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Hezbollah apparently in possession of American M113 armored personnel carriers. .

Let me hear your thoughts. .

US urged to ban acquisitions by Chinese state-owned companies The Financial Times / November 16, 2016 Report to Congress is latest sign of sensitivity of rising investment from China Chinese state-owned companies should be barred from acquiring companies in the US, a congressional panel warned on Wednesday in the latest sign of the political sensitivity of increasing Chinese investment. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission said that Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs) could use technologies they acquired to benefit Chinese national interests “to the detriment of US national security”. The annual report by the commission to the US Congress carries no legal power and is only a recommendation. However, it underscores a growing tide of political opinion that is wary about incoming Chinese investment. It also comes as the incoming Trump administration has pledged to take a tougher stance on China on economic issues, including trade and currency. A commission member, former Missouri senator Jim Talent, has been mentioned as a candidate for one of the senior national security positions in a Trump administration. “There is an inherently high risk that whenever a state-owned enterprise acquires or gains effective control of a US company, it will use the technology, intelligence and market power it gains in the service of the Chinese state to the detriment of US national security,” the commission said in its report. “Chinese firms, which often receive state funding, have been particularly active in bidding for US technology assets.” Although there has been discussion about using restrictions on investment by Chinese companies as a tool to win greater market access in China for western multinationals, the report goes considerably further in asking for all acquisitions by state-owned groups to be blocked. The report recommends that Congress bars acquisitions by companies owned by the Chinese state by changing the statute authorizing the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (Cfius), which has veto power over investments in the country if it finds that national security is being placed at risk. Cfius is led by the US Treasury and brings together officials from around the government, including from the Pentagon and state department. “Chinese state-owned enterprises are arms of the Chinese state,” said Dennis Shea, chairman of the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission. “We don’t want the US government purchasing companies in the United States, why would we want the Chinese Communist government purchasing companies in the United States?” The US has received $18 billion of Chinese foreign direct investment in the first six months of the year — almost three times more than the year before. Last month, the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, another bipartisan panel, recommended that the US places curbs on investments by Chinese entertainment, media and internet companies in response to censorship and restrictions that western media and internet companies face in China.

Reuters / November 16, 2016 Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is now the leading candidate to become President-elect Donald Trump's secretary of state, but even some Republicans say his tough-guy personality and global business ties may be at odds with international diplomacy. Giuliani, 72, one of Trump's most vocal and high-profile supporters, is eager to become the top U.S. diplomat and expects a decision by Trump as early as next week. The other top candidate is former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton, a foreign policy hawk. New York mayor at the time of the Sept. 11, 2001, Giuliani is also considered a hard-liner on national security matters, but he has little diplomatic experience. Still, some prominent Republicans said he is qualified to take command of U.S. diplomacy at a time of chaos in the Middle East, rising nationalism in much of Europe, and growing challenges from Russia and China. Senator Lindsey Graham, a respected conservative voice on defense and foreign policy who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, on Tuesday called Giuliani "competent and capable" of being secretary of state. "Rudy is an internationally-known figure. He's a personal friend. He has dealt with the unimaginable, which was 9/11. He's a loyal supporter of President Trump. He should be rewarded in my view," said Graham. Giuliani hs himself extolled his foreign policy credentials. "I've been in 80 countries, 150 different foreign trips," says Giuliani. "A lot of it for different reasons. Speeches. Security consulting, where I helped bring down crime." Critics, however, said they are troubled not only by Giuliani's combative nature and lack of experience, but also by his international business ties and his lucrative speaking engagements for an Iranian exile group that was on the U.S. terrorism list until four years ago [???]. FOREIGN ENTANGLEMENTS? After serving as New York mayor for eight years, Giuliani founded management and security consulting firm Giuliani Partners in 2002, which he left in 2007 when he campaigned for the Republican presidential nomination and questions were raised about his foreign business ties. The firm's clients have included Colombia and the government of Qatar. Giuliani appears to have resumed work with the firm after his 2007 failed presidential bid, and is listed as chairman and chief executive officer of Giuliani Partners on the Giuliani Security and Safety website. He joined a Texas law firm as a name partner [???] in 2005. The firm did lobbying work for Citgo, a U.S. subsidiary of Venezuela's state-owned oil company, which at the time was controlled by President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's late socialist ruler. At the time, Giuliani's office claimed he was not personally involved in the lobbying and Giuliani believed that "Chavez is not a friend of the United States." Giuliani's dealings in Russia may face scrutiny in Senate confirmation hearings. His ties to TriGlobal Strategic Ventures, a consulting firm that helps Western clients advance their business interests in emerging markets of the former Soviet Union, date back to 2004, when Giuliani visited Moscow to meet Russian businessmen and politicians. The consulting firm's president, Vitaly Pruss, has "created and developed strategies" for companies including Russian oil pipeline monopoly Transneft and has "worked closely" with Giuliani Partners. State-owned Transneft was among Russian oil companies targeted with sanctions by Western powers following Russia's annexation of Crimea under President Vladimir Putin. Giuliani also has spoken in support of the People's Mujahedin Organization of Iran, a group of Islamic leftists who opposed Iran's late shah, but fell out with the Shi'ite clerics who took power after the 1979 revolution and later aligned itself with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. The U.S. government considered it a terrorist organization until 2012. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky says he is worried about Giuliani's ties to foreign governments. "Whether or not you have divided loyalties obviously is very important," Paul said. "I hope Donald Trump will pick somebody consistent with what he said on the campaign trail - Iraq war was a mistake, regime change in the Middle East is a mistake. "You want to have a diplomat in charge of diplomacy," he said. Critics say the bottom line is that Giuliani is no diplomat, either personally or professionally. "The challenge for Giuliani if he becomes secretary of state would be to move beyond the tough guy persona he cultivated as prosecutor and mayor and instead stand up for some of the basic principles of human rights, democratic accountability, and the rule of law that enhance rather than shrink America's influence abroad," said Ken Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, who worked for Giuliani when he was a federal prosecutor between 1983 and 1987.

