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Scania Group / November 3, 2016 Scania continues to reinforce its position in the Indonesian bus market. Transjakarta has now placed an order for 150 low-entry city buses in addition to the previously ordered 110 3-axle Scania buses that will be delivered later this year. The public transport operator in the Indonesian capital already has 108 articulated Euro 6 Scania gas buses in its network. The Transjakarta Bus Rapid Transport system is considered to be the world’s longest busway, serving more than 10 million passengers monthly. The forthcoming delivery of low-entry buses will replace the existing, highly polluting, old buses that operate outside the busway corridors. The new Scania buses, delivered by United Tractors and bodybuilt by Laksana, will feature wheelchair ramps. On announcing the order, Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama particularly highlighted the greater accessibility and said, “this is the world-class bus we expect to have. Jakarta has never before had low-entry buses.” Scania, through its Indonesian partner United Tractors, has established the bus depot workshop facilities and parts supply systems in Jakarta needed to uphold an uptime of over 90 percent. United Tractors is the leading and the largest distributor of heavy equipment in Indonesia, providing products from world-renowned brands, including Scania. The partnership between United Tractors and Scania was established in 2004, initially focusing on heavy-duty trucks for the Indonesian mining industry. Scania is major supplier of buses for BRT systems throughout the world. “We are convinced that bus systems offer the quickest and most cost-effective solution for cities to increase urban mobility and alleviate traffic congestion,” says Karin Rådström, Head of Buses and Coaches. “The Jakarta BRT system serves as a model for many growing cities.” .

DAF Trucks / November 3, 2016 DAF in 2016 celebrates 50 years of truck production in Belgium. This is an impression of the festive family day for the DAF employees in Westerlo. .

Ron, the fleets used to like ASF, Holland and Simplex, and Fontaine sold a lot of wheels to everyone else. But the best 5th wheel ever made was, and still is, the Jost. Believe me.

Three states suspend hours of service regulations for gas haulers Overdrive / November 3, 2016 Governors in two other states have issued executive orders to suspend hours of service regulations for gas haulers. Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed the order Nov. 1 to suspend the regulations for 14 days through midnight on Nov. 15 for drivers hauling gas into the state. North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed an executive order to extend the state of emergency he issued during Hurricane Matthew. “The Colonial Pipeline disruption is a transportation challenge, not a production challenge,” McCrory said in a news release. “With my executive order, we are waiving certain state requirements to facilitate truck transport of gasoline and to protect consumers from price gouging.” Colonial Pipeline hasn’t said when gas will begin flowing through the ruptured line again, but initially said it could be down for up to a week. In the wake of the September spill that disrupted the Colonial line to the East Coast, Illinois-based fuel hauler Dave Marti (pictured), whose small fleet runs leased to Transport Service Inc., noted the pipeline disruption presented opportunities for tank haulers but that, in his case, getting away from primary work on short notice just wasn’t possible then given the farming community his trucks serve. “We just can’t get away,” he said in September. With harvests slowed significantly since then, opportunities might arise for haulers within the relative orbit of the explosion. Original story follows: Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley issued Tuesday an emergency declaration following an Oct. 31 explosion of a gasoline pipeline in Helena, Alabama, effectively relaxing hours-of-service regulations for gasoline haulers operating in the state. The pipeline that exploded is part of the same Colonial Pipeline that leaked in September that caused gas shortages in several states along the East Coast. The pipeline runs from Texas to New York and New Jersey. Several states issued emergency declarations as a result of that leak. Bentley’s State of Emergency declaration suspends hours regulations for any drivers or carriers providing aid through pipeline repair or fuel transportation for 30 days through Dec. 1, unless the order is canceled sooner. Colonial Pipeline representatives said the gasoline pipeline, Line 1, will likely remain shut down the rest of this week. Line 2, which transports diesel, jet fuel and other distillates, was restarted late Oct. 31 and is expected to remain in operation. Colonial says the incident occurred at approximately 3 p.m. local time Oct. 31, when a crew working on a permanent fix for the gasoline pipeline struck the pipeline with a trackhoe, sparking a fire and explosion that killed one worker and injured four others. The fire has since been contained.

Capitol Tree Is Cut, Loaded Onto Kenworth T680 for 4,000-Mile Journey Transport Topics / November 3, 2016 An 80-foot Englemann Spruce tree, chosen for its perfectly cylindrical shape, was loaded onto a Kenworth T680 truck Nov. 2 to begin its 4,000-mile journey to Washington, D.C., where it will serve as the U.S. Capitol Christmas Tree. The tree was harvested from the Payette National Forest in Idaho and is being driven across the country, with stops in 27 communities, by Gary Amoth, owner of Twin Falls, Idaho-based Gary Amoth Trucking. The Kenworth T680 features a 76-inch sleeper, 485-horsepower Paccar MX-13 engine and an Eaton Fuller Advantage 10-speed automated transmission. The tree is scheduled to arrive at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, on Nov. 27, and the lighting is expected to occur in early December. SkyBitz provides an interactive map that traces the tree’s journey; go to trackthetree.com. .

