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I had my heart set on a US market Everest (diesel). But based on this article, we're not getting the global market Everest. The Bronco, in concept, is as signature a Ford product as the Mustang. However, I wanted an Everest.

Trailer/Body Builders / November 18, 2016 The Detroit DT12 automated manual transmission (AMT) is now available with a power take-off (PTO) option for its automated manual transmission. Both the Direct Drive and Over Drive DT12 transmissions are available for order with a proprietary rear mounted PTO on original Freightliner Cascadia models with or without the Evolution aerodynamic package, and Western Star 5700XE models. This option is scheduled to be available for the new Freightliner Cascadia on January 1, 2018. The Detroit DT12 AMT has gained rapid customer acceptance with customers since it was launched with approximately 65% of customers ordering the DT12 in the Cascadia and approximately 85% of customers ordering the DT12 in the 5700XE for 2016. “The introduction of this PTO will allow us to offer customers in the Bulk Haul tractor trailer segment a Detroit DT12 automated manual transmission with a PTO option in certain applications,” said Kelly Gedert, Manager of Detroit Powertrain and Component Marketing. “The majority of these customers are more weight sensitive, which helps make the Detroit DT12 more attractive than other competitor automated manual transmissions.” The DT12 PTO is for use in the bulk haul tractor trailer market specifically and tailored for stationary operation on 100% pavement only. Targeted applications include liquid trailers, dry goods, wet goods and moving floors.

First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. There is no part of the first amendment that allows for any form of desecration of the United States flag. It's against the law, under 18 U.S. Code § 700, i.e. Desecration of the flag of the United States; penalties: "Whoever knowingly mutilates, defaces, physically defiles, burns, maintains on the floor or ground, or tramples upon any flag of the United States shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for not more than one year, or both." (reference - https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/700) The Necessary and Proper Clause within Article One of the U.S. Constitution that you "adamantly" defend clearly states" The Congress shall have Power ... To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. One law made my congress prohibits desecration of the United States flag. You can peaceably protest all you want (the right of the people to peaceably assemble), voicing your thoughts (freedom of speech) while doing somersaults if you like, but you can't burn the flag. If you come to Macungie next June and illegally burn a flag in front of everyone, I don't think you'll make a lot of new friends.

Ford Australia leads Bronco development Motoring Australia / November 9, 2016 Ford’s most anticipated SUV, the reincarnated Bronco, is being developed right here in Australia alongside the next-generation Ranger on which it will be based. Much has been written about the new-generation Bronco, an iconic off-road SUV not produced for 20 years, since a US union official let slip last month (see below) that it will be built alongside the Ranger ute in Detroit. Now, motoring.com.au sources have confirmed that Ford’s Victorian-based Asia-Pacific Product Development Centre is deep into the development of the reborn Bronco, which will be a direct rival for next year’s new-generation Jeep Wrangler. Apart from developing a series of key regional models like the Figo, Escort and next Taurus, Ford’s Aussie-based design and engineering operation is the ‘homeroom’ for the T6 ladder platform that underpins the Blue Oval’s global Ranger. As such, it is responsible for engineering all T6-based products including the Ranger ute (aka. pickup, bakkie), which is built in Thailand, South Africa, Brazil and, from 2018, North America — but won’t be shared with other manufacturers, including Mazda, in its next generation. The T6 platform also underpins the Everest SUV. Indeed, Ford has made no secret other vehicles will be born of the program and a number of heavily camouflaged Ranger and Everest vehicles are already being tested at the company’s You Yang proving ground at Lara near Geelong (Victoria). These vehicles are largely early engineering prototype versions of the next-generation Ranger. But some are also early mules for the all-new Bronco, which will follow Ranger into production in the USA around 2020. Both models will be based on a reworked version of the current Ranger/Everest T6 platform. At this stage, it’s unclear whether the new-age Bronco, a model that was produced over five generations in the US between 1966-96, will be produced in right-hand drive for markets outside North America. However, given the world’s penchant for SUVs and the fact both the T6 Ranger and Everest are sold worldwide, the sixth-generation Bronco is almost certain to be a global model. It could also be produced alongside our Ranger in Thailand, which has a free-trade agreement with Australia. This would aid Ford’s intention to position the 2020 Bronco as an affordable 4×4 wagon positioned between Ford’s belated Territory replacement, the 2018 Edge, and the $55,000-plus Everest. In the spirit of its predecessor, which was originally based on a shortened F-Series ladder frame, the 21st Century Bronco is expected to be based on a short-wheelbase version of the revised T6 ladder frame and will likely share all of the Ranger’s mechanicals. That should mean four- and five-cylinder diesel engines (and potentially a petrol V6 for the US market) matched to manual and automatic transmissions comprising a low-range transfer case, which would make it an instant hit with off-road enthusiasts. Ford is yet to officially confirm the existence of a new Bronco. Letting the cat of the bag, however, United Automobile Workers union boss Bill Johnson did it for the Blue Oval when he defended the moving of Focus production from Michigan to Mexico. “We hate to see the products go to Mexico, but with the Ranger and the Bronco coming to Michigan Assembly, that absolutely secures the future for our people a lot more than the Focus does,” he told the Detroit Free Press. All five generations of the Bronco were built at Ford’s Michigan Truck Plant in Wayne outside Detroit – the same plant where Ford will produce the Aussie-developed Ranger from 2018 and the born-again Bronco from 2020. The new Bronco’s final exterior design, which will be different to the Everest, is likely to be signed off at Ford’s Dearborn HQ in the US. Ford has purchased Rubicon versions of Jeep’s existing Wrangler two-door and Wrangler Unlimited four-door for benchmarking purposes. This suggests the new Bronco will not only be available in both two-door and four-door body styles, but that Ford is targeting class-leading off-road capabilities for its all-new off-road SUV. Previous Broncos (which were produced in Australia between 1981 and 1987, and powered by locally-made 4.0-litre six-cylinder and 5.8-litre V8 engines) were available in half-cab, roadster and wagon forms.

