crew and cabin crew of Flight 3411 are employees of Republic Airline, not United Airlines. 5. United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz has apologized for United Airlines, the actions of the Chicago Department of Aviation, and the actions of our Express partner, Republic Airline. On April 9, 2017, United Express Flight 3411, operated by Republic, was preparing to depart Chicago O’Hare (ORD) to Louisville (SDF). Republic Airline made the decision to assign four of their crewmembers to deadhead on Flight 3411 within minutes of the scheduled departure. Although four passengers would have to be removed from this flight to accommodate the Republic crew, the goal was to get the other 70 passengers on their way to SDF and ensure a flight crew needed the next day would also be in place. By all reports, the Republic flight crew was courteous and calm throughout the event, and three passengers left the flight voluntarily for compensation. After repeatedly asking the fourth passenger to give up his seat to no avail, the gate agent requested the assistance of law enforcement. For reasons unknown to us, instead of trained Chicago Police Department officers being dispatched to the scene, Chicago Department of Aviation personnel responded. At this point, without direction and outside the control of United Airlines or the Republic crew [a lie - blame deflection], the Chicago Department of Aviation forcibly removed the passenger. Members of local airport law enforcement are normally important security partners who assist aircrews in ensuring the safety of everyone on the airplane. This event was an anomaly and is not how United or the police are expected to treat passengers when there is no security threat. United pilots have always been the true leaders of this company, and our fellow employees count on us to continue to do what we do best—deliver a world class product and safely transport our passengers around the world. We cannot let this huge distraction affect our ability to do our jobs. We have successfully flown through more turbulent times, and we will weather this storm as well. Ultimately, United must be measured by more than this one incident on a single United Express flight; this airline is comprised of more than 82,000 employees, including over 12,500 pilots, working every day to safely fly around the globe. For 91 years, United has earned the trust of millions of passengers, and we will continue earning their trust, despite the incident on this United Express flight. The United Airlines MEC is confident that the steps we are taking as a company will ensure this type of inexcusable event never happens again.'

Chicago Tribune / April 11, 2017 I was on United flight 3411. Here's what I saw. Unfortunately, I was aboard United Airlines flight 3411 from Chicago to Louisville, Kentucky on Sunday. Even more unfortunate was the fact that I was returning from a spring break trip with seven of my students from Louisville Male High School who also witnessed the unconscionable treatment of the passenger. The disgusting mishandling of the situation included everyone from the rude ticket agent who demanded that this man give up his seat on the flight United overbooked, to one of the officers laughing in the midst of the incident, to the violent, abusive way the passenger was dragged off the plane by the officer. It was the worst possible model for my students, and frankly, was traumatizing to many of us who watched this from such close proximity. What are we modeling for our children? Are we teaching our children to scream at other people, to jump quickly to force if we can’t get the results we want, to use violence to solve problems, to have total disrespect for other people? I was appalled at how United Airlines and the officers handled the situation, but I was also encouraged by my fellow passengers’ attempts to interfere — despite how helpless we all felt. Some passengers audibly protested to the officers, some stood and removed themselves from the plane rather than continue to witness the abuse, and one father, while trying to console his 8-year-old daughter, confronted the officer saying, among other things, “you ought to be ashamed of yourself!” These are the models of which I hope our children will see more. — Jason Powell, Louisville, Kentucky

I’m thinking that dropping the 21,000lb MOAB bomb in Afghanistan on a cave complex was more of a way to send a message to North Korea than to effect results in Afghanistan. At a cost of $16 million, 36 ISIS militants were allegedly killed (a cost of $444,444 per head). Bomb or no bomb, I’m sure Afghanistan will remain a success story, a major global heroin supplier and the men will continue sexually abusing young boys. The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) is a large-yield conventional bomb that cost over $300 million to develop and is estimated to cost $16 million each.