Early Class 8 Order Numbers Flat for the Month Heavy Duty Trucking / November 3, 2016 Class 8 truck orders are projected to be essentially flat in October when compared to September, according to preliminary numbers from analysts. Market analyst FTR is projecting net orders of 13,800 units for the month, similar to Sept. but subdued in what is usually a stronger order month. The reported net order number was negatively impacted by a significant cleanup of long-term excess orders by on OEM. With the backlog factored in, net orders would have been closer to 21,300 units. That would have made for the best monthly order activity since Dec. 2015. “The adjusted number of 21,300 was fueled by the big fleets placing their requirement orders for the first half of 2017,” said one analyst. “This indicates the freight markets are stabilizing and the fleets are confident enough to replace older trucks.” Medium-duty Class 5-7 are projected to be 18,400 units for the month, down 10% from Sept. and 18% compared to Oct. 2015. “That result was somewhat below our expectations, though not drastically out of line with our expectation that Class 5-7 production will be down slightly in 2017,” said another analyst.

Transport Topics / November 3, 2016 Orders for Class 8 trucks in October reached 13,900, according to analyst’s initial findings, which will be revised if necessary later in the month. The volume reflects a familiar a story — lingering overcapacity from too many Class 8 tractors being purchased relative to freight availability last year and into early 2016. One analyst called the orders weak. “Considering that October is a month when big fleets start placing orders, the number is very disappointing. To put that in perspective, the 13,900 order number compares to expectations that were in the 18,000 range,” Credit Suisse analyst Jamie Cook wrote in a note to investors. October's total was down from 19,500 in the same month last year and flat with September's 13,880 total. The research company FTR pegged preliminary Class 8 net orders for October at 13,800 units. The number for the month was negatively impacted by a significant cleanup of long-term, excess, orders by one OEM, it said. With this backlog adjustment factored out, FTR said net orders would have been closer to approximately 21,300 units, much above industry expectations and would have been the best monthly order activity since December 2015.

Nikola to Officially Unveil Hybrid-Electric Truck on Dec. 1 Heavy Duty Trucking / November 3, 2016 Upstart commercial vehicle maker Nikola Motor Company is on track to unveil its flagship product, the Nikola One electric Class 8 truck, at a launch event on Dec. 1st. In addition to the Nikola One, the company will also reveal its plans for its network of hydrogen fueling stations in the U.S. to support its hybrid-electric truck. “Over 300 planned stations are going to be announced at the Dec. 1 event,” said Trevor Milton, Nikola’s CEO. “Nikola will have the largest hydrogen network in the world. We are proud to be on the forefront of this clean energy revolution.” The Nikola One is a hydrogen-powered electric vehicle that is projected to have a range of 800 to 1,200 miles between fillups with an effective fuel economy of 15-20 mpg under full load. The vehicle will also produce zero emissions, according to Nikola, surpassing the government’s standards including the EPA’s new Phase 2 greenhouse gas standards. By using hydrogen to power its electric motor and batteries, the Nikola One can hoffer an extended range over a traditional plug-in electric vehicle while generating fewer emissions than a comparable diesel or alternative fueled hybrid, per the company. “Nikola will begin selling hydrogen to non-Nikola customers for around $3.50 per kg, nearly half the current market price,” said Milton. “We believe that hydrogen power generation is a better deal per mile than plugging in for electricity.” In a move that mirrors Tesla Motors, the company has been taking reservations for the unreleased Nikola One truck, which the company says has totaled nearly $3 billion in the first 30 days of availability. .

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Renault purchased the heavy truck side (Renault Vehicule Industriels ), but this van is produced by the light vehicle side, Renault Group, i.e. the Renault-Nissan Alliance. GM already buys the Chevrolet City Express compact van from the Renault-Nissan Alliance, which is a rebadged Nissan NV200. An additional global van option GM has at its fingertips is the slightly smaller mid-sized Vauxhall/Opel Vivaro, which is a rebadged Renault Trafic. http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/vehicles/vauxhall-range/vans/vivaro/overview.html?intcid=van_overview_vivaro The Movano competes with the Transit and Sprinter. The Vivaro competes with VW's ever popular Transporter, and Ford Transit Custom.