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Why Are State Sponsors of Terrorism Receiving U.S. Taxpayer Dollars? The National Interest / November 19, 2016 How a President Trump will approach relations with Russia — and especially what that means for U.S. policy in the Syrian civil war — has become one of the most discussed issues during a tumultuous transition. But we should be paying at least as much attention to what America’s putative partners — including those groups currently receiving U.S. taxpayer funding — are doing to prolong a brutal conflict that has claimed nearly 500 thousand lives, and driven more than ten million from their homes. During the campaign, Trump even tangled with his running mate Mike Pence over Syria. When Pence suggested during the vice presidential debate that the United States institute a no-fly zone over Syria, Trump promptly swatted the idea away. “He and I haven’t spoken, and I disagree.” Late last week, Trump admitted that he “had an opposite view of many people regarding Syria,” and suggested that he would withdraw support for anti-Assad rebels, and focus on fighting ISIS. Members of the GOP foreign policy establishment, however, are doubling down on the status quo. On Tuesday, in one of the first post-election warning shots fired across Team Trump’s bow, Senator John McCain warned the president-elect not to trust “a former KGB agent who has plunged his country into tyranny, murdered his political opponents, invaded his neighbors, threatened America’s allies and attempted to undermine America’s elections.” “At the very least, the price of another ‘reset’ would be complicity in Putin and Assad’s butchery of the Syrian people. “That is an unacceptable price for a great nation. When America has been at its greatest, it is when we have stood on the side [of] those fighting tyranny,” McCain added. “That is where we must stand again.” Alas, finding those who are “fighting tyranny” but not secretly committed to imposing it once they prevail is the tricky part. The abundant evidence from Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya — not to mention the Cold War — shows that legitimate freedom fighters are often indistinguishable from charlatans and thugs. Despite this unhappy track record, McCain retains his childlike optimism in the United States’ ability to find the “good guys” and help them to reshape fractured foreign polities. Few Americans are so inclined. President Obama was caught between wanting to see Bashar al-Assad’s regime overthrown, but not wanting to see violent extremists take its place, for example, Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (Conquest of Syria Front), the one-time Al Qaeda affiliate formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra. Unsurprisingly, the president’s efforts to arm the few factions that cleared the vetting process were an abject failure, in part because the tools available to protect the U.S.-approved anti-Assad factions are deeply problematic. A no-fly zone, for example, may forestall the complete annihilation of certain groups, but only at the risk of widening the war. Since Assad’s Russian ally is also operating from time-to-time in Syrian airspace, a no-fly zone would necessarily threaten Russian planes and pilots. And U.S. planes and pilots would also be at risk. At a meeting of the Council on Foreign Relations last month, National Intelligence Director James Clapper told CBS's Charlie Rose, “I wouldn't put it past them to shoot down an American aircraft.” Some in Congress have pushed back against the executive branch’s occasional zeal for intervention in Syria. In the late summer and fall of 2013, members of Congress were flooded with phone calls urging them to block U.S. military action there. Obama got the message too, and backed away from his ill-advised red line that would have entailed direct U.S. military action in the civil war. But the Obama administration continued to funnel money to some anti-Assad rebels. Since then, a few in Congress have tried to cut off funds for the so-called “Syrian Train and Equip” program. An amendment to the Defense Appropriations Bill sponsored by Reps. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) and Austin Scott (R-GA) garnered 135 votes from both Republicans and Democrats, despite opposition from party leaders and the White House. It is reasonable to believe that a similar effort would fare even better in the post-election environment. For now, U.S. law bars the federal government from providing support to terrorist organizations, but the United States’ putative allies and de facto clients operate under a very different set of rules. They have been fueling the civil war by plowing money and material support to a host of organizations that couldn’t survive the U.S. government’s vetting processes. In other words, other countries, some of whom are recipients of U.S. foreign assistance, are funding terrorist organizations, including ISIS. We might even call them state sponsors of terrorism. And, in any other context, that fact alone would and should disqualify them from receiving U.S. taxpayer dollars.