Whenever you all speak of V8-powered U-models, I instinctively recall the V8-powered C-model. https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/34267-macks-v8-powered-c-series-comin-on-strong/

The Surrey-Now Leader / April 13, 2017 The B.C. Vintage Truck Museum expects to double its exhibition space by early fall after being awarded a $50,000 B.C.|Canada 150 grant on April 2. The funds will be used to expand into an additional wing of their current building. The additional 6,662 sq. ft. will make it possible for the Surrey Heritage Society (SHS) to bring in more trucks and create more room in the existing gallery. “We’re pretty crowded in this part here, so we want to move things around so we can have more space,” said Anna Dean, SHS secretary. The addition will also make the museum more accessible and give people more “breathing room,” she said. The space is leased from the City of Surrey, but renovations must be made before the museum can move their trucks in. The majority of the grant money will go towards installing garage doors and creating an opening in the inner wall to allow trucks to drive through. Construction is still in the beginning stages, and the dedicated group of SHS volunteers will take on as much of the work as possible in order to save costs. Since the museum opened in 2012, members of the SHS have dedicated 25,000 hours to the operation of the building and the maintenance of the collection. The museum takes part in up to 15 community events a year and has hosted more than 10,400 visitors from 11 different countries over the past five years, all thanks to the efforts of volunteers. It’s a labour of love, according to Dean. “We have trucks dating from 1914 to 1955 and they’re beautifully restored trucks. Each truck has a unique history, and played an important part in developing the province,” said Dean. “It’s not just a bunch of old trucks. They all have a story.” Each of their trucks tells a tale that directly relates to the history of the province. The museum houses trucks that were used to transport troops and freight during the First and Second World Wars, carry dynamite during the construction of the Fraser Canyon highway and replace the horses and wagons that hauled hay from Sumas Prairie to dairy farms in Yarrow. Soon they’ll have more room to tell those stories. At least for now. 1881 Town Hall The B.C. Vintage Truck Museum building has had many uses over the years. It was originally Surrey’s museum, constructed in 1958 as a Centennial project. Surrey’s 1881 Town Hall was built into the space—or, rather, the space was built around it. From outside the museum, the only hint of town hall is a roof peak sticking out of an otherwise flat-roofed building. Inside the museum, it’s easy to mistake the 136-year-old structure as just another exhibition room. The 1881 Town Hall is so built-in to the structure that roof support beams run through it. And sometime within the next few years, the hall will be moving to another site. The current Surrey Museum is a 10-minute walk down 176A Street. It’s currently undergoing site preparation ahead of breaking ground this summer on their $10.3-million expansion. A “heritage square” has been worked into the expansion plan. The Anderson Cabin, which is currently on the museum site, will be joined by two more heritage buildings: the Anniedale School and the 1881 Town Hall. To move the 1881 Town Hall, the section of the building that the B.C. Vintage Truck Museum is renovating will have to be demolished. The degree of demolition is unclear. As of yet, there are no specific plans in place detailing how the move will be accomplished. “That’s down the road, we’re not going to worry about that today,” said Dean. For now, the expansion project will open the 1881 Town Hall to visitors again. Over the past few years it has been rented out to community groups for meetings, but it hasn’t been open to the general public for 12 years. The hall has been fitted out for meetings, and a heritage display was installed on the walls. “We’re doing our level best to be good custodians (of the hall),” said Chenn Berger, SHS president. “Five years ago when we moved in, we were told our time was limited. But we can’t say that we’re living on borrowed time. We can’t look at it that way.” “Our goal here is to become larger and larger until Surrey recognizes that if they move us, they’ll have to provide us a similar facility,” he said. Five years of caring for B.C.’s stories The museum, which is open on Wednesday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., was busy when The Reporter visited. Volunteers toured visitors, tires were delivered and rolled through the front room and the clang of tools carried from the main gallery where maintenance was underway. “We’re doing the brakes on the firetruck right now,” said Chenn. “There’s a dozen of these that we can drive at any given time, so we try to keep them running.” The collection has changed hands a few times since it was donated. The Teamsters ran it before handing it over to the SHS. “Five years ago, they gave it to us,” said Berger. “They said if we fell apart within five years, it would revert back to them. Well on April 16, our five years are up and they belong to us totally.” “We want to develop as much local history as possible,” said Berger. “Cloverdale, obviously, but Surrey and the Vancouver area as well. The more you can enhance the story on each truck, the better.” If you’re looking to help tell those stories, the B.C. Vintage Truck Museum is always looking for an extra hand. Most of the volunteers put in around eight hours a week, but as Dean said, “We’d be happy with anything. Come here for two hours, that’s a help.” For more information on the museum or volunteering, visit: http://www.bcvintagetruckmuseum.org/. .