Cummins working on two medium- and heavy-duty PHEV projects; Class 6 truck, Class 7 and 8 buses Green Car Congress / November 3, 2016 At the SAE 2016 Range Extenders for Electric Vehicles Symposium this week in Knoxville, Gary Parker, Director of Electromobility programs for Cummins, Inc. outlined two of the plug-in hybrid projects in which the engine manufacturer is currently involved. The first project, in partnership with the Ohio State University, Paccar, NREL and Argonne National Laboratory and funded with $4.5 million from the DOE, is to develop a Class 6 commercial plug-in hybrid electric vehicle that can reduce fuel consumption by at least 50% over conventional Class 6 vehicles. (Earlier post.) Cummins researchers will optimize the powertrain by selecting the engine with the best architecture to use as an electric commercial vehicle range extender, using the engine to manage the charge level of the all-electric drive battery pack. The range extender will be integrated, using advanced vehicle controls, with the electrified powertrain and other applicable technologies. The second project, in partnership with TM4, STL (Société de transport de Laval, the public transit system in the city of Laval, Québec) and IVI (Innovative Vehicle Institute, a non-profit research center), is developing two different models of a plug-in hybrid bus, using different battery chemistries and charging schemes.) The plan with this project, said Parker, is to let the two different chemistries—LTO and NMC—compete head to head for more than a year, and see which one wins. LTO is a power battery, handles high C rates and has good durability, Parker said. NMC has double the energy capacity and is attractive from a cost point of view, but carries risk in performance and durability. Both chemistries meet the performance targets. Parker drew an analogy to this approach with Cummins’ history. In 1934, Clessie Cummins brought two cars to the Indianapolis 500—the two-stroke Nº 5 and the four-stroke Nº 6—to test effectiveness of 2-cycle versus 4-cycle diesel engine designs for durability and efficiency. After the race and the post-race tear-down, Cummins settled on 4-cycle engines. One bus will be LTO, the other bus will be NMC. We’ll be watching these chemistries and learning from them. We might say both are needed for the market, or we might say that one is a clear winner. —Gary Parker The buses will use an on-board 20 kW charger for off-duty charging; for an external in-route fast-charger, the team will use a 450 kW charger. For range-extending engines, Parker said, Cummins looked at the bottom half of its portfolio: engines from 2.8 liters up to the 6.7-liters. For both the DOE project and the Laval bus project, Cummins is opting to develop its 4.5-liter engine as the genset. The team is considering fuel-flexibility as well (e.g.,CNG). In the North American transit market, the 8.9 liter is the major engine in the space, Parker noted; Cummins is basically cutting the displacement requirement in half with the PHEV configuration. The duty-cycle requirements for the plug-in buses are rigorous: 13-20 hour days Route cycle of 11-66 minutes Fast charge time of 5 minutes Daily mileage of 135-351 miles % idle time of 24-60% Daily stops: 957-1,131 Daily traction energy: 580-890 kWh The combination of regeneration, grid charging and genset power will fulfill driver demand, Parker said. Cummins is well positioned to take electromobility across markets. The PHEV range extender will be a robust solution in certain markets—we certainly see that in bus. Truck and bus have a different set of customers, different expectations; we’ll be trying to understand that better. Building the right charging infrastructure will be important. —Gary Parker

The Chevrolet Express and GMC Savana are dinosaurs. But if GM wanted to jump into the game, they already have an impressive and competitive player in the form of the Vauxhall/Opel Movano, a rebadged version of the popular Renault Master. http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/vehicles/vauxhall-range/vans/movano-ng/overview.html Like the European market Transit, the Movano is available with either rear-wheel drive OR front-wheel drive to meet each customer's exact needs. (The European Transit is also available with all-wheel drive....altogether 3 drive configurations, but Americans only get RWD) http://www.opel.ie/vehicles/opel_range/vans/movano-ng/highlights/chassis.html Cab & chassis models - http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/vehicles/vauxhall-range/vans/movano-ng/conversions.html Video - http://www.opel.ie/vehicles/opel_range/vans/movano-ng/index.html .

BMT ...........Simply the best knowledge base on trucks (and engines) the world over.

Sounds good. I remain neutral on AXL. Far better ways to invest money.

FBI examining fake documents targeting Clinton campaign Reuters / November 3, 2016 The FBI and U.S. intelligence agencies are examining faked documents aimed at discrediting the Hillary Clinton campaign as part of a broader investigation into what U.S. officials believe has been an attempt by Russia to disrupt the presidential election. U.S. Senator Tom Carper, a Democrat on the Senate Homeland Security Committee, has referred one of the documents to the FBI for investigation on the grounds that his name and stationery were forged to appear authentic. In the letter identified as fake, Carper is quoted as writing to Clinton, “We will not let you lose this election.” The fake Carper letter is one of several documents presented to the FBI and the U.S. Department of Justice for review in recent weeks. As part of an investigation into suspected Russian hacking, FBI investigators have also asked Democratic Party officials to provide copies of other suspected faked documents that have been circulating along with emails and other legitimate documents taken in the hack. An FBI spokesman said the agency was “in receipt of a complaint about an alleged fake letter” related to the election. The FBI is also examining other fake documents that recently surfaced. U.S. intelligence officials have warned privately that a campaign they believe is backed by the Russian government to undermine the credibility of the U.S. presidential election could move beyond the hacking of Democratic Party email systems. That could include posting fictional evidence of voter fraud or other disinformation in the run-up to voting on Nov. 8, U.S. officials have said. Russian officials deny any such effort. In addition to the Carper letter, the FBI has also reviewed a seven-page electronic document that carries the logos of Democratic pollster Joel Benenson’s firm, the Benenson Strategy Group, and the Clinton Foundation. The document, identified as a fake by the Clinton campaign, claims poll ratings had plunged for Clinton and called for “severe strategy changes for November” that could include “staged civil unrest” and “radiological attack” with dirty bombs to disrupt the vote. Like the Carper letter, it was unclear where the fraudulent document had originated or how it had begun to circulate.

Bloomberg / November 4, 2016 Takata Corp. shares were suspended Friday after the Nikkei newspaper reported the air-bag maker is preparing for a possible bankruptcy filing in the U.S. The shares will be suspended from 8:20 a.m. Japan time, according to the Japan Exchange Group. A bankruptcy filing by TK Holdings, Takata’s U.S. unit, could help the Tokyo-based company find a buyer and continue supplying parts while seeking an out-of-court reorganization.