Fleet Owner / November 18, 2016 A recent infographic making the rounds of the web has some driver advocates worried. It shows that the states with the most work-related fatalities for trucks are also the states that are cutting benefits for those workers. "Is it a coincidence?" asks attorney Dean Dominick, partner at Katherman Briggs & Greenberg, LLP in York, Pennsylvania, who placed the infographic and an analysis on his blog. "I think that if you look at the states that are involved, a lot of them are fairly large states, fairly populous states that have a lot of workers in addition to truck drivers coming through their states. There has been a national movement over the last several years to reduce what's called 'workers' compensation exposure.'" He adds: "In my opinion, one of the biggest problems that we have is that the insurance industry and the pro-business industry have very strong lobbying groups. Employees do not." Dominick notes that some states have been successful in putting caps on the length of time that people can receive benefits. States also try to limit the nature of injuries that are covered especially trying to exclude repetitive trauma injuries as opposed to an actual acute trauma. "An example for a truck driver would be an elbow injury – like a lateral epicondylitis – tennis elbow, which could occur from repetitively turning the steering wheel," he says. Still another technique to reduce benefits is limiting the choice of physician that an injured worker can see. "In Pennsylvania, for example, for the first 90 days, if the employer has a list of designated physicians, the employee [must see that health provider] and if they don’t, worker’s comp doesn’t pay the bills. There’s legislation under foot in Pennsylvania to extend that to 180 days. That would mean for six months the employee has no choice in who they get to see." Still another method for employers to limit their workers' comp exposure is to classify drivers as independent contractors instead of employees. "Instead of having them be in the workers' compensation system, they arrange for what's called an 'occupational accident policy.' It's a group policy, and so then the drivers, who are called independent contractors, but are often misclassified, get certificates of coverage, but it's a policy that doesn't provide the level of benefits you get under workers' comp," says Joshua Haffner, a Los Angeles-based lawyer specializing in personal injury, insurance bad faith, class actions, and other civil and business litigation. "It has a really pernicious provision in that if you try and assert your employee status and make a workers' comp claim, you either forfeit the benefits under the occupational accident policies, or they're suspended… I'm seeing a lot of this kind of thing." Not everyone agrees that the cards are being stacked against workers. Kim Fernandes, a Tallahassee, FL–based attorney for firm Kelley Kronenberg says that in her state, "there are groups out there, interest groups that have been trying to challenge workers compensation laws saying that they don't give injured workers enough benefits." She notes that a recent Florida case, which would ask that all states workers comp laws be compared, was brought before the U.S. Supreme Court but they declined to hear it. This case was supported by unions, employee groups and personal injury groups. She says Florida workers' comp laws can sometimes be unreasonably broad. "Where else in the nation are you going to have your cancer treatment paid for if it's getting in the way of your knee that you injured at work getting treated under workers comp? Because that's how broad Florida benefits can go." All sides agree that the issue of workers' comp is exacerbated for interstate carriers because laws are state-by-state and not uniform. In fact, a Department of Labor report released in October questioned whether the federal government should provide supervision. The report said that one area that deserves exploration is "whether to increase the federal role in oversight of workers’ compensation programs, including the appointment of a new National Commission and the establishment of standards that would trigger increased federal oversight if workers’ compensation programs fail to meet those standards." The Labor Department report maintained that many state systems are leaving workers unprotected. "Some state legislatures continue to attempt to reduce workers’ compensation costs, and proposals for statutory amendments that restrict workers’ benefits or access have become increasingly bold. Notably, there have been legislative efforts to restrict benefits and increase employer control over benefits and claim processing, most dramatically exemplified by the opt-out legislation enacted, and recently struck down by the state supreme court, in Oklahoma and considered in Tennessee and South Carolina, among other states." Increasingly, workers left with large medical bills not covered by workers' comp are seeking payment from other federal programs. "Despite the sizable cost of workers’ compensation, only a small portion of the overall costs of occupational injury and illness is borne by employers," the report stated. "Costs are instead shifted away from employers, often to workers, their families and communities. Other social benefit systems – including Social Security retirement benefits, Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), Medicare, and, most recently, health care provided under the Affordable Care Act – have expanded our social safety net, while the workers’ compensation safety net has been shrinking. There is growing evidence that costs of workplace-related disability are being transferred to other benefit programs, placing additional strains on these programs at a time when they are already under considerable stress." The cost of uncovered work-related medical care is so high, the report noted, that some workers have become impoverished because of it. "…working people are at great risk of falling into poverty as a result of workplace injuries and the failure of state workers’ compensation systems to provide them with adequate benefits."

Heavy Duty Trucking / November 18, 2016 Net Class 8 orders were weak in October, driven by a high number of cancellations in the month. October Class 8 orders totaled 13,907 units for the month while cancellations totaled 8,610 units. Seasonally adjusted, orders for the month were at 12,060 units. “The driving factor behind the weak net orders number was an unusually high level of cancellations booked in the month,” said one truck industry analyst. “The cancellations offset a total orders number of 22,517 that reflected, to some degree, the traditional strength of this kickoff month.” Medium-duty Class 5-7 truck orders fared better in October with a slight drop compared to September but overall strong numbers. Medium-duty truck orders hit 201,922 units for the month, 18,250 when seasonally adjusted. Strong medium duty orders were partly a result of strength in the retail sales, services and construction industries. “Medium duty statistics continue to reflect the underlying health of the consumer and closely related segments of the economy,” said the analyst. “While this was a drop from September SA results, it does sustain a year-to-date increase compared to the like 10 months in 2015.”

Jim, this is the 3 million dollar question. I would like to know the answer as well. And always remember, 99 percent are NOT refugees, rather they are economic migrants.

I agree. But I would say that businessmen, alike politicians, are all owing of favors.