Now this is interesting. Pray tell, how to the people get their say in the House of Representatives? I've never met anyone who felt their thoughts were represented by the career politicians there. I myself am advocating we should have a direct vote, where each and every American's vote actually counts. As Trump said, there's no rocket science to direct voting. I'm in full agreement with him. "I would rather see it where you went with simple votes. You know, you get 100 million votes and somebody else gets 90 million votes and you win.” Donald Trump

Speed Limiters: Michigan DOT opposes mandate Greg Grisolano, Land Line (OOIDA) / November 16, 2016 Count the Michigan Department of Transportation among the growing chorus of opposition to a proposal to speed limit heavy vehicles. Among the criticisms of the proposed speed limiter mandate outlined by MDOT Director Kirk Steudle, are the cost of enforcement, the dangers posed by speed differentials, and that the mandate is tantamount to a de facto national speed limit for trucks and buses. “This rule would be contrary to the intent of Congress to relieve states from mandated speed limits, as expressed in the National Highway System Designation Act of 1995, which repealed the national maximum speed limit,” Steudle wrote. “MDOT believes that the ability to establish and amend speed limits should be left to each state as Congress intended.” More than 5,000 comments have been filed already. The majority of those opposed to a proposed mandate to speed limit vehicles weighing more than 26,000 pounds say the risks posed by increasing vehicle interactions via speed differentials outweigh any purported safety benefit of slowing large trucks and buses down. A Sept. 7 joint notice of proposed rulemaking by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, seeks public comment on a variety of issues connected with speed limiters, including whether to set the speed at 60, 65 or 68 mph. The agencies claim that reducing the travel speed of large vehicles will lead to a reduction in the severity of crashes, thereby reducing the number of fatal and serious injuries and reducing property damage. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association opposes a government mandate speed limiting trucks, pointing to research that contradicts the fed’s claimed “safety benefits” of speed limiters, as it would force a speed differential between heavy trucks and other vehicles using the highways. That would lead to more vehicle interactions, unsafe maneuvering and crashes, a study of speed differentials shows. MDOT’s comments also weighed in on the speed differential issue, describing the government’s decision to “set aside the issue of crash rates” as a risky approach. “This proposed rule depends for its justification only on truck-involved crashes whose outcomes may be worsened by truck speed. This number could conceivably be exceeded by new crashes caused by impeding the flow of light-vehicle traffic around slow-moving trucks,” Steudle wrote. “Slowing the speed of all trucks will certainly result in more points of conflict on the roadways.” Other national groups who filed comments opposing the proposed mandate or expressing concerns with the current proposal include the National Motorists Association, the American Farm Bureau Federation, the National Groundwater Association, and the National Federation of Independent Business. Groups who filed comments in support of the mandate include the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the National Safety Council, and the National Transportation Safety Board. OOIDA’s website, FightingForTruckers.com, has more information about the Association’s opposition to the proposal, as well as ways for truckers to contact their lawmakers via letter and oppose a mandate. The Fighting For Truckers website also includes a link to a list of talking points members can reference when filing comments for NHTSA and FMCSA to consider during the rulemaking process. Drivers who currently drive or have driven speed-limited trucks are encouraged to share their personal experiences and real-world, on-the-road problems they’ve faced when using such devices. OOIDA encourages its members to submit comments via Regulations.gov at Docket FMCSA-2014-0083 or Docket NHTSA 2016-0087. All comments received will be duly considered by the joint NHTSA and FMCSA team. Comments only need to be posted to one docket. The public comment period will close Wednesday, Dec. 7.

Commercial Motor / November 15, 2016 Demand for artics tailed off in the third quarter of 2016, but the rigid market continued to be robust in a new truck market that is at its highest comparative point for eight years. In June, July and August some 11,242 units above 6-tonne GVW were registered in the UK, down slightly on the same three-month period in 2015 when 11,660 units were registered. In the nine-months to date 32,676 new trucks have been registered in the UK, up 6.6% on the same period in 2015 when 30,647 units had been registered. The nine-months of 2016 so far are the strongest nine-month period for new truck registrations in eight years. SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said of the third quarter performance: “Disruption to fleet renewal patterns, triggered by regulatory changes, resulted in a significant rise in registration volumes last year. Therefore it’s no surprise to see a comparative decline in the truck market at this point in 2016. “Despite the decline, the HGV market remains strong, with year-to-date registrations ahead of the same period last year, and now at the highest level in eight years. Maintaining economic certainty for operators will be key to the sector’s ongoing success,” he added. The breakdown The number of artics registered in Q3 2016 was down 14.6% from 5,307 in Q3 2015 to 4,532, but the number of rigids was up 5.6% to 6,708 compared to 6,353 in the same period in 2015.Rigids above 16-tonne GVW are up 5.3% year-on-year to 4,335 units, while rigids between 6-tonne and 16-tonne GVW are up 6.1% year-on-year to 2,373 units. In the first nine-months of 2016 artic sales have been depressed when compared to 2015 performance: 12,743 new artics have been registered in 2016, compared to 14,365 in 2015. Rigids however have shown significant year-on-year growth with 19,930 units registered, up 22.5% year-on-year from 16,274 units. Rigids above 16-tonne GVW are up 22.2% year-on-year to 12,939, while rigids between 6-tonne and 16-tonne GVW are up 23% to 6,991. Market leader Daf continued to lead the market in Q3 2016, with a 29.5% market share equating to 3,311 units. Scania was second with a 16% share (1,802 units), despite not having anything in its range below 16-tonne GVW, with Mercedes-Benz third (14.6%: 1,644) and Volvo forth (13.1%: 1,475). MAN and Iveco remain close with 961 and 934 units registered in Q3 2016, while Renault registered 512 units. The only part of the United Kingdom that saw year-on-year falls in new truck registration in the third quarter was England, down 5.6% on Q3 2015. Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales all grew in Q3 2016 compared to Q3 2015.