Looking back into history, viruses have devastated global regions and entire species. When a species can no longer successfully procreate.......... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Zika causes a unique syndrome of devastating birth defects The Washington Post / November 3, 2016 The birth defects caused by Zika have been described in heartbreaking detail as the virus has spread to more than 45 countries, infecting hundreds of thousands of people, including tens of thousands of pregnant women. Now researchers have concluded that a Zika infection during pregnancy is linked to a distinct pattern of birth defects that they are officially calling congenital Zika syndrome. In a report released Thursday in JAMA Pediatrics, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention describe five types of birth defects that are either unique to Zika or occur rarely with other infections during pregnancy: Severe microcephaly (abnormally small head size) with partly collapsed skull. Decreased brain tissue with a specific pattern of calcium deposits indicating brain damage. Damage to the back of the eye with a specific pattern of scarring and increased pigment. Joints with limited range of motion, such as clubfoot. Too much muscle tone, restricting movement soon after birth. Researchers at the CDC, along with colleagues elsewhere in the United States and Brazil, analyzed publicly available reports about defects among infants and fetuses whose mothers had either confirmed or presumed infection with Zika virus during pregnancy. Most of the clinical descriptions of Zika-affected infants are from Brazil, the heart of the epidemic. The most common timing of infection that led to birth defects is late first and early second trimester, although third-trimester infections were also reported among infants with birth defects. The five features described in the report are an initial list of clinical findings. It’s becoming increasingly clear, however, that the full spectrum of health problems caused by a Zika infection won’t be known for months and even years after birth. At a conference in September on Zika’s effect on children, sponsored by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, researchers described an array of problems associated with Zika exposure beyond microcephaly, mostly stemming from the virus’s harm to the nervous system. Children born to Zika-infected mothers will need to be regularly monitored because some problems don't show up until months later, said Catherine Spong, an obstetrician-gynecologist and the institute’s acting director. “Although the severe cases are teaching us a lot, the impact is likely much more broad, and these impacts, although less striking, may be much more widespread and may need more monitoring and interventions,” she said. Researchers say the purpose of the latest report is to describe what is known about the congenital syndrome. The description is intended to help health-care providers “better recognize the pattern of birth defects associated with congenital Zika virus infection,” said Cynthia Moore, a clinical geneticist and birth-defects expert for the CDC and lead author of the report. Doing that will help providers evaluate and coordinate care for affected babies and their families, she said. At least 1,005 pregnant women have Zika infections in all 50 states and the District of Columbia; 25 U.S. infants have been born with Zika-related birth defects and an additional five pregnancies are known to have resulted in miscarriage, stillbirths or terminations with evidence of birth defects. Video - https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/11/03/congenital-zika-syndrome-is-the-new-name-for-a-group-of-devastating-birth-defects/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_zika-1150a%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

