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Casual gun ownership in America is a double-edged sword. The tragic events below are just since the beginning of the New Year. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Twelve-year-old Ciara Meyer was standing behind her father when a constable came to the door. The officer was serving an eviction notice Monday morning at their apartment near Duncannon, Pa., when police said the girl’s father pointed a rifle at the constable’s chest. The officer drew his gun in self-defense and fired one round. The bullet went though the man’s arm and struck his daughter. The girl was pronounced dead at the scene. Pennsylvania State Constable Clarke Steele went to the apartment about 10 a.m. Monday to serve a court-ordered eviction notice. The girl, Ciara Meyer, was sick and had stayed home from school. Her father, Donald Meyer, 57, opened the door and then shut it, said Constable Bill Stoeffler. Meyer opened the door again, Stoeffler said, and then raised a rifle that was slung across his body. “The constable had no place to retreat to,” said Stoeffler. “He had to respond immediately.” Stoeffler said Steele “managed to get his gun out and fire one round.” Then, he took cover and called for backup. Upon arriving, authorities learned that the constable had shot Meyer and “tragically, the little girl,” Stoeffler said. Donald Meyer, who was transported to Penn State Hershey Medical Center to be treated for his injuries, has been charged with simple assault, aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and terroristic threats. He will be held without bail. A preliminary court hearing is set for Jan. 15. Stoeffler said Constable Steele is “devastated” about the incident. “He’s absolutely heartbroken over the outcome of this.” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Cincinnati man, believing his 14-year-old son was at school, fatally shot the boy when he mistook him for an intruder at their home Tuesday morning. The shooting occurred around 6:30 a.m. The father’s name has not been released. The 73-year-old father of 14-year-old Georta Mack dropped his son off at a school bus stop Tuesday morning, but Cincinnati police say he the teen went back to his basement around 6:30 a.m. After hearing a noise in the basement, the father grabbed a handgun to investigate. The son startled the man, according to the frantic 911 call, and the father shot. Throughout the call Georta's father begs police to hurry, asking God why this has happened. He tells police his son is struggling to breathe as he held a cloth to his neck to slow the bleeding. Shortly after, he exclaimed that his son stopped breathing. Georta was taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Shortly after 8:15 a.m., the boy was pronounced dead at Children's Hospital. Hamilton County is investigating whether to bring charges against the father. Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac said that gun ownership was an “individual choice” but that those with firearms need to be trained to use them properly.

New Jersey father murders 3-year-old toddler son Associated Press / January 13, 2016 David "D.J." Creato Jr., 22, murdered his 3-year-old son Brendan Creato because the child was an impediment to his relationship with a teenage girlfriend. Creato is also charged with child endangerment and faces a possible life sentence if