Dagens Industri / November 15, 2016 As a result of failed negotiations, workers at the container port of Gothenburg went on strike on Tuesday. For the business community, a major disruption is feared when the country's largest port comes to a halt and the union says that it is ready for a long conflict. The strike began at 2:00pm on Tuesday afternoon, shutting down most container operations at the port. "It is very serious that the activities that have an important function now periodically will be hamstrung without that we can do something. Large parts of the Swedish business community as well as carriers and port hit hard," says Henrik Kristensen, CEO of APM Terminals Gothenburg, which operates the container port. AB Volvo and forestry companies Stora Enso and BillerudKorsnäs are some of the many companies that are now affected. "Half of Sweden's container traffic passes through Gothenburg and large volumes of goods both for export and import now risk being delayed or have to be sent other routes to major additional costs for Swedish industry to be held in time," says Henrik Kristensen. He argues that the port can not accept the Dockworker Union’s demands, as it would violate the collective agreement that it has with another union, the Transport Workers 'Union, and the Swedish Ports Employers Organization. Swedish Ports supports APM and is also critical that there are no legal obstacles to the conflict in the prevailing industrial peace. "The company does everything right and according to the agreement. I think it is a flaw in the legislation that this type of strikes can be considered legitimate," says Joakim Ärlund, president of Swedish Ports. But Dockworkers Union asserts that it has the right. "We have for over eight months tried to discuss and negotiate, but without any results. A strike is bad for everyone involved, but is now our only remaining option to gain support for important issues of principle for our members," said Erik Helgeson, board member of the Dockworkers Union. He said union morale is high and does not rule out more strikes. "A strike isn’t what we want, but if we have to, we will turn this into a long and complicated conflict." .

DAF Trucks introduces the new High Gear collection DAF Trucks Press Release / November 15, 2016 DAF Trucks presents a completely new High Gear clothing line, complemented by elegant accessories and gadgets for anyone with a DAF heart. All items are available to order now via the webshop of DAF at www.dafshop.com. Innovation and high quality is not just the starting point in the development of DAF trucks. It’s also the principle behind the design of the new High Gear collection. The collection includes a great range of items, from a jacket that can be worn year round, to a protective sleeve for your tablet and an elegant ladies’ watch for DAF female fans. The new clothing is characterized by subtle orange touches like the zip tags and a small badge on the sleeve. Each fashionable garment is designed for the best fit and highest quality and for a seamlessly fit into the clothing trends. The waterproof (and for the ladies, fitted) soft shell jacket is a good example: the jacket’s wool look high-tech materials, make it as weatherproof, as it is both bold and modern. Since it is a real DAF tradition to present an eye-catching children's collection, it goes without saying that DAF Trucks has developed a separate High Gear line for kids, including shirts, hoodies, a windproof jacket, a warm winter hat and a cap. Moreover, the shop offers a new, cheerful and eye catching DAF kids’ backpack, and a funky romper suit. Of course, the best-selling DAF Ride-on Truck and children's tableware set are still available. The popular watch collection has been supplemented by five new watches, for him and her. From modern sporty and beautifully classic to sturdy watch cases with a 'Construction' design. Finally, DAF has introduced a completely new design of High Gear bags and organizers: The practical travel bag, toiletry, cosmetic bag and the tablet sleeve all come in fashionable and practical water-resistant waxed canvas. .

ELDs, Trucking, and Trump Sean Kilcarr, Fleet Owner / November 15, 2016 Will the incoming Trump administration delay the still-contentious electronic logging device (ELD) mandate? That question popped up more than few times here at the TU-Automotive Connected Fleets USA being held this week in Atlanta during conversations among the participants and during panel discussions – including one moderated by yours truly. The short answer to that question in the minds of most experts is “No.” Indeed, Fred Fakkema, vice president of compliance for Zonar Systems, noted that many of leading industry trade groups – notably the American Trucking Associations (ATA) – remains very much in favor of the ELD mandate. As a result, political pressure won’t be unanimous from the industry to delay or repeal it – though don’t tell that to groups such as the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) that continue to fight the mandate despite losing a recent court battle over the measure. “We think the Trump administration is going to have a lot more things to worry about in its first 100 days than worry about ELDs,” added Chris Koszarsky, director of engineering for Garmin. However, the “longer answer” to that question is whether a delay will be needed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) so it can properly prepare itself and various safety enforcement entities to handle the flow of ELD data; including during roadside inspections. “Think about the roll out of Obamacare; that didn’t go very well,” Fakkema added. In particular, he pointed out that the “transfer mechanism” for ELD data, via Bluetooth or USB device, still hasn’t been completely finalized according to the 120 pages of guidelines for that process issued by the agency. “FMCSA still hasn’t completed the development of the web services needed for ELD data,” Fakkema pointed out. The lack of “E-logs” data transfer protocols for roadside inspections is also holding up the self-certification process for many ELD vendors, he said. “One reason there are only 10 self-certified companies on the FMCSA’s list – and why none of the ‘big names’ are on it yet – is that there are gaps in the 400 page requirement for testing them, especially in terms of how data is to be transferred at the roadside,” he said. “So we still have a lot of things going on [with the ELD rule] that need to be worked out.” Thus in many respects it remains a waiting and watching game to determine whether the technical details buried within the ELD rule create the need for a delay or not.

The former Mack Trucks was a "vertically integrated" truck manufacturer. Paccar's truck units, Kenworth and Peterbilt, have always produced "assembled trucks", purchasing most components from outside vendors. There's no comparison.