FBI under scrutiny amid speculation over Trump's Russian ties France 24 / November 3, 2016 Speculation has mounted in recent days over what the FBI knows about Donald Trump’s ties to Russia, from a preliminary FBI probe into a former Trump adviser to an ex-spy's claims that the Kremlin sought to cultivate Trump over several years. Democratic Senator Harry Reid of Nevada in an angry letter on Sunday accusing the FBI director of choosing not to reveal that his agency had “explosive” information on Trump’s ties to Russia. “In my communications with you and other top officials in the national security community, it has become clear [???] that you possess explosive information about close ties and coordination between Donald Trump, his top advisers, and the Russian government – a foreign interest openly hostile to the United States, which Trump praises at every opportunity,” Reid wrote. “The public has a right to know this information. I wrote to you months ago calling for this information to be released to the public." Reid’s allegations prompted a flurry of speculation as to what the FBI might know as well as accusations that it may be cherry-picking what information it releases to the public for the purposes of influencing the election. Manafort resurfaces Citing law enforcement and intelligence sources, NBC News reported on Monday that the FBI had launched a preliminary inquiry into the overseas business interests of Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chief. Manafort told NBC that "none of it is true... There's no investigation going on by the FBI that I'm aware of." Manafort also denied having any ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin or the Kremlin. "This is all political propaganda, meant to deflect," he said. What is known is that Manafort’s firm acted as a political adviser to Ukraine’s pro-Kremlin prime minister Viktor Yanukovych, helping his party win the largest bloc in 2006 parliamentary elections and in 2007 securing him a second term as premier. Handwritten, “black” ledgers appeared to show that Manafort was paid $12.7 million in cash by Yanukovych’s party between 2007 and 2012, the New York Times reported in August. The payments, which were revealed by Ukraine’s new National Anti-Corruption Bureau, have been denied by Manafort’s lawyer. The anti-corruption bureau, which receives funding from both the United States and the European Union, has an evidence-sharing agreement with the FBI. It said that Manafort’s name appears 22 times in the black ledger over a five-year period. Officials in the Cayman Islands are also investigating Manafort’s business dealings, including his involvement with off-shore shell companies set up to purchase Russian and Ukrainian assets. Manafort and his partners set up a Cayman Islands private equity company in 2007 that listed a firm owned by Russian oligarch and Putin ally Oleg Deripaska as an investor, the Times reported, citing court filings. Deripaska invested millions into the fund, which purchased a cable television station in Odessa. The deal eventually collapsed in acrimony, with Deripaska suing Manafort in a court case that is still pending. But it appeared to be a bridge too far for the Trump campaign when emails surfaced showing that Manafort deputy Rick Gates – who also worked on the Trump campaign – was involved in a lobbying project for Ukraine's then ruling party, which included setting up “meetings between a top Ukrainian official and senators and congressmen on influential committees”, the AP reported. The efforts included attempts to sway US public opinion in favour of Ukraine's pro-Russian government at the time. But neither Manafort nor Gates registered that they were working as foreign agents, as required under federal law. Manafort left the Trump campaign in August, just days after the reports came to light. Russia attempts to woo Trump? Other media reports allege a more sinister link between Trump and Russian interests. Also on Monday, left-leaning magazine Mother Jones reported that a former senior Western intelligence officer who specialises in Russian counterintelligence told the FBI that the Kremlin has for several years sought to cultivate Trump, citing recent communications with Russian sources. (A senior US official familiar with the former officer confirmed to Mother Jones that he is a credible source.) The revelation prompted the FBI to request more information. The former intelligence officer, who asked not to be identified and who now works for a US firm providing corporate clients with information on Russia, was asked to research Trump's overseas interests, including those in Russia. The inquiry was part of an opposition research project initially financed by a Republican client critical of Trump. "It started off as a fairly general inquiry," the former officer told David Corn, Washington bureau chief for Mother Jones. But upon digging deeper, he found that "there was an established exchange of information between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin of mutual benefit". "Russian regime has been cultivating, supporting and assisting TRUMP for at least 5 years,” said the former officer’s first memo, seen by Mother Jones. “Aim, endorsed by PUTIN, has been to encourage splits and divisions in western alliance [emphasis in original]." Trump "and his inner circle have accepted a regular flow of intelligence from the Kremlin, including on his Democratic and other political rivals", the memo continued. It went on to state that Russian intelligence had "compromised" the real estate mogul during his visits to Moscow and could attempt to "blackmail” him. The response from the FBI was "shock and horror", the ex-official told Mother Jones. “In August the FBI asked him for all information in his possession and for him to explain how the material had been gathered and to identify his sources,” Corn writes. “The former spy forwarded to the bureau several memos – some of which referred to members of Trump's inner circle.” The official continued to share additional information with the FBI. "It's quite clear there was or is a pretty substantial inquiry going on," he said. "This is something of huge significance, way above party politics. I think [Trump's] own party should be aware of this stuff as well." Trump’s campaign did not respond to a Mother Jones request for comment on the new allegations. But in the past Trump has unequivocally denied receiving any political help from Moscow. "I have nothing to do with Russia," he told CBS in July. Business interests The billionaire has promoted Trump real estate in Russia and other former Soviet bloc states, however, and several analysts have observed that his foreign business dealings might create conflicts of interest if he is elected. For one, the Western sanctions levied on Russia for its role in Ukraine might prove to be at odds with Trump’s own financial interests. “Will I sell condos to Russians on occasion? Probably. I mean I do that. I have a lot of condos. I do that. But I have no relationship to Russia whatsoever," Trump told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. Trump has said he will not take part in business decisions if he becomes president and will instead leave day-to-day operations to his children in a blind trust. But Richard Painter, a law professor who was an ethics adviser to former president George W. Bush, said this arrangement might not go far enough. “I don’t see how you have a blind trust when you know what’s in the blind trust,” Painter told ABC News. “The appearance is that a foreign government or other foreign organization has influence over the president of the United States through financial dealings with his family, and that would be unacceptable.” Trump has repeatedly denied having financial interests inside Russia. “For the record, I have ZERO investments in Russia,” he wrote on Twitter in July. For the record, I have ZERO investments in Russia. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 26 juillet 2016 Trump may not hold assets in Russia, but one of his sons has spoken publicly about their lucrative business dealings with Russian clients both in the United States and abroad. "[In] terms of high-end product influx into the US, Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets; say in Dubai, and certainly with our project in SoHo and anywhere in New York,” Donald Trump Jr. said in 2008, speaking at a real estate conference in New York. “We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia.” It remains difficult to determine whether Trump holds any Russian assets since he has refused to release his tax returns, breaking with a tradition followed by every US presidential candidate since 1976. Russian hacks Speaking to lawmakers on September 28, FBI Director Comey said the FBI was trying to figure out "just what mischief is Russia up to in connection with our election". But when on October 7 the US government formally accused Russia of hacking political targets – saying the hacks were specifically "intended to interfere with the US election process" – Comey asked that the FBI’s name be kept off the official statement, according to several people involved in the discussions. A former bureau official told CNBC this week that Comey did not want his bureau to be involved in accusing Russia of interfering in the vote so close to Election Day despite the FBI's role in the investigation. In the end, a statement was jointly issued by the Department of Homeland Security and the director of national intelligence, saying that the US was "confident" the Russian government “directed the recent compromises of e-mails from US persons and institutions”. “We believe, based on the scope and sensitivity of these efforts, that only Russia’s senior-most officials could have authorized these activities,” the statement said. Comey agreed that a foreign power was trying to affect the presidential vote. "He believed it to be true, but was against putting it out before the election," the ex-official said. Comey’s concern about the timing of the hacking revelations ahead of the November 8 vote has left many confused, considering his decision to notify Congress last week that the FBI was planning to review newly discovered emails on a laptop seized from the home of Huma Abedin, a top Clinton aide. 'Deep concern' to voters Despite Monday’s revelation that Manafort was once again the target of a preliminary FBI inquiry, the New York Times reported that same day that the FBI had found no evidence "that would link him or anyone else in his business or political circle directly to Russia’s election operations”. But as the paper itself notes, “The FBI’s inquiries into Russia’s possible role continue” with respect to the Clinton campaign hacks. The paper said that “even the hacking into Democratic emails, FBI and intelligence officials now believe was aimed at disrupting the presidential election rather than electing Mr. Trump”. But several US politicians have said that more should be done to separate fact from fiction with respect to the allegations. Representative Adam Schiff of California, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, told NBC that he could not discuss Senate Majority Leader Reid's assertions that the FBI was sitting on “explosive” information of Russia’s involvement with Trump. But he would say the allegations should worry the US electorate. "Americans have every right to be concerned about what they see in terms of Trump advisers and their closeness with the Kremlin, Trump's policies vis-a-vis Russia, Trump's potential financial interest – all of those things ought to be of deep concern to voters." Democratic Representative Gregory W. Meeks of New York has suggested that the FBI needs to be more forthcoming about what it is or is not investigating with regard to Trump. “You do not hear the [FBI] director talking about any other investigation he is involved in,” Meeks told the New York Times after Comey’s letter about the new emails was made public. “Is he investigating the Trump Foundation? Is he looking into the Russians hacking into all of our emails? Is he looking into and deciding what is going on with regards to other allegations of the Trump Organization?” President Barack Obama has refrained from criticising Comey for his announcement but even he eventually weighed in on the controversy swirling around the FBI chief, saying US investigations should not “operate on innuendo”. “[There] is a norm that when there are investigations, we don’t operate on innuendo, we don’t operate on incomplete information, we don’t operate on leaks,” Obama said. “We operate based on concrete decisions that are made.”