Bannon, Kushner and Priebus: rivals for power at the heart of Trump's team The Guardian / November 19, 2016 One by one they came, walking by the marble walls, the cascading waterfall, the ogling tourists and the eager cameras, into the shiny lifts and up to the 26th floor to kiss the ring of the new king. This week, TrumpTower was a hive of scurrying courtiers, from a prime minister, media mogul and nonagenarian diplomat to senators, congressmen and businessmen. And as the palace intrigue deepened, it was apparent that three men, in particular, had the ear of President-elect Donald Trump. “I am Thomas Cromwell in the court of the Tudors,” says Steve Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist, likening himself to Henry VIII’s right hand man and master manipulator (who, in a fact he may have overlooked, was ultimately executed for treason). Bannon did not propose historical roles for Reince Priebus, chief of staff, or Jared Kushner, an intimate adviser married to Trump’s daughter, but they are his rivals for Trump’s attention. Shaun Bowler, associate dean of political science at the University of California, likened the plot to Hilary Mantel’s historical novel Wolf Hall. “Her account of people tiptoeing around a character like Henry VIII strikes me as providing lots of insight into what life for advisers will be like inside the White House from now on,” he said. “What we probably can say is that – whatever the actual pattern of influence – we can be pretty sure that at least one of them will end up leaving after a blow-up.” Last Sunday, the president-elect made his first move. He announced that Bannon would be chief strategist, triggering a fierce backlash because of the adviser’s executive role at the website Breitbart, which has run white nationalist and anti-Semitic headlines. At the same time, Trump appointed the more conventional Priebus to the more conventional role of chief of staff. The chairperson of the Republican National Committee (RNC) had been unswervingly loyal ever since the end of the primaries, even while the candidate ignored pleas to tone down the rhetoric. But there is also a third centre of power, unofficial but no less important. Kushner, a property developer, investor and newspaper publisher married to Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, is said to have called the shots throughout the campaign and is now doing the same in the transition. Kushner was present at Thursday’s meeting with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe and behind a “Stalinesque purge” of the transition team. There are other major players in the Trump universe. They include Vice-President-elect Mike Pence, a vital bridge to Congress and the conservative movement; Jeff Sessions of Alabama, the first senator to endorse Trump and now the nominee for attorney general; Paul Ryan, the House speaker with whom Trump has made a fragile peace; and Mitch McConnell, the Republican majority leader in the Senate [age 75 next February]. But it is Priebus, Bannon and Kushner, vying for 70-year-old Trump’s infamously short attention span, who could form the most potent triumvirate in the Oval Office since the days when Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Karl Rove counseled George W Bush. Given Trump’s track record of pitting rivals against each other, they probably face an uncertain future. “Apparently Trump likes to manage with concentric circles of chaos,” said Michael Steele, Priebus’s predecessor as RNC chair. “He doesn’t mind that. He likes the tension between the different sectors of influence. So far you’ve got the Kushner circle, you’ve got the Bannon circle, they all interrelate into Trump’s circle but when they have to work with each other, that’s where the challenge is going to be because their interests are very different interests.” Priebus, a technocrat and consummate party man, will be the voice of the Republican establishment, and a vital conduit to Congress, including Ryan, a fellow Wisconsinite. “Reince is not Donald Trump’s guy,” Steele added. “Bannon is. Reince is Paul Ryan’s guy and so Trump is doing what he thinks he needs to do to create some olive branches to the establishment types because he knows he needs them. But, quite honestly, they need him just as much. I suspect, as much as they will try to play it down, there will be some tough times where those interests will conflict.” During the campaign, Kushner, well-mannered but guarded, emerged as operational guru, helping with recruitment, online fundraising, drafting policy and even selecting a running mate. Over the past week, Kushner orchestrated the removal of transition team leader Chris Christie and his allies; Christie had successfully prosecuted his father for tax evasion 11 years ago. Kushner, 35, is taking legal advice on whether he can get around anti-nepotism laws to join the new administration, the New York Times reported. Like Trump, Kushner is steeped in the property world and has no political experience. “I’m sure he’s a very smart young man, a very successful businessman,” Steele said. “But he doesn’t know foreign policy, he doesn’t know national security, that’s not the world in which he has operated. “Trump has to be very careful how close in he has someone and the advice he’s taking from someone who has no real background or appreciation or understanding of the obvious stuff, let alone the nuances of policy and government.” Kushner and 62-year-old Bannon are, in many respects, polar opposites. One is clean cut and favors crew-neck sweaters; the other is disheveled and looks in need of a shave. One is the son of a multimillionaire; the other was born into a working-class family. One is an Orthodox Jew (Ivanka converted before their marriage), the other a Catholic who has been accused of anti-Semitism. “Jared Kushner’s the most interesting to me,” said Rick Tyler, a former member of Ted Cruz’s campaign team. “Billionaires don’t trust everyone who walks through the door but Trump trusts Kushner and Kushner trusts Bannon. They believe in Bannon and the advice he’s given. People can complain about it, then get over it.” This week, guests to TrumpTower included 93-year-old Henry Kissinger, secretary of state under Richard Nixon; and Rupert Murdoch, 85, the media tycoon and another bete noire of the liberal left. On Friday, Trump nominated Sessions as attorney general, congressman Mike Pompeo as CIA director and retired lieutenant-general Michael Flynn as national security adviser. Before departing on his last meeting with European leaders, Obama, said Trump was a “pragmatist”, not an “ideologue”. The same could be said of Kushner and Priebus, both of whom are valued for organisational sense. But Bannon is different. After careers as an investment banker and naval officer, and before becoming Trump’s campaign chief executive, Bannon ran Breitbart, notorious for rightwing dog-whistles and anti-globalist themes that surfaced in Trump speeches and ads. Its headlines have included “Hoist it high and proud: The Confederate flag proclaims a glorious heritage”, “Birth control makes women unattractive and crazy”, and “Clinton aide Huma Abedin ‘most likely a Saudi spy’.” Bannon has denied allegations of racism. “I’m not a white nationalist, I’m a nationalist,” he says. “I’m an economic nationalist. The globalists gutted the American working class and created a middle class in Asia. The issue now is about Americans looking to not get f*cked over.” “If we deliver”, Trump’s team will win most white voters and a near majority of black and Hispanic voters. “We’ll govern for 50 years.” Democrats, he said, had “lost sight of what the world is about”. Dan Cassino, a political scientist at FairleighDickinsonUniversity, said it was unclear whether business or ideology was Bannon’s priority at Breitbart. “He’s willing to use racist and anti-Semitic content to make money off it, whether or not he’s racist or anti-Semitic himself. He’s willing to tolerate it.” Cassino argued that whereas Fox News covers familiar issues from a conservative perspective, Breitbart pursues an entirely different agenda. “We should be concerned to the extent Steve Bannon controls what information goes in and goes out of the White House. Traditionally information is controlled by the chief of staff but every administration is different.” He noted that Breitbart typically gives official figures no credence, and that Trump appeared surprised, in a recent TV interview, to learn about actual hate crime totals. “If he’s getting facts from Breitbart just as Bush got facts from Fox News, we have a problem,” Cassino said. “We want a president to make data-based decisions.” It may then fall to Priebus, a 44-year-old whom Trump called “a superstar” on election night, to provide a reality check. Henry Barbour, who helped run his 2010 campaign to chair the RNC, said the committee was in so much debt at the time that Priebus had to make payments on his personal credit card. “He was an easy guy to work with even when we didn’t agree on everything,” he recalled. “His ability to work with people and cut through the crap will serve him well. He does not have a big ego. He’s not interested in self-promotion and will be interested in giving good, candid advice to the president. He’s not a yes-man but he will be loyal.” Barbour, now a lobbyist with Capitol Resources, insisted: “Reince has told me directly he has developed a good working relationship with Bannon and gets on well with him. I have no doubts Reince will work well with Jared Kushner.” Terry Sullivan, a Republican strategist, said Priebus was “Wisconsin nice” but also “a smart hire”. “He can bring multiple factions together,” he said. “He might be the only figure who is still liked by the establishment of the party who spent so much time defending Trump.”