Sean Kilcarr, Fleet Owner / November 16, 2016 OEM expects this “connected truck” endeavor to help prevent the “commoditization” of its commercial vehicles and make it less vulnerable to the cyclical nature of truck sales. Andrew Dondlinger, vice president and general manager of connected services for Navistar, revealed a multi-layered effort now underway at the OEM to turn its trucks and buses into “open” telematics ecosystems starting early next year, giving its customers the ability to add an electronic logging device (ELD) plus pre- and post-vehicle inspection functionality right into its vehicles without the need to add extra electronic hardware. “Most telematics companies don’t want to be in the hardware business; hardware is a big costs and it doesn’t make money anymore,” he explained here at the TU-Automotive Connected Fleets USA conference. “They used to make money on that hardware but not anymore.” Navistar doesn’t want to be in the hardware business either, Dondlinger added, so the new “gatekeeping” telematics platform being built into its trucks is a third-party supplied system. In essence, he said Navistar is adding the equivalent of a “universal cable TV box” to its trucks – a “box” that should be able to host any type of telematics programming via any type of provider, without fleets or owner-operators needing to switch out hardware in order to switch providers. “This way, you can change telematics providers without having to rip the hardware out of all of your trucks and install new units – that’s what costs a lot of money,” Dondlinger explained. “It also allows you to consume telematics services ‘a la carte’ so you don’t have to a purchase a set ‘bundle’ that contains things you do not want.” Staying with the cable TV box analogy, he said it would be like allowing television viewers to switch between cable providers such as Comcast, Verizon, or others without the need for a new box, while ordering just the programs they want – be it only basic TV or sports packages and movie channels, while getting the opportunity to easily remove them as the need arises. “We want this device to be a ‘gatekeeper’ so all the telematics providers can play on it,” Dondlinger stressed. Currently, Navistar is prepping an ELD offering for its “gatekeeping” ecosystem for release in early 2017 as well as a pre- and post-inspection system that it will be trying out on its school bus units next year as well. “That [vehicle] inspection system is not DOT-certified yet; we’re launching it on our buses as part of the effort to get it certified,” he explained. “The reason we’re offering this is that you can automatically tell with 60% to 70% of the ‘checklist’ items if there is a problem or not. So automating that process should lead to more accuracy and more drive time for drivers.” Dondlinger added that developing this “open architecture telematics ecosystem” for Navistar’s trucks and buses is also an effort to prevent them from becoming “commodities.” He said the four “characteristics” of a commodity are: it’s a product versus a service; it’s extremely susceptible to shifts in the economy; it is highly cyclical in nature; and is extremely sensitive to supply and demand. “While commercial trucks are not commodities, the new and used truck markets are subject to the same challenging forces as commodities,” Dondlinger explained. “So we must think differently; our future vehicles will become ‘integration hubs’ as the world becomes more exponentially connected.”

Sean Kilcarr, Fleet Owner / November 16, 2016 Industry expert says Verizon’s acquisition of Telogis and Fleetmatics, combined with the ELD mandate, are “significant market events.” The “most significant market consolidation” in the history of the truck telematics industry, coupled with what’s expected to be a huge spike in demand due to the electronic logging device (ELD), are going to create “major impact” upon the truck telematics industry, according to Clem Driscoll, president of consulting firm C.J. Driscoll & Associates. Speaking here at the TU-Automotive Connected Fleets USA conference, Driscoll said that the acquisition of Telogis and Fleetmatics by Verizon Telematics this year will give Verizon a “significant distribution advantage” [near monopoly] in the U.S. in many market segments, with the Fleetmatics acquisition in particular opening up a number of overseas markets to Verizon. As a result of the $2.4 billion acquisition of Fleetmatics, Driscoll said Verizon now controls 24% of the total U.S. installed base of GPS fleet management systems and 33% of the installed base of local service, delivery, and government fleet systems. Yet will Verizon continue to operate its own internal fleet telematics division as well as the Telogis and Fleetmatics operations it has acquired as separate independent businesses or integrate them? “That is not known at this time,” Driscoll said. “But as it stands now with those acquisitions, Verizon may actually end up competing with itself in some markets.” On top of that, he said the impending ELD mandate is expected to add one million or more units to the current U.S. installed base of commercial telematics solutions – equating to a 70% increase in the number of in-cab telematics units in service in the trucking sector. “The ELD mandate is just going to have a huge impact on the telematics market,” Driscoll noted. “We’re also going to see a lot more smart phones and tablet [computers] used in this space [the trucking industry] to meet the ELD requirements.” However, he stressed that ELD demand is “limited” right now as many fleets and owner-operators ponder how to comply with the mandate – with many planning to operate without ELDs to “see what happens,” Driscoll said. Yet by mid to late 2017, demand for ELDs should spike, he noted: “Then things will become very interesting.” Other trends Driscoll noted in his presentation: The asset tracking market for containers and trailers in expected to grow 10% this year but expand by 14% to 15% in 2017 as OEMs begin introducing more “smart trailers” capable of monitoring tire pressure, braking systems, and other parameters. The overall asset monitoring market is projected to grow significantly as tracking device prices continue to decline. Autonomous vehicle development efforts by car and light truck OEMs indicate that the interaction between human drivers and autonomous systems is going to be a major “pain point” in terms of deploying more self-driving vehicles. Ford Motor Co. still plans to a deliver a high volume filly autonomous car by 2021 and not an “interim” model with semi-autonomous functions in part because it believes there are “too many risks” involved in the “hand-over” of driving responsibilities between the vehicle and the operator. For some of the same reason, Driscoll believes it is “unlikely” fully autonomous trucks will be operating on U.S. roads within the next 10 to 20 years.