If you believe that the government is in bed with the health care and pharmaceutical industries, than you know that nuggets like this are probably thrown out every couple of years for appearance’s sake. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Generic-Drug Firms Face Possible Collusion Charges The Wall Street Journal / November 3, 2016 U.S. Justice Department has sent subpoenas to several drugmakers and to some individual executives Federal prosecutors, after a lengthy probe, are nearing possible criminal charges for price-collusion in the generic-drug industry. The U.S. Justice Department could begin to bring cases before year’s end, though the timing of any potential enforcement actions remains uncertain. The specific companies that are a focus of the investigation weren’t immediately known. However, the Justice Department has sent subpoenas to several manufacturers of generic drugs and to some individual executives, seeking information about product pricing and “communications with competitors,” according to the companies’ filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission over the past two years. Those companies include Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.; Mylan NV; Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories; Taro Pharmaceuticals; Endo International PLC; and Actavis, which Allergan PLC recently sold to Teva. The developments sent shares of generic drug makers tumbling. Endo fell 20%, while Teva declined 9.5%, and Mylan dropped 6.9%. In a separate probe, a group of state attorneys general are investigating generic-drug companies for price-fixing. That investigation, which is a civil matter, is being led by Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen. That probe began in 2014 and includes smaller drug companies as well as some of the largest U.S. drug manufacturers and the U.S.-based subsidiaries of foreign companies. The pricing practices of pharmaceutical companies that make costly branded drugs have attracted significant public outcry over the past year, spurring congressional hearings and regulatory probes. But the pricing of generic drugs, which generally cost much less than brand-name drugs, has drawn much less scrutiny. However, prices for some generic drugs have risen sharply in recent years. The Government Accountability Office in August issued a report finding that more than 300 of 1,441 established generic drugs analyzed had at least one extraordinary price increase of 100% or more between 2010 and 2015. Price collusion, if proven, could undermine a key goal in the rules that fostered the creation of generic drugs: to reduce spending. The exact nature of the federal investigation isn’t fully clear, but some companies have identified specific drugs of interest to the government. Endo disclosed in an SEC filing that the Justice Department sought information from its Par unit about at least two generic drugs: digoxin, a heart drug; and doxycycline, an antibiotic. Mylan said the subpoena it received sought information about its generic doxycycline product. Many generic drugs are produced by more than one manufacturer. The GAO report said both digoxin and doxycycline had significant price increases since 2012, though it didn’t specify the manufacturers. Some labor-union health-benefit funds and other drug purchasers have filed lawsuits in state and federal courts against some of the drugmakers, including Mylan and Endo, alleging that they conspired to fix the prices of digoxin and doxycycline. The plaintiffs allege that between 2012 and 2014, the average market price for digoxin and doxycycline increased by 884% and 8,281%, respectively, according to a court document. Mylan said in an SEC filing it intends to defend itself against the suits. Agreements among companies to set prices or to divide up markets have long been illegal under federal antitrust law. Prosecutors have generally found it difficult to win price collusion cases, because of the high barrier that courts have established to prove a conspiracy among different companies, according to Herbert Hovenkamp, a University of Iowa Law School professor and author of the “Antitrust Law” textbook. “Courts are clear” that there must be evidence of an agreement among companies to follow each other on prices, such as a written document or telephone conversation or a meeting, Mr. Hovenkamp said. Most criminal price-fixing cases end up settling, rather than going to trial. In recent years, dozens of auto-parts makers have agreed to plead guilty to fixing prices on new car parts, and have paid nearly $2.9 billion in criminal fines. Wells Fargo analyst David Maris said in a research note that the news of the investigation “could add a severe overhang to the sector that may last well past the presidential election and into the new year.”