BBC / November 19, 2016 An asylum seeker from Myanmar has been identified as the man who set himself alight in a bank in the Australian city of Melbourne on Friday. The 21-year-old is under guard in hospital after the incident that injured 26 others. He arrived by boat three years ago and had been released from detention pending a decision on his case. His benefits had not been in his account when he tried to withdraw them on Wednesday. The man, known to his friends as Noor, set himself alight using gasoline at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia branch in the Melbourne suburb of Springvale. Five bystanders suffered burns and 21 more smoke inhalation. Video taken by eyewitnesses of the immediate aftermath showed flames inside the bank branch and thick black smoke. The suspect had arrived in Australia as an unaccompanied minor and was awaiting receipt of a refugee visa. The man was reportedly of mixed Muslim parentage. Although he is partly Rohingya - the Muslim community that lives in Rakhine state near the Bangladesh border and which has been denied citizenship and freedom of movement by the government - he reportedly lived in southern Myanmar. He had been detained in a camp on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean before being moved to Melbourne. The president of the Australian Burmese Rohingya Organisation, Habib Habib, told the Melbourne Age: "He has been suffering and his friends say his welfare payment was not received and he couldn't pay his rent." He had returned to the bank each day after finding his money was not available on Wednesday. Mr Habib said: "This system makes all of them crazy. They're in legal limbo." Refugee and asylum seeker advocate Pamela Curr told the Age the man was also was known to have mental health problems. The department of immigration has set up a fast-track system to process about 30,000 asylum claims.

Trump meets critic Romney CNN / November 19, 2016 Romney allegedly under consideration for secretary of state. "We had a far-reaching conversation with regard to the various theaters in the world where there are interests of the United States of real significance. We discussed those areas and exchanged our views on those topics," Romney said

Mercedes-Benz may stop selling diesels in the U.S. Automotive News / November 19, 2016 With consumer demand dwindling, Mercedes-Benz is questioning whether to continue offering diesel vehicles in the U.S. Mercedes is working to get certification on a limited number of diesel models it had planned to offer in the U.S., Matthias Luehrs, vice president of sales and product management for Mercedes-Benz Cars, said last week during an interview at the auto show here. More rigorous testing procedures by the EPA in the wake of Volkswagen's diesel emissions scandal have delayed diesel certifications for Mercedes and other automakers. But Mercedes' long-term outlook on diesels in the U.S. is shakier. The company is conducting market research on U.S. diesel demand to help guide its direction, Luehrs said. "We have to look at that and see whether it makes sense to offer diesels in the future," Luehrs said. "We have not come to a conclusion but we obviously always tend to develop cars and offer vehicles according to customers' demands." Dropping diesels entirely in the U.S. "is a theoretical option," he said. Mercedes expects the first batch of results from its market research early next year, Luehrs said. He noted that demand for diesels in North America has been low "and is still lowering" for cars and crossovers. With regard to the certification efforts under way on diesel models, Mercedes is "confident that in most of the cases" it will succeed in gaining approvals, Luehrs said. Mercedes says its priority is securing EPA certification for the V-6 diesel in the GLS350d, a diesel version of the brand's large crossover. The company had been seeking certification for at least four diesel models in the U.S: the GLS, plus the GLC and GLE crossovers and the C-class sedan. A Mercedes spokesman last month said the company no longer plans to offer the diesel C class next year in the U.S. That car had been slated to go on sale in the first quarter of 2016.