Autoblog / November 16, 2016 Supercar suspension dampers in a midsize pickup truck. It ultimately is that simple, despite being a tremendously complicated engineering feat that literally required a 48-deck Powerpoint presentation and a wild-haired engineer to completely explain. The 2017 Chevrolet Colorado ZR2 features the same Dynamic Suspensions Spool Valve (DSSV) damper technology as an Aston Martin One-77, Ford GT, Mercedes-AMG GT and the Red Bull F1 cars that won the constructors' championships from 2010 to 2013. It was pretty incredible when they were fitted to the 2014 Camaro Z/28, so when Chevrolet asked DSSV producer Multimatic to create spool valve dampers for a performance off-road midsize truck, there was no shortage of eyebrows raised. It would be a challenge, as one couldn't simply pop in a set of dampers from a Z/28 and expect them to do the same job in the ZR2. But, therein lies the first benefit of spool valve dampers: their adaptability. No two applications are alike since Multimatic has made it so easy for manufacturers to specify the exact damping characteristics they seek. Those characteristics can be put into numerical values, you see, which are then entered into special "SpecFinder" software. Multimatic then precisely crafts spool valves that create those exact characteristics. OK, so what the heck is a spool valve? They are small metal cylinders, roughly half the height of a C battery, with several customized ports that allow for the controlled passage of hydraulic fluid through a suspension damper. It is the precise shape of these ports, which control both suspension compression and rebound that were specified by Chevrolet and created by Multimatic. Besides customization, they are easily reproduced, have virtually no variation from part to part (a problem with typical shocks) and dramatically reduce the amount of fine-tuning engineers must do with typical dampers. Multimatic was able to run 15,000 simulations before a single part was built, and as a result, the ZR2's real-world tuning and development took a quarter of the time it normally would to sign off on a suspension. So it makes the lives of Chevrolet engineers easier, why exactly is it so great when you're actually driving the ZR2? Since those little spool valve ports can be shaped to let more or less hydraulic fluid through as the wheel travel dictates, the ZR2 will have a much greater ability to provide the firmness and control needed when driving aggressively, yet be soft enough to deliver a comfortable on-road ride over bumps. But wait, there's more! Thus far, what's been described is what you'd find in the Z/28 or an AMG GT. To produce a DSSV suspension for a performance off-road application like the ZR2, a third spool valve was added to the typical pair. Think of it as the emergency off-road back-up. When more severe suspension compression occurs, say when landing hard off-road, the third, larger damper and spool valve is put into action by the damper exceeding its usual amount of travel. Through this greater stroke, the third spool valve is still able to precisely control its dampening force. The addition of this third valve allows for what is called Position Sensitive Damping. Altogether, the Colorado ZR2's trick suspension allows a similar amount of wheel travel as more traditional damper designs, but it's capable of absorbing more energy. Specifically, there's 35-percent less load going through the truck, and occupant movement is reduced by 50 percent. That means Chevrolet didn't need to strengthen the truck as much to withstand the added demands of high-speed off-road driving, while simultaneously allowing you to drive even faster. Plus, it's a far more comfortable truck to drive on-road. By comparison, trucks with regular monotube dampers are swell at dealing with the rigors of off-road performance, but result in a comparatively punishing ride. Twin-tube dampers are essentially the opposite and both designs are inherently restricted from providing a best-of-both-worlds scenario. The ZR2's Positive Sensitive Damping apparently does just that, according to 25-year off-road racing vet Bryan Kudela, who assisted in the real-world testing. He seemed genuinely floored by the ZR2's on-road comfort as much as its performance capabilities. Now, you might be wondering why GM's already renowned magnetorheological dampers weren't used instead. Don't they do roughly the same thing? They do, however, they are far more heat sensitive, which is a serious factor in a hardcore, high-speed, off-road application. There is also much greater complexity, whereas DSSV is a mechanical solution less impacted by temperature and fluid viscosity. Which is all just a complicated way of saying the ZR2 has a supercar suspension.

No matter who the candidates of the 2016 presidential elections were, be they Joe Schmo and Jill Doe, I myself feel the Electoral College is at the very least an obsolete relic of the past, if not a mechanism preventing a transparent and accurate reflection of the voting public. Founding father Alexander Hamilton writes in “The Federalist Papers,” they created the Electoral College to ensure that a president is chosen “by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station, and acting under circumstances favorable to deliberation, and to a judicious combination of all the reasons and inducements which were proper to govern their choice.” Simply put, they didn’t want to allow the uneducated (ignorant) commoners to select the president, because they didn’t view them as “capable”. Now fast forward to year 2016, should the thought process of 228 years ago, another time and place with different attitudes, still be in use today? The founding fathers of our country were amongst the small group of wealthy and schooled aristocracy in the thirteen English colonies that felt the uneducated commoners were unqualified to participate in government. Rather than allow the masses to direct vote, the founding fathers created the Electoral College, ensuring that a proper choice was made for president and vice-president (by the aristocracy behind the veil). The founding fathers enticed the commoners (mass population) of the English colonist to join together in a revolutionary war for independence by promising them the ability to participate in government. However they didn’t really mean it and, at that time, were quite concerned that should they gain independence, the commoners would hold them to their promises. Much to their relief, that never happened. Under the illusion that they had a say in government, the ignorant commoners for the most part fell in line and allowed the founding fathers to run the show. "Independence: The Struggle to Set America Free", by John Ferling - http://www.amazon.co...s=independence)

Yes, of course you are quite right. However, I feel that our local, state and federal authorities are all on the same team......the American team. And you see that, from Oklahoma City to 911. Inherently by the woven fabric of our government, they must and do work together.