Commercial Motor TV - sponsored by DAF Trucks / April 13, 2017 .

Cummins Press Release / April 13, 2017 The distinctive red and black locomotive powered by a Cummins’ QSK95 engine put up some impressive numbers over its first year of operation on the Indiana Rail Road, beyond just the weight it pulled. The Cummins locomotive recorded a 16 percent improvement in fuel economy compared to the engine it replaced, an 89 percent reduction in oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and a 98 percent cut in particulate matter (PM). What some call the company’s “mobile locomotive testing lab,” also demonstrated over 12 months that it has plenty of muscle, too. “It pulls better than anything else we have here in terms of an engine 4,300 to 4,400 (horsepower),” said Bob Babcock, Senior Vice President of Operations and Business Development for the Indiana Rail Road. “When you want to throttle up on the engine, it gets rolling in a hurry,” he added. The locomotive, which is owned by Cummins, completed its first full year of operation in March 2017, logging about 3,800 hours as it pulled coal and mixed freight over the Indiana Rail Road’s 500 miles of track south and southwest of Indianapolis, Indiana (U.S.A). The 95-liter, 16-cylinder engine is one of the most powerful high-speed diesels to be installed in a locomotive. Cummins purchased and re-powered a 40-year-old locomotive to demonstrate that the QSK95 could pull freight efficiently. The engine is already proving popular with passenger rail systems, powering Siemens’ new low-emission, diesel-electric Charger locomotive. The Charger locomotive will be delivered to passenger rail systems across the United States beginning in 2017. The QSK95 was the first single, prime-power engine certified by the Environmental Protection agency (EPA) to meet its Tier 4 standards. The system used in the Cummins’ freight locomotive also meets Tier 4 certification, replacing a larger, medium speed diesel engine without the aftertreatment equipment to meet Tier 4. One of the first things the Cummins’ locomotive demonstrated is that a QSK95 with Cummins’ SCR exhaust aftertreatment could comfortably fit in an older locomotive. The SCR system removes NOx emissions while the engine combustion removes PM, two critical air pollutants. Over the past year, the Cummins locomotive has gone through extensive study by company engineers, enabling such things as development of the best combustion formula to optimize fuel efficiency. Melina Kennedy, Executive Director of Rail & Defense for Cummins Engine Business, said the past year has demonstrated how well the SCR system works in a freight configuration. “We’ve learned a tremendous amount over the past year,” Kennedy said. “We’re really grateful for the relationship we’ve had with Indiana Rail Road and our other partners.” Outside the United States, the trend toward replacing older medium-speed diesel engines with cleaner, more efficient high-speed diesels is well established. Inside the U.S., however, most freight trains are still powered by medium diesel engines. “There’s not just an advantage from an environmental perspective to high-speed diesel,” Kennedy said. “We’ve seen a significant decrease in the cost of ownership due to the increase in fuel efficiency.” Indiana Rail Road’s Babcock says the engine has been an all-around performer for his company. “We’re able to use this engine on multiple types of service, from fast unit trains of inter-modal to hard pulling, big coal trains, to merchandise trains to local switching,” he said. “We think we have been the right fit to really run this engine through its paces.” .

Dodge Trucks Press Release / April 13, 2017 . . . . .