Troubling if not scary. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Darkness is good: Dick Cheney. Darth Vader. Satan. That's power. It only helps us when [the media and liberals] get it wrong. When they're blind of who we are and what we're doing.' "Bill Clinton’s strength was to play to people without a college education. High school people. That's how you win elections." "I'm not a white nationalist, I'm a nationalist. I'm an economic nationalist. The globalists gutted the American working class and created a middle class in Asia. The issue now is about Americans looking to not get f—ed over. If we deliver, we'll get 60 percent of the white vote, and 40 percent of the black and Hispanic vote and we'll govern for 50 years. That's what the Democrats missed. They were talking to these people with companies with a $9 billion market cap employing nine people. It's not reality. They lost sight of what the world is about." "Like Andrew Jackson's populism, we're going to build an entirely new political movement. It's everything related to jobs. The conservatives are going to go crazy. I'm the guy pushing a trillion-dollar infrastructure plan. With negative interest rates throughout the world, it's the greatest opportunity to rebuild everything. Shipyards, iron works, get them all jacked up. We're just going to throw it up against the wall and see if it sticks. It will be as exciting as the 1930s, greater than the Reagan revolution — conservatives, plus populists, in an economic nationalist movement." "The media bubble is the ultimate symbol of what's wrong with this country. It's just a circle of people talking to themselves who have no f—ing idea what's going on. If The New York Times didn't exist, CNN and MSNBC would be a test pattern. The Huffington Post and everything else is predicated on The New York Times. It's a closed circle of information from which Hillary Clinton got all her information — and her confidence. That was our opening." "They [Murdoch-owned Fox News] got it more wrong than anybody. Rupert is a globalist and never understood Trump. To him, Trump is a radical. Now they'll go centrist and build the network around Megyn Kelly. "He [Trump] gets it; he gets it intuitively. You have probably the greatest orator since William Jennings Bryan, coupled with an economic populist message and two political parties that are so owned by the donors that they don't speak to their audience. But he speaks in a non-political vernacular, he communicates with these people in a very visceral way. Nobody in the Democratic party listened to his speeches, so they had no idea he was delivering such a compelling and powerful economic message. He shows up 3.5 hours late in Michigan at 1 in the morning and has 35,000 people waiting in the cold. When they got [Clinton] off the donor circuit she went to TempleUniversity and they drew 300 or 400 kids." "I knew that she [Hillary Clinton] couldn't close. They out-spent us 10 to one, had 10 times more people and had all the media with them, but I kept saying it doesn't matter, they got it all wrong, we've got this locked." "I am Thomas Cromwell in the court of the Tudors." (Likening himself to Henry VIII’s right hand man and master manipulator) Steven Bannon, Breitbart News Network Editor and Trump administration chief strategist

I like Jeff Sessions. He calls a spade a spade. He's had to be careful, in order to rise in a politically correct environment. I hope to see him now do great things. .

Blindsided by Trump Tweet, UAW Meets With Ford on SUV Plan Bloomberg / November 18, 2016 United Auto Workers leaders huddled with Ford Motor Co. executives today after the union was caught off guard by President-elect Donald Trump’s tweet last night he helped prevent another Ford model from going to Mexico. While the union is pleased Ford has now committed to continue building the Lincoln MKC small sport utility vehicle at a Kentucky factory, Trump’s tweets had suggested that the entire Louisville Assembly Plant’s output was under threat of moving to Mexico. The MKC is built on the same assembly line as the Ford Escape, which outsells the Lincoln version by 12-to-1. More than 5,000 employees are working nearly around the clock on three crews to meet demand for the two SUVs, said Todd Dunn, president of UAW Local 862 in Louisville. So were Trump’s tweets that there would be “no Mexico” because he “worked hard with Bill Ford to keep the Lincoln plant in Kentucky” misleading? “I’ll let each individual reach their own conclusions, but the true answer should be clear to anyone,” Dunn said in an interview. “What is important is the transparency between Ford Motor Co. and the UAW. We’re doing a good job and that wasn’t decided in an overnight tweet.” Ford didn’t inform the union of its long-term plans for the MKC before those tweets went out Thursday night, Dunn said. That’s what UAW Vice President Jimmy Settles, who oversees Ford contract negotiations, and other union leaders were planning to discuss with the company today, he said. Settles and Ford manufacturing chief Bruce Hettle sent a letter to Louisville plant workers Friday promising to meet with them “in the coming days” to discuss the change in plans on the MKC. Talks With Trump After Trump’s tweets, the company acknowledged for the first time it had been considering moving production of the MKC to Mexico, allowing the plant to boost output of the Escape, one of its hottest models. After talks between Executive Chairman Bill Ford and the president-elect, the automaker decided to keep building the MKC in Louisville after the UAW’s current contract expires in 2019. “We had planned to move the Lincoln MKC out of Louisville Assembly Plant,” Christin Baker, a Ford spokeswoman, said in an e-mail, noting the UAW contract signed last year allowed for such a move. "Cuautitlan plant in Mexico was likely the plant for MKC." During his campaign, Trump was relentless in his criticism of Ford for planning to move all its North American small-car production to Mexico, where wages are 80 percent lower than in the U.S. Ford also builds the Lincoln MKZ sedan at a factory in Hermosillo, Mexico. During the campaign, Trump threatened to slap Ford’s Mexican-built cars with a 35 percent tariff. He also said he would terminate the North American Free Trade Agreement, which lets goods flow between Mexico, the U.S. and Canada without tariffs. Ford, which has expressed a willingness to work with Trump since he was elected, has been in "constant contact" with his transition team, Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks told analysts Thursday. Ford’s change of heart on moving the MKC to Mexico followed those discussions. “We are encouraged that President-elect Trump and the new Congress will pursue policies that will improve U.S. competitiveness and make it possible to keep production of this vehicle here in the U.S.,” the automaker said in an e-mailed statement after Trump’s tweets. Bill Ford met with Trump during the campaign in an unsuccessful attempt to get the candidate to stop targeting the automaker, which says it has created nearly 28,000 jobs in the U.S. during the past five years. In his first answer of the first debate with Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, Trump attacked the automaker for plans to move production of the Focus small car and C-Max hybrid from a plant in Michigan to Mexico. “We are everything that he should be celebrating about this country,” Bill Ford told reporters in September. “We pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps, we paid back our borrowings, we are healthy again, we’ve been adding jobs in the U.S. and we are the largest manufacturer of cars and trucks in the U.S.”