Rudy Giuliani fought federal government to defend illegal immigrants as NYC mayor CNN / November 16, 2016 Rudy Giuliani has a long record of defending and advocating for illegal immigrants as mayor of New York City. His past positions are at odds with Trump's plan to end so-called sanctuary cities and deport millions of undocumented immigrants. Giuliani is under consideration to join Trump's administration as secretary of state or attorney general. Giuliani prefers secretary of state. Either role would give Giuliani a hand in federal immigration policy. As New York City mayor, Giuliani praised the contribution illegal immigrants made to the city and went to court to protect them from being reported to the federal government. "Some of the hardest-working and most productive people in this city are undocumented [illegal] aliens," Giuliani said at a 1994 press conference. "If you come here and you work hard and you happen to be in an undocumented [illegal] status, you're one of the people who we want in this city. You're somebody that we want to protect, and we want you to get out from under what is often a life of being like a fugitive, which is really unfair." Appearing on WABC in 2001, Giuliani said, "The city of New York, quite frankly, is quite tolerant of undocumented [illegal] immigration and this shouldn't surprise you because I've been the mayor for a long time and outspoken on this issue, even nationally, I happen to agree with that." "I think New York City should not deal with undocumented [illegal] immigrants in a harsh way. I think they make a big contribution to the life of the city and were much better off being sensible and practical about it," he continued. "And the reality is that restaurants are going to have a certain number of people who are undocumented [illegal], you know people that come here to make a living trying to help themselves and their families." In 1996, Giuliani sued the federal government over a provision in a welfare law that said any city or state employees could not be prevented from reporting someone's immigration status to the federal Immigration and Naturalization Service. Giuliani argued at the time that the provision was a direct attack on New York City's Executive Order 124, which prohibited city employees from reporting the immigration status of an illegal immigrant unless they were suspected of a crime. The court ruled against Giuliani. "For those who may not know, 'Executive Order 124' is New York City's policy regarding undocumented [illegal] immigrants," said Giuliani in an October 1996 statement. "This order was issued seven years ago by Mayor Ed Koch and then later reissued by Mayor Dinkins and then by me. 'Executive Order 124' protects undocumented [illegal] immigrants in New York City from being reported to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service while they are using City services that are crucial for their health and safety, and critical for the health and safety of the entire city. I know 'Executive Order 124' offends some people. They ask, 'Why should we pay to provide services for illegal immigrants?' The answer is it's not only to protect them, but to protect the rest of society, as well." In a speech at Harvard around the same time in 1996, Giuliani forcefully argued for the city's right to "protect the health and well being of our city" by shielding illegal immigrants from the federal government. "The Tenth Amendment provides that 'The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people,'" said the mayor in a speech at Harvard shortly before filing suit. "One right not granted to the federal government is the right of state and local governments to provide for the health and safety of their local communities. This right is generally described as 'the police power.' When Ed Koch signed 'Executive Order 124' it was a classic example of New York City's police power being used to protect the health and well being of our city." "Most likely, the federal government will reply that controlling immigration is one of their core functions. But this is a disingenuous argument [???]," he continued. "The federal government will be forced to argue that it has to treat undocumented [illegal] immigrants unfairly in order to discourage others from coming here [???]. Attempting to control immigration by creating a disincentive for a woman to report to the police that she has been beaten up by her husband is a very weak argument. And it's a horrible position for the federal government to take."

Scavengers hurt diving industry New Straights Times / October 26, 2015 The future of recreational wreck diving appears bleak with the damage caused to shipwrecks by illegal salvage operators, who cannibalize sunken wrecks on the seabed off Pulau Tioman, Pahang. Efforts must be made to preserve the shipwrecks, which comprised warships, submarines, super tankers and freighters, in Malaysian waters, urged the diving fraternity. B&J Diving Centre Sdn Bhd managing director Zainal Rahman Karim said it was a shame that sunken ships with a historical significance were disappearing. He said the country’s underwater sites that had heritage value drew a large number of tourists, who would go on liveaboard diving cruises and day-trip explorations to such sites. “It is bad news when divers say shipwrecks in Malaysia are being blown apart. “The popularity of the sites is declining. How would the survivors feel when they hear that the ships they served on during World War 2 are being torn apart?” He said the HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse Survivors Association and the next of kin of those who died in the war were concerned about the damage to the sunken ships. He said they hoped that the authorities would act swiftly to stop the further demolition of the shipwrecks. “The shipwrecks are big attractions and an icon for technical diving enthusiasts.” Zainal, better known as Ben among those in the diving community, said although the sites of the HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse wrecks were referred to as “war graves”, they were not legally war graves. He said the activities of illegal salvage operators were uncovered when they looted several sunken Japanese ships off Penang and in the Straits of Malacca last year. He said the scavengers then moved their operations to the South China Sea and Java Sea off Indonesia, following reports of their activities. “If all shipwrecks with a historical significance are protected, no one can remove anything from the country’s seabed. Our concern is that the sunken ships will be removed within the next few years.” Zainal, who has more than 25 years of diving experience, said scavengers had removed the massive propellers of HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales. He said each propeller blade was worth more than SG$25,000 (RM77,000). He said the salvage operators ran as syndicates and had a proper understanding of the location of each sunken ship. “The syndicates include dive crew and crane operators, who would take up any job as long as they are promised lucrative returns.” Zainal said the explosives used to blow up the sunken ships posed a threat to marine life. The director of a Singapore-based diving company, David Liu, said he had, on numerous occasions, tried to curb illegal scavenging. “I am prepared to work with the authorities to find a solution to the problem.” He said he had risked his life to preserve shipwrecks by taking divers to the site of HMS Repulse to place memorial flags. However, he was caught by Malaysian authorities during a diving trip this year and consequently, spent 29 hours in detention. Liu said British families visited the sites every year to perform simple rituals, such as laying flowers, cleaning the Union Jack flag and conducting services in memory of their loved ones, who had served as crewmen on board the ships.