Tesla Gets Set to Run with the Big Rigs with Electric Truck Heavy Duty Trucking / April 13, 2017 Tesla CEO Elon Musk Thursday sent shockwaves through the North American trucking and business communities with a single, mid-day tweet: “Tesla Semi truck unveil set for September. Team has done an amazing job. Seriously next level,” the Musk tweeted, setting off a firestorm of speculation as to what, exactly, the Palo Alto, California, automaker has up its sleeve.

Heavy Duty Trucking / April 13, 2017 Navistar announced the 30th anniversary of its Fleet Charge program — Navistar’s private label purchasing card program that provides customers with guaranteed pricing, consolidated billing, and a dedicated credit line and is accepted at more than 650 International and IC Bus dealer locations in the U.S. and Canada. Fleet Charge started in 1987 as a way for large, national accounts to experience greater continuity across the dealer network. It helped to centralize parts Requests for Proposal, better analyze a customer’s full retail potential when negotiating pricing and then systematically manage compliance with pricing agreements across the entire dealer network. “Fleet Charge demonstrates our commitment to providing our customers with unmatched options for managing their fleet maintenance and repairs,” said Carlos Junquera, vice president, North America Sales, Parts. “Furthermore, it allows our dealers to provide customers with highly customizable programs to meet their enterprise needs and help them grow their business.” Fleet Charge was the first program of its kind, setting a new benchmark for customer expectations in the trucking industry. This VIP customer experience has since become an industry standard when doing business with large fleets. In the meantime, Navistar continues to lead the way, adding new programs like Fleet Charge Select and Fleet Charge Advantage, which provide similar benefits to mid- and small-size fleets. The program has more than doubled in size since the 20th anniversary in 2007 and has more than 2,000 fleets benefitting from the International Truck and IC Bus dealer network. With current market trends, the company is looking to double the program again by its 35th anniversary. The program has more than doubled in size since the 20th anniversary in 2007 and has more than 2,000 fleets benefitting from the International Truck and IC Bus dealer network. With current market trends, the company is looking to double the program again by its 35th anniversary. This year, the program is implementing a number of initiatives designed to drive return business into International dealerships. As of April 1, new customers can apply for their Fleet Charge accounts online, using an electronic submission tool on the program website. Soon, Fleet Charge customers will have the opportunity to view their cumulative savings and receive guaranteed discounts on retail promotions, with additional updates coming. To learn more about Fleet Charge or to open an account, visit http://www.fleetcharge.com.

OOIDA to Supreme Court: ELD mandate violates 4th amendment Fleet Owner / April 13, 2017 E-log requirement "equivalent of warrantless surveillance" of truckers The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Assn. is taking its opposition to the electronic logging device mandate to the highest court in the land. The small business trucking group this week filed a petition with the Supreme Court of the United States, arguing that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit was wrong when it ruled that the e-log requirement does not violate Fourth Amendment protections against illegal search and seizure. The deadline for compliance with the ELD rule is Dec. 18. “We believe that the Seventh Circuit erred in allowing warrantless searches of 3.5 million drivers, designed specifically to uncover evidence of criminal activity,” said Jim Johnston, president and CEO of OOIDA. “In doing so, the Seventh Circuit decision splits directly with rulings by both the Fifth and Eleventh Circuit Courts. This is also the first time that the pervasively regulated industry exception has been applied directly to the search of an individual to serve the ordinary needs of criminal law enforcement.” OOIDA contends that the “pervasively regulated industry exception” to the warrant requirement, the basis of the Seventh Circuit’s denial, does not extend beyond the search of “business premises.” Additionally, for such an exception and warrantless search, the Supreme Court imposed strict guidelines—guidelines which the ELD rule does not specifically address. In short, according to OOIDA, an ELD requirement is the equivalent of warrantless surveillance of truckers. “The ELD Rule does far more than authorize administrative inspections of business premises. HOS regulations are directed toward the personal conduct of drivers,” the petition states. “ELDs monitor and record driver conduct, including driver activity and location, twenty-four hours per day, seven days per week, more expansively and invasively than paper logbooks currently do.” The association will also continue to pursue the issue on the congressional side as part of its “Knock Out Bad Regs” campaign and will continue to communicate with the Trump administration about this and other regulations, Johnson said. “We were very disappointed and surprised by the ruling against us by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals,” Johnston said. “That same court had ruled in our favor on a previous lawsuit of ours on this same issue.” said Johnston.