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Where Obamacare Is Really Headed: A 'Robust' Public Option The National Interest / November 2, 2016 Democrats’ new strategy to control Obamacare costs will just make things worse. An average 25 percent jump in health-insurance premiums sold on Obamacare exchanges has administration officials and their congressional allies scrambling to find some rapid remedy to control costs. Emerging as the liberals’ leading policy prescription is a “robust public option”—an option roundly rejected during the 2010 debate. President Obama, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, Senate minority leader Harry Reid and thirty-two Democratic senators—the top political stars in America’s “progressive” constellation—all strongly endorse this proposal. They say it will enhance market competition and control costs. But . . . it’s got to be robust. When progressives say they want to make the public option “robust,” what they really mean is they want to endow it with special advantages. To be blunt, they want to make sure that the “level playing field” between the public option and private plans is, well, tilted against private plans. One way to do this, as congressional liberals proposed in 2009, is to base public-option payment rates for doctors, hospitals and other medical professionals at Medicare levels—well below the reimbursement rates that private health plans maintain in the provider contracts. Paying physicians less would enable the public option to offer lower premiums, undercutting the market share of private health plans. The administration and its allies promise that this advantage will enhance competition. In fact, it would reduce competition. More and more private health plans would continue to exit the market, joining the major exodus that started during the first three years of Obamacare’s implementation. A recent Heritage Foundation analysis of the exchanges found that, next year, one-third of all U.S. counties will have only one insurer (“mini single-payer plans”); another third will have just two insurers. Essentially, Obamacare has consolidated the exchange market to the point that only a few “big players” are left to administer the plans. But advocates of more complete government control over the health care sector of the economy, think they have a surefire way to secure that control: raw coercion. Here, they have a couple of options. For example, government officials could change the Medicare law and make physicians’ participation in the new public option a legal condition of their right to practice in the giant Medicare program. In certain states, like Florida, giving up Medicare practice is financially prohibitive for physicians. On the supply side, coercing physicians and medical professionals to follow government reimbursement rules is standard political practice. One need look no further than the 2,400-page regulation issued to enforce the Medicare “payment reform” enacted in Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). Alternatively, in the big blue states ruled by liberal governors and state legislators, policymakers could tie state medical licensure to their physicians’ participation in Washington’s new “robust public option.” On the demand side, Obamacare’s penalty for individuals who refuse to buy a government-approved health plan can be “upgraded” and more rigorously enforced. This year, the annual penalty for individuals going without coverage is $695 or 2.5 percent of family income, whichever is greater. For 2017, the penalty is indexed to inflation. Even so, just in terms of dollars and cents, paying the penalty is a lot cheaper than shelling out a bigger chunk of personal income to buy an expensive health plan with big deductibles. For 2017, deductibles in the lowest-cost “bronze” plans average over $6,000 for a single person and $12,393 for family coverage. Moreover, under current law established long before Obamacare, access to hospital emergency medical care is legally available regardless of one’s financial capacity to pay for it. Not surprisingly, the biggest exchange enrollment challenge is capture younger, healthier customers—those annoying millennials who don’t think buying an Obamacare plan is worth their time, effort or money. Frustrated liberals may regard them as spoiled brats. But their truancy—not ponying up their “fair share” to subsidize older and sicker enrollees—is another reflection of Obamacare’s design flaws: the restrictive age-rating rules overprice coverage for the young, and the standardized-coverage insurance package just doesn’t offer them value for the money. This flight of the young and the healthy from the Obamacare exchanges is a contributing factor to sharply rising exchange premiums—a major embarrassment to the president who promised, repeatedly, to cut health insurance costs. Obamacare’s champions, in academia and elsewhere, have another simple statutory answer: just toughen up the individual mandate’s “tax penalty”; hit the scofflaws harder. That is indeed the latest prescription endorsed by none other than Professor Jonathan Gruber of MIT, the so-called “architect” of Obamacare. A public option with artificially low payment rates, reinforced by increased government coercion and tougher mandates on doctors—that’s a stiff policy cocktail. Imagine the hangover. Private health plans would be unable to compete with the artificially low payment rates of the public option; more and more enrollees would migrate to the public option, leading more and more private plans to withdraw due to declining market share. Voila! A government monopoly. But how to secure financial stability for the robust public option on the way to market domination and control? Another painful prescription: force taxpayers to assume financial risk for the public plan. That’s precisely what House Democrats proposed in their initial version of the Affordable Care Act unveiled in June of 2009. Imagine. A “robust public option,” enrolling millions of Americans as commercial carriers dropped out of the market, would become, just like the great Wall Street banks, simply “too big to fail.” It is likely that, at least initially, the artificially underpriced public option premiums will encourage the migration of poorer and sicker enrollees, and would thus require more and more subsidies to remain viable. Today, a money pit; tomorrow, a well-entrenched debt generator. For politicians, forcing taxpayers to assume the financial risk for their policy mistakes carries a political benefit: more and more Americans would become directly dependent on government for their health-care dollars and decisions. It’s about power. And that, at the end of the day, is doubtless the true objective of this latest proposal.