American and British second world war shipwrecks in Java Sea destroyed by illegal scavenging The Guardian / November 16, 2016 Three British ships and a US submarine that sank in the Java Sea during the second world war have been destroyed by illegal scrap metal scavengers, the Guardian can reveal. The UK’s Ministry of Defence said it condemned the “unauthorised disturbance of any wreck containing human remains” and requested Indonesian authorities investigate and take “appropriate action”. The commercial salvaging of war wrecks has caused significant upset among veterans, historians and governments who want to preserve the final resting place of sailors who went down with their ships. A preliminary report from an expedition to document sunken ships, seen by the Guardian, shows that the wrecks of HMS Exeter, a 175m heavy cruiser, and destroyer HMS Encounter have been almost totally removed. Using equipment that creates a 3D map of the sea floor, the report showed that where the wreck “was once located there is a large ‘hole’ in the seabed”. A 100-meter long destroyer, HMS Electra, had also been scavenged, the report found, although a “sizeable section” of the wreck remained. The 91-meter long US submarine Perch (SS-176, an "S Boat"), whose entire crew were captured by the Japanese, had been totally removed, the report said. All four sank during operations in the Java Sea in 1942, when Japanese forces overpowered Dutch, British, American and Australian sailors. The battle was one of the costliest sea skirmishes for the allies during the war and led to the Japanese occupation of the entire Dutch East Indies. The Ministry of Defence said in a statement that the British government had contacted Indonesian authorities to express “serious concern” and request they investigate and take “appropriate action to protect the sites from any further disturbance. “Many lives were lost during this battle and we would expect that these sites are respected and left undisturbed without the express consent of the United Kingdom. “It is British Government policy that our military wrecks are offered appropriate protection and management,” it said. The news comes after the Netherlands defence ministry said this week that it had launched an investigation into the disappearance of three of its own shipwrecks, also in the Java Sea. “The desecration of a war grave is a serious offence,” it said in a statement. That announcement appears to be based on the same preliminary report, which also mapped empty space where HNLMS De Ruyter, HNLMS Java, and HNLMS Kortenaer used to be. The expedition had been sent to the Java Sea this month to take video footage of the underwater Dutch ships in advance of next year’s 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Java Sea. Some 900 Dutch sailors died in the battle, including Rear Admiral Karel Doorman, a war hero in the Netherlands. Divers were planning to put a plaque on the vessels, which were located in 2002 – only to discover that they had vanished. The story has caused outrage in the Netherlands, with De Telegraaf newspaper putting the story on the front page on Wednesday under the headline: “Mystery in the Java sea.” When the crew found the three Dutch vessels had essentially been removed, they decided to broaden the scope of the mission to examine other wrecks, the Guardian understands. The British embassy in Jakarta was informed last week. Andy Brockman, an archaeologist and researcher in maritime crime, said the UK government had not done enough to stop undersea looting. “My feeling is that the Ministry of Defence files the issue of taking active steps to protect historic Royal Navy wrecks under the heading of too difficult and too expensive,” he said. “However, I think it is becoming ever more clear that this attitude is not acceptable to the wider public, not least to veterans and their families. “This latest example of commercially driven damage to what are maritime military graves should be a spur to international action, led by the governments of Britain, Australia, the Netherlands and the USA, over two thousand of whose sailors lie in the Java sea.” In the ministry’s statement, it said that “given the vast locations of Royal Navy wrecks around the world, that there are limitations on what protection we can provide, but we will continue to work with regional governments and partners to prevent inappropriate activity on the wrecks of Royal Navy vessels. “Where we have evidence of desecration of these sites, we will take appropriate action,” it added. Exeter had a crew of around 700 men, most of whom were rescued by the Japanese to become prisoners of war. The Ministry of Defence said 54 men died when it sank. Encounter and Electra both had crews of 145 men, although they were significantly overloaded with sailors rescued from other ships sunk in the Java Sea. Eight men died on Encounter before it sank. Most of Electra’s crew are believed to have been killed. Crews posing as fishermen and using long rubber hoses to stay underwater for hours have scavenged the waters around Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, locating the wrecks and stealing parts, including steel, aluminium and brass. The potential worth of metal-built shipwrecks is estimated at hundreds of thousands of pounds. Some of the propellors, often the first items to be stolen, are made of phosphor bronze scrap metal, valued at over £2,000 per tonne. Brockman said the wrecks were the property of the flag state in which they were registered. Under the international salvage convention it is illegal to remove scrap without official permission, he added. He said: “It’s like a cottage industry, apart from the fact the illicit salvage boats are dealing with substantial wrecks. Basically they use explosives and grabs to rip things apart. You get basis steel. In a single engine room you have a lot of non-ferrous metals, copper and brass, which have a premium on the scrap metal market.” Last year the Malaysian navy spotted a vessel near the site of second world war shipwrecks and arrested 17 Vietnamese crewmen. Several other men were underwater removing parts. In a separate incident, a Vietnamese crew was caught with iron cutters and a crane. In 2014, the wrecks of the HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales and the resting place of more than 800 Royal Navy sailors off the coast of Malaysia were found to have been damaged by scavengers. And when divers found that Australia’s HMAS Perth, also sunk by the Japanese in 1942, had been salvaged, Canberra was accused of trying to keep the news secret to avoid any potential diplomatic fallout between between Australia and Indonesia. The US military has also sent several delegations to Indonesia to try to protect its wreck sites. The Ministry of Defence has been accused of not doing enough following allegations that some of the 25 ships sunk in the North Sea battle are being torn apart. There has also been extensive scavenging of both German and British vessels sunk in the first world war during the battle of Jutland. The war graves commission said on Wednesday that the wrecks were not formally designated as war graves. It said the 386 servicemen who died in the battle were commemorated on memorials in the UK. The figure includes those were rescued and who died in Japanese captivity. Brockman described the battle in the Java sea as “not much known”, and said it was a crushing defeat for British, Australian, American and Dutch forces. A squadron of ships from the four nations was hastily assembled, he said, under the command of Rear Admiral Doorman. He added: “Effectively it was a shambles. They had never trained together and their equipment was incompatible. They were basically massacred. They were trying to get back towards Ceylon in the face of the Japanese invasion. “They ran into a crack Japanese cruiser squadron which outgunned and outmatched them and was trained in night fighting. All the vessels involved were sunk in one-and-a-half days. The wrecks are spread over the whole area of the Sunda straight [between the Indonesian islands of Java and Sumatra].” ‘I shall never forget the sight of Exeter going’ Lt Cmdr George Cooper wrote this account of HMS Exeter’s last action, which appeared in War Illustrated in 1946 For some unaccountable reason it was considered at headquarters that our best means of escape lay through the Sunda Strait to the westward, whereas the chances of doing this successfully were very remote in such enclosed waters. It would have seemed wiser to get away to the eastward towards Australia, as a chase in this direction would have drawn the enemy away from his fuelling bases, which he could not easily afford. The following morning, Sunday, March lst, 1942, at 7.30, we sighted the topmasts of two Japanese heavy cruisers and turned south until they were out of sight, when we resumed our westward course. At 9.30, we sighted them again to starboard with a large destroyer, and shortly afterwards two smaller cruisers with five destroyers appeared on the port side. We turned to the eastward with our escorting destroyers, the British Encounter and the American Pope, to put the enemy astern. For two hours we had a running fight with them. They straddled us many times but never hit us until at 11.30 one shell penetrated the boiler room. It was a shot in a million as it cut our one remaining main steam pipe. The ship just came to a stop in all departments. The main engines stopped through lack of steam. The dynamos stopped. The turrets were motionless on different bearings. The steering failed. The inside became full of smoke as escaping oil fuel in the forward boiler room burst into flames. There was nothing we could do except sink her. So the magazine valves were opened. The condenser inlets were allowed to flood the engine room, and watertight doors usually kept closed were opened. A pretty good inferno was going on down below as the fire spread. She started to list slightly to port, pouring black smoke out of her funnels. I thought she looked defiant, like a stag at bay. Men were cutting down carley floats and flotanets, casting timber adrift, turning out boats. The Japanese were starting to hit us now as the range closed in. The after superstructure caught fire and the whine of projectiles sounded like the Ride of the Valkyries. She was getting lower in the water and heeling more. The inside had been completely evacuated; no one could live down there. At the bottom of the ladder leading to the upper deck were a lot of people, all quite calm. She was very nearly stopped, and men were leaving in dribs and drabs. As they went they drifted away astern. Then I climbed over the side and jumped into the water. A little later, a destroyer closing on the starboard beam fired a torpedo. It was a good shot as it hit her right amidships. The old dear shuddered a bit. She seemed to shake herself from bow to stern. She must have had very little positive buoyancy left as she went right over to starboard until her funnels and masts were horizontal. Then, heaving herself up in a final act of defiance, she disappeared in a swirl of water, smoke and steam. I had never seen a ship sink in day time before. I had seen twelve ships sunk in a convoy in the Atlantic one wild night in October 1940. One of these I saw break in half and the two halves rear up in the air and disappear in twenty seconds. But darkness had spared me the most terrible sight for any sailor – a ship’s final lurch below the waves when the ocean floods inside and gets her down forever. So I shall never forget the sight of Exeter going. It did not seem real. We had lived in that ship for a year. We had our cabins and messdecks there, all our private belongings and treasures, mementos of home, books, photographs.I remember throwing my large Barr and Stroud binoculars on the deck before I went over the side. What a waste, I thought, yet a bagatelle compared to the loss of a fine 8-inch cruiser with a score that included the Graf Spee off the River Plate. Anyhow, we all gave her three cheers as she went. You could hear the faint cheers rippling over the water.” .