OOIDA Takes ELD Rule to Supreme Court Heavy Duty Trucking / April 13, 2017 The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) has flung a Hail Mary pass in its quest to overturn the electronic logging device mandate, petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on whether the regulation violates the Fourth Amendment. The April 12 filing came three months to the day after OOIDA was denied a rehearing by the full U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit of an October ruling by a panel of that court. The panel had found against the association, determining that the ELD rule would not violate drivers’ rights to privacy under the Fourth Amendment. But along with the issue of protecting driver privacy, in its petition to the Supreme Court, OOIDA is also seeking a ruling on whether the ELD rule violates the Fourth Amendment by failing to establish a regulatory structure at the state and federal levels that serves as a substitute for a warrant. “We believe that the Seventh Circuit erred in allowing warrantless searches of 3.5 million drivers, designed specifically to uncover evidence of criminal activity,” Jim Johnston, president and CEO of OOIDA said. “In doing so, the Seventh Circuit decision splits directly with rulings by both the Fifth and Eleventh Circuit Courts. “This is also the first time that the pervasively regulated industry exception has been applied directly to the search of an individual to serve the ordinary needs of criminal law enforcement,” he added. Johnston also said that OOIDA was “very disappointed and surprised by the ruling against us by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals [in January]. “That same court had ruled in our favor on a previous lawsuit of ours on this same issue.” He added that OOIDA will also continue “to pursue the [ELD] issue on the congressional side” as part of its “Knock Out Bad Regs” campaign and it will “continue to communicate with the Trump administration about this and other regulations.” According to OOIDA, requiring electronic monitoring devices on commercial vehicles “does not advance safety since they are no more reliable than paper logbooks for recording compliance with hours-of-service regulations.” As it stands now, the ELD regulation is a final federal rule. Compliance will start to kick in this December.

Reuters / April 13, 2017 The Trump administration on Thursday issued a final rule that will shorten the Obamacare enrollment period and give insurers more of what they say they need in the individual insurance market, likely making it harder for some consumers to purchase insurance. It could also raise out-of-pocket medical expenses because it gives insurers more flexibility in determining the value of their coverage. The rule, which takes effect later this year, comes as President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have renewed efforts to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act after an effort to pass a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives failed last month. Issued by a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and first proposed in February, the rule aims to aid insurers, who have lost hundreds of millions of dollars in the individual insurance markets set up by Obamacare. Several major insurers, including Humana Inc and Aetna Inc, have announced plans to exit some state exchanges in 2018. Insurers welcomed the rule but said there is still too much uncertainty in the market. On Wednesday, Trump told the Wall Street Journal that he may withhold Obamacare payments to insurers that amount to about $7 billion a year to force Democrats back to the negotiating table. Marilyn Tavenner, president and chief executive of America's Health Insurance Plans, said that funding for the payments must continue uninterrupted. Otherwise, she said premiums will rise 20 percent across the market and more insurers would drop out of the exchanges. The changes under Thursday's final rule include a shortened open enrollment period for Obamacare plans. They also make it harder for people to enroll outside that period, which is allowed under certain circumstances such as a pregnancy or a move. The rule could also allow insurers to collect unpaid premium payments and make it tougher for people to move in and out of insurance plans. Insurers say "gaming the system" has created an unprofitable mix of healthy and sick customers. The rule also gives states broader authority by removing the federal government's role in overseeing doctor and hospital networks included in insurance plans. Republicans have said any healthcare reform or overhaul must give states more flexibility. The Affordable Care Act enabled 20 million Americans to gain insurance, mostly through the individual insurance markets set up by the law or through an expansion of Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor and disabled.