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Sounds like our FBI agents have the right prospective, and many certainly from a position of knowledge. Based on what we’re told thru the controlled news, how can any intelligent person not dislike Hillary Clinton? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 'The FBI is Trumpland': anti-Clinton atmosphere spurred leaks, sources say The Guardian / November 3, 2016 Highly unfavorable view of Hillary Clinton intensified after James Comey’s decision not to recommend an indictment over her use of a private email server Deep antipathy (dislike) to Hillary Clinton exists within the FBI, multiple bureau sources have told the Guardian, spurring a rapid series of leaks damaging to her campaign just days before the election. Current and former FBI officials, none of whom were willing or cleared to speak on the record, have described a chaotic internal climate that resulted from outrage over director James Comey’s July decision not to recommend an indictment over Clinton’s maintenance of a private email server on which classified information transited. “The FBI is Trumpland,” said one current agent. This atmosphere raises major questions about how Comey and the bureau he is slated to run for the next seven years can work with Clinton should she win the White House. The currently serving FBI agent said Clinton is “the antichrist personified to a large swath of FBI personnel,” and that “the reason why they’re leaking is they’re pro-Trump.” The agent called the bureau “Trumplandia”, with some colleagues openly discussing voting for a GOP nominee who has garnered unprecedented condemnation from the party’s national security wing and who has pledged to jail Clinton if elected. At the same time, other sources dispute the depth of support for Trump within the bureau, though they uniformly stated that Clinton is viewed highly unfavorably. “There are lots of people who don’t think Trump is qualified, but also believe Clinton is corrupt. What you hear a lot is that it’s a bad choice, between an incompetent and a corrupt politician,” said a former FBI official. Sources who disputed the depth of Trump’s internal support agreed that the FBI is now in parlous political territory. Justice department officials – another current target of FBI dissatisfaction – have said the bureau disregarded longstanding rules against perceived or actual electoral interference when Comey wrote to Congress to say it was reviewing newly discovered emails relating to Clinton’s personal server. Comey’s vague letter to Congress, promptly leaked by Republican congressman Jason Chaffetz, said the bureau would evaluate communications – subsequently identified as coming from a device used by disgraced ex-congressman Anthony Weiner, whose estranged wife Huma Abedin is a Clinton aide – for connections to the Clinton server. Comey’s allies say he was placed in an impossible position after previously testifying to Congress it would take an extraordinary development for him to revisit the Clinton issue. Throughout the summer and fall, Trump has attacked the FBI as corrupt for not effectively ending Clinton’s political career. A political firestorm erupted, with Comey and the bureau coming under withering criticism, including a rebuke on Wednesday from Barack Obama. Even some congressional Republicans, no friends to Clinton, have expressed discomfort with Comey’s last-minute insertion of the bureau into the election. The relevance of the communications to the Clinton inquiry has yet to be established, as Comey issued his letter before obtaining a warrant to evaluate them. Clinton surrogates contend that Comey has issued innuendo rather than evidence, preventing them from mounting a public defense. Some feel Comey needs to address the criticism and provide reassurance that the bureau, with its wide-ranging investigative and surveillance powers, will comport itself in an apolitical manner. Yet since Friday, Comey has maintained his silence, even as both Clinton and Trump have called for the bureau to disclose more of what it knows. Leaks, however, have continued. Fox News reported on Wednesday that the FBI is intensifying an investigation into the Clinton Foundation over allegations – which both the foundation and the Clinton camp deny – it traded donations for access to Hillary Clinton when she was secretary of state. The Wall Street Journal reported that justice department officials considered the allegations flimsy. The leaks have not exclusively cast aspersions on Clinton. Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign manager, is the subject of what is said to be a preliminary FBI inquiry into his business dealings in Russia. Manafort has denied any wrongdoing. The Daily Beast reported on Thursday on ties between Trump surrogate Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, and the FBI’s New York field office, which reportedly pressed the FBI to revisit the Clinton server investigation after beginning an inquiry into Weiner’s alleged sexual texting with a minor. The website reported that a former New York field office chief, highly critical of the non-indictment, runs a military charity that has received significant financial donations from Trump. Comey’s decision to tell the public in July that he was effectively dropping the Clinton server issue angered some within the bureau, particularly given the background of tensions with the justice department over the Clinton issue. A significant complication is the appearance of a conflict of interest regarding Loretta Lynch, the attorney general, who met with Bill Clinton this summer ahead of Comey’s announcement, which she acknowledged had “cast a shadow” over the inquiry. “Many FBI agents were upset at the director, not because he didn’t [recommend to] indict, but they believe he threw the FBI under the bus by taking the heat away from DoJ [Department of Justice],” the former bureau official said. All this has compounded pressure on Comey, with little end in sight. Jim Wedick, who retired from the bureau in 2004 after 35 years, said that if Clinton is elected, she and Comey would probably find a way to work together out of a sense of pragmatism. He recalled both his own occasional clashes with federal prosecutors and Bill Clinton’s uneasy relationship with his choice for FBI director, Louis Freeh. “Each one will find a way to pick at the other. It’s not going to be good and it’s not going to be pretty. But they’ll both have to work with each other,” he said. Senator Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat on the intelligence committee, said: “The continued leadership failures at the FBI are another reminder we can’t let intelligence agencies say ‘trust us’ and then give them a blank check to probe into Americans’ lives. “While I’ve argued for years that Congress must create ironclad protections for Americans’ security and privacy, we also need vigilant oversight of agencies that have the power to deprive citizens of their liberty or change the course of an election.” The FBI would not comment for this story.

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