Trump picks hardliners to head DoJ and CIA The Financial Times / November 18, 2016 Jeff Sessions chosen as attorney-general and Mike Pompeo for intelligence chief Donald Trump has abandoned the conciliatory tenor of his immediate post-election transition by picking conservative hardliners for three of the most sensitive law enforcement and intelligence posts of his incoming administration. Jeff Sessions, the Alabama senator chosen to head the justice department, is an immigration hardliner who strongly backed Trump’s call for a wall on the US-Mexico border. Mike Flynn, a retired general who will be national security adviser, has been a harsh critic of Islam. Mike Pompeo, a Kansas congressman picked to head the CIA, wants enhanced surveillance powers for intelligence agencies. In announcing the selection, Mr Trump touted the three men’s long experience in law enforcement and military affairs, arguing they all have distinguished careers as military officers — in the case of Mr Flynn and Mr Pompeo — and as a prosecutor in Alabama, where Mr Session worked before joining the Senate. But that experience also comes with long and controversial records that opponents quickly seized upon. Sessions, 69, was accused of racism after making comments that ended up derailing a push by Ronald Reagan to make him a federal judge three decades ago. Trump defended Sessions, who has been one of the most important advisers to Trump over the past year, including sending some of his staff to advise the Republican candidate. In a statement, Trump said Sessions was respected in the Senate and had a “world-class legal mind”. Although Trump sent a signal that he was willing to reach out to establishment Republicans by picking Reince Priebus, head of the Republican National Committee, as his chief of staff, the move to give some of Washington’s most high-profile intelligence and security jobs to outsiders was a sign the president-elect is sticking to his campaign rhetoric in fighting terrorism and combating immigration. The justice department and CIA have played key roles in setting US policy towards interrogating terrorism suspects, and Trump has repeatedly said he would return to the Bush-era practice of using “enhanced” techniques such as waterboarding to gain intelligence, although he has backtracked when told that they were illegal. Flynn, an intelligence officer who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, was previously head of the Defense Intelligence Agency. The role of national security adviser is seen as even more important than usual, given Trump’s lack of foreign policy experience. Flynn was previously fired from the Defense Intelligence Agency over his leadership style. Pompeo, a little-known congressman from Kansas and a former US army officer, was an unexpected choice for CIA director. Pompeo, who first won election in 2010, is a staunch critic of the Iran nuclear deal struck by President Obama last year. He came to prominence as a Republican member of the House committee who sought to pin the blame for the deadly 2012 attack on the US consulate in Benghazi on then secretary of state Hillary Clinton. Pompeo is close to vice-president-elect Mike Pence, but he initially endorsed Florida senator Marco Rubio during the Republican presidential primaries. Like Sessions, he is regarded as a hardline conservative.