The plot thickens......................... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- British spies were first to spot Trump team's links with Russia The Guardian / April 13, 2017 GCHQ alerted US agencies after becoming aware of contacts in 2015 Britain’s spy agencies played a crucial role in alerting their counterparts in Washington to contacts between members of Donald Trump’s campaign team and Russian intelligence operatives. GCHQ first became aware in late 2015 of suspicious “interactions” between figures connected to Trump and known or suspected Russian agents. This intelligence was passed to the US as part of a routine exchange of information. Over the next six months, until summer 2016, a number of western agencies shared further information on contacts between Trump’s inner circle and Russians. The European countries that passed on electronic intelligence – known as sigint – included Germany, Estonia and Poland. Australia, a member of the “Five Eyes” spying alliance that also includes the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand, also relayed material. The Dutch and the French spy agency, the General Directorate for External Security or DGSE, were contributors. GCHQ was at no point carrying out a targeted operation against Trump or his team or proactively seeking information. The conversations were picked up by chance as part of routine surveillance of Russian intelligence assets. Over several months, different agencies targeting the same people began to see a pattern of connections that were flagged to intelligence officials in the US. The issue of GCHQ’s role in the FBI’s ongoing investigation into possible cooperation between the Trump campaign and Moscow is highly sensitive. In March Trump tweeted that Barack Obama had illegally “wiretapped” him in Trump Tower. The White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, claimed the “British spying agency” GCHQ had carried out the bugging. The claims prompted an extremely unusual rebuke from GCHQ, which generally refrains from commenting on all intelligence matters. The agency described the allegations as “nonsense”. “They are utterly ridiculous and should be ignored,” a GCHQ spokesperson said. Instead, both US and UK intelligence sources acknowledge that GCHQ played an early, prominent role in kickstarting the FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation, which began in late July 2016, with the British eavesdropping agency the “principal whistleblower”. The FBI and the CIA were slow to appreciate the extensive nature of contacts between Trump’s team and Moscow ahead of the US election. This was in part due to US law that prohibits US agencies from examining the private communications of American citizens without warrants. “They are trained not to do this,” a source stressed. “It looks like the [US] agencies were asleep,” the source added. “They [the European agencies] were saying: ‘There are contacts going on between people close to Mr Trump and people we believe are Russian intelligence agents. You should be wary of this.’ “The message was: ‘Watch out. There’s something not right here.’” GCHQ’s then head, Robert Hannigan, passed material in summer 2016 to the CIA chief, John Brennan. The matter was deemed so sensitive it was handled at “director level”. After an initially slow start, Brennan used GCHQ information and intelligence from other partners to launch a major inter-agency investigation. In late August and September, Brennan gave a series of classified briefings to the “Gang of Eight”, the top-ranking Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate. He told them the agency had evidence the Kremlin might be trying to help Trump to win the presidency, the New York Times reported. Brennan did not reveal sources but made reference to the fact that America’s intelligence allies had provided information. Trump subsequently learned of GCHQ’s role. US intelligence was “very late to the game”. The FBI’s director, James Comey, altered his position after the election and Trump’s victory, becoming “more affirmative” and with a “higher level of concern”. Comey’s apparent shift may have followed a mid-October decision by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa) court to approve a secret surveillance order. The order gave permission for the Department of Justice to investigate two banks suspected of being part of the Kremlin’s undercover influence operation. According to the BBC, the justice department’s request came after a tipoff from an intelligence agency in one of the Baltic states. This is believed to be Estonia. The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the same order covered Carter Page, one of Trump’s associates. It allowed the FBI and the justice department to monitor Page’s communications. Page, a former foreign policy aide, was suspected of being an agent of influence working for Russia according to US officials. The application covered contacts Page allegedly had in 2013 with a Russian foreign intelligence agent, and other undisclosed meetings with Russian operatives, the Post said. Page denies wrongdoing and complained of “unjustified, politically motivated government surveillance”. Late last year, Comey threw more FBI resources into what became a far-reaching counter-intelligence investigation. In March he confirmed before the House intelligence committee that the agency was examining possible cooperation between Moscow and members of the Trump campaign to sway the US election. Comey and the NSA director, Admiral Michael Rogers, said there was no basis for the president’s claim that he was a victim of Obama “wiretapping”. Trump had likened the unproved allegation to “McCarthyism”. Britain’s MI6 spy agency played a part in intelligence sharing with the US. Its former chief Sir Richard Dearlove described Trump’s wiretapping claim on Thursday as “simply deeply embarrassing for Trump and the administration”. “The only possible explanation is that Trump started tweeting without understanding how the NSA-GCHQ relationship actually works,” Dearlove told Prospect magazine. In a report last month the New York Times, citing three US intelligence officials, said warning signs had been building throughout last summer but were far from clear. As WikiLeaks published emails stolen from the Democratic National Committee, US agencies began picking up conversations in which Russians were discussing contacts with Trump associates. European allies were supplying information about people close to Trump meeting with Russians in Britain, the Netherlands and in other countries. There are now multiple investigations going on in Washington into Trump campaign officials and Russia. They include the FBI-led counter-espionage investigation and probes by both the House and Senate intelligence committees. Adam Schiff, the senior Democrat on the House committee, has expressed an interest in hearing from Christopher Steele, the former MI6 officer whose dossier accuses the president of long-term cooperation with Vladimir Putin’s Moscow. Trump and Putin have both dismissed the dossier as fake. One source suggested the official investigation was making progress. “They now have specific concrete and corroborative evidence of collusion,” the source said. “This is between people in the Trump campaign and agents of [Russian] influence relating to the use of hacked material.”