Mystery as wrecks of three Dutch WWII ships vanish from Java seabed The Guardian / November 16, 2016 An international investigation has been launched into the mysterious disappearance of three Dutch second world war shipwrecks which have vanished from the bottom of the Java Sea off the coast of Indonesia. The Netherlands defence ministry has confirmed that the wrecks of two of its warships that sank in 1942 have completely gone, while large parts of a third are also missing. The wrecks were first found intact by amateur divers in 2002. But a new expedition to mark next year’s 75th anniversary of the Battle of the Java Sea discovered the ships were missing. While sonar shows the imprints of the wrecks on the ocean floor, the ships themselves are no longer there. The ministry said in a statement: “The wrecks of HNLMS De Ruyter and HNLMS Java have seemingly gone completely missing. A large piece is also missing of HNLMS Kortenaer.” All three ships sank during the Battle of the Java Sea, which turned out to be a disastrous defeat for Dutch, British, American and Australian sailors by Japanese forces in February 1942. It was one of the costliest sea battles of the war and led to the Japanese occupation of the entire Dutch East Indies. About 2,200 people died, including 900 Dutch nationals and 250 people of Indonesian Dutch origin, and the wrecks have been declared a sacred war grave. “An investigation has been launched to see what has happened to the wrecks, while the cabinet has been informed,” the defence ministry said. “The desecration of a war grave is a serious offence,” it added, suggesting the wrecks may have been illegally salvaged. The seas around Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia are a graveyard for more than 100 ships and submarines sunk during the war. For years, scavengers have surreptitiously located the wrecks and stolen parts, including steel, aluminium and brass. A recreational diving school in Malaysia told the New Straits Times last year that shipwrecks were being blown apart by with explosives by people posing as fishermen before their metal is removed. The US military found two years ago that there had been an “unauthorised disturbance of the grave site” of the USS Houston, which sank in the Battle of Sunda Strait, also in the Java Sea. It is the grave for nearly 650 sailors and marines. [What was our response???] Theo Vleugels, director of the Dutch War Graves Foundation, told the ANP news agency: “The people who died there should be left in peace.” .

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A city mayor as an elected official has a moral obligation, if not a legal one, to uphold our nation's laws.........all of them, at all times. Any mayor who refused to support and/or ignores our nation's immigration laws should be promptly removed. Entering and existing in the United States illegally is a crime. Anyone who does so should be immediately deported, and as a penalty, prevented from ever entering again (That sends a message that we take our laws seriously). The requirement to enter a country legally, under both immigrant and non-immigrant status (visitor), is a global norm. I'm tired of the pro-amnesty people saying the illegals are in the US because of a broken immigration system. What a farce. That couldn't be farther from the truth. I have an intimate knowledge of our immigration system. It's on par with other countries in the world, it is reasonable and performs well. The problem began when select foreigners decided to illegally enter the United States.........that is the problem........not our immigration system. We need to enforce our current laws, sending a message, as Australia has, that the United States has a zero tolerance policy on illegal immigration.

CNN / November 15, 2016 Retiring Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer is set to introduce a Senate bill that aims to end the Electoral College. Boxer announced in a statement on Tuesday that the bill, which she planned to introduce later Tuesday afternoon, would determine the winner of presidential elections by the outcome of the popular vote. She cited President-elect Donald Trump's victory in the Electoral College despite Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton's apparent popular vote advantage. "In my lifetime, I have seen two elections where the winner of the general election did not win the popular vote," said Boxer. "The Electoral College is an outdated, undemocratic system that does not reflect our modern society, and it needs to change immediately. Every American should be guaranteed that their vote counts." The presidency is the only office where you can get more votes & still lose. It's time to end the Electoral College. — Sen. Barbara Boxer (@SenatorBoxer) November 15, 2016 "In 2012, Donald Trump tweeted, 'The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy,' " Boxer added. "I couldn't agree more. One person, one vote!" According to the election results as of Tuesday, Clinton won 61,329,657 votes and Trump won 60,530,867. This is the fifth time in history that a nominee has won the popular vote but not the Electoral College.