Associated Press / November 18, 2016 Retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who has been offered the role of national security adviser in Trump’s adminstration, began receiving classified national security briefings last summer while he was also running a private consulting firm that offered “all-source intelligence support” to international clients. Two months ago, during the height of the presidential campaign, Flynn’s consulting firm, the Flynn Intel Group, registered to lobby for a Dutch company owned by a Turkish businessman close to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Critics are livid that Flynn began sitting in on U.S. intelligence briefings for Trump in August while working for foreign clients. “This is profoundly troubling and should be disqualifying,” said Norm Eisen, who served as Obama’s ethics adviser and later as an ambassador to the CzechRepublic. He predicted that if Flynn is named as Trump’s national security adviser, “there will be wholesale resignations of national security professionals, and I believe some have already drafted their resignation letters.” On Thursday, White House officials refused to say if Flynn was designated to receive national security briefings. According to a copy of a Memorandum of Understanding signed on Election Day, the Trump transition team, as a condition of receiving government briefing materials, was required to provide a statement to White House chief of staff Denis McDonough last week that all designated members of the transition team had disclosed their financial interests and did not have any conflicts of interest. A Trump transition spokesman refused to answer questions about whether Flynn had made such disclosures. Rep. Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said the terms of the memorandum raise questions about whether Flynn is even eligible to continue to receive national security briefings at this point. Flynn Intel Group chief counsel Robert Kelly refused to say why the firm was hired to lobby Congress on behalf of Innova BV, a firm based in Holland and owned by the Turkish businessman, Ekim Alptekin. The lobbying disclosure statement filed with the secretary of the Senate on Sept. 30 states only that Flynn’s firm “will advise client on U.S. domestic and foreign policy” and congressional appropriations bills for the State Department. Without disclosing his lobbying relationship with the Turkish firm, Flynn published an op-ed in the newspaper the Hill on Election Day, in which he advanced the No. 1 cause of Erdogan’s government: advocating the extradition of Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish exile living in Pennsylvania whom Erdogan has blamed for instigating the failed military coup against his government last summer. In the op-ed, which ran under the headline “Our ally Turkey is in crisis and needs our support,” Flynn described Gülen as a “shady Islamic mullah,” who runs a “vast global network [that] has all the right markings to fit the description of a dangerous sleeper network. This is the not the first time questions have been raised about Flynn’s overseas ties. Last December, Flynn, who served as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from 2012 until 2014, flew to Moscow to participate in the 10th anniversary of RT, the Russian government propaganda network. He gave an interview to one of its anchors and attended a gala dinner where he sat at the same table as Russian President Vladimir Putin. In a testy exchange with Yahoo News during the Republican Convention in Cleveland in July, Flynn acknowledged that he was paid through his speakers bureau to attend the RT event, but he refused to say how much. What was striking, according to ethics experts, is that given his overseas consulting business, Flynn began sitting in on classified intelligence briefings with Trump last summer. Flynn was reportedly so assertive during the initial briefing in August, peppering the briefers with rapid-fire questions, that Trump’s adviser Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, who also attended the briefing, was prompted to try to calm him down by placing a hand on his arm. Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, an outside watchdog group, said that she finds it “deeply disturbing” that Flynn attended these briefings at a time that he was representing foreign clients with interests before the U.S. government. “It’s exactly the kind of foreign entanglements our laws are designed to prevent,” she said. One retired military officer who has advised both Republican and Democratic presidents said of the allegations about Flynn: “If this is true, it’s a disqualifying conflict of interest — if not by ethics laws, certainly in the spirit of conflict of interest, not to mention security regulations. We should be deeply concerned about his ethical judgment, but more specifically how can he possibly provide unbiased advice to the POTUS about Turkey and Russia, when he’s taken money from both.” .

That's an air-cooled Deutz-powered model C11664DD. The Deutz V-8 engine model is BF8L513, and it is still available from Deutz as a factory Xchange unit. Today's 15.9-liter Deutz BF8M1015 V-8, rated up to 600 horsepower, is quite a powerhouse. Not a Deutz-powered unit, but this one is absolutely beautiful..........http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/3885-1997-diamond-reo-truck/

I always felt the Red Dot unit was better than the Kysor "Mini Brute" installed in R/U/DM glider kits by R.D. Knorr. And certainly due to far wider usage, Red Dot parts enjoyed better availability.

You stated: There are 3 types of people advocating the dissolution of the electoral college: sore losers, the uneducated, and those who would like to see voter fraud in the cities affect the outcome of the entire election instead of only the individual states where it occurs. I asked you: Which of the three types of people am I ? You replied that I am "all of the above". Apparently, you imply that I am multi-tasking. In support of the concept of mutual respect, I take the time to read your thoughts. We all bring interesting points to the table in support of a healthy exchange of viewpoints. That said, your guess is incorrect. I am not any of those three. I'm struggling here. You adamantly support the burning* of the American flag, and state that the United States of America is not a democracy. I respect your opinions, of course, but respectfully disagree with them. * http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/45093-trump/?page=3 / http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/45093-trump/?page=4

Prior to 1987, production of Allentown glider kits was outsourced for many years to Allentown-based R.D. Knorr Industries, a long time supplier. Note that only glider kits came with Kysor Mini Brute heater/AC units. Complete trucks came, at first with Signet, and by 1986? with Red Dot (like this truck). In 1987, Curcio wanted to shift Allentown glider kit production from Knorr to Macungie. I don't recall the outcome.

BBC / November 17, 2016 The radical Islamist behind a bombing in New York which wounded 31 people in September has pleaded not guilty to terrorism-related charges. Ahmad Khan Rahimi was charged with eight offences, including use of a weapon of mass destruction, bombing and use of a destructive device. Rahimi is accused of being behind explosions in Manhattan and New Jersey. Investigators say Rahimi planted two bombs in Chelsea but one failed to detonate. Another bomb exploded in a New Jersey seaside town earlier on the same day but no-one was hurt. He is also accused of leaving explosives in a discarded rucksack in a rubbish bin in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Assistant US Attorney Nicholas Lewin said the government had video clips of Rahimi's movements on the day of the bombings, internet records showing he bought bomb-making materials and proof his DNA was on the explosive devices. Police also found a handwritten journal in which Rahimi praised Osama bin Laden and criticized US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Rahimi's goal was to bring fear and destruction to innocent people", said New York FBI office head William Sweeney.