In the Middle East, truth has always been an elusive commodity. We hear guesses and theories. Probably, few know the truth here, but certainly there are many groups in play who would produce/use chemical weapons, including the U.S.-supported rebels who cut the heads off of children. .

Law enforcement, including those blue jeans-fitted thugs, has no authority to remove a paying American passenger from his assigned seat who has committed no crime, at the request of United Airlines. The whims of United Airlines do not stand ahead of U.S. law.

What? Curtains? Why should the doctor get off the aircraft? United offered him a ticket. He accepted and presented payment. United accepted his payment and gave him an assigned seat - an agreement was thus consummated. He was asked to board the plane and take his assigned, purchased seat......and did so. Then, solely because of the poor management practices at United and/or its privately owned United Express partner, Republic Airlines, it needed to rush a flight crew to another city and desired, incorrectly, to remove the doctor and 3 other paying customers from the aircraft post-boarding. To say the least, any effort to reduce the customer head count by four to accommodate the 4-person flight crew should have taken place BEFORE boarding. This gentleman, in my opinion, did nothing wrong. For the record, customers (passengers) have told the media that Dr. Dao was never "belligerent" at any time.

Billy, most global airlines treat you 500 percent better than US airlines. They're among the world's worst. From Finnair to Lufthansa, from Turkish to South African, they all treat you better. And for some time now, Emirates has been the global benchmark. Unlike flying with US airlines, they treat you like a paying customer rather than cattle.

Paul, I don't believe that China has the sway over North Korea that some want to believe. They are neighbors, but China's motivation for North Korea's continued existence has, since the 1953 Korean War's cease fire agreement, has always been to have the DPRK as a "buffer zone" between it and US-controlled South Korea. China very much likes this arrangement. Particularly over the last 10-15 years, North Korea has been increasingly viewed by Beijing and its people as a pain in the behind. Beijing has failed, though not for a lack of trying, to get North Korea to set aside the military agenda and focus on its infrastructure and people (because the bad DPRK economy results in an unwelcome migration of people into China). North Korea only pays Beijing lip service, ignoring most of Beijing's advise. Anyway, I sense that China has little to no sway at this point over the DPRK, and hasn't since the founder passed away in 1994 (China did have a bond with him). China can arrange a meeting, but that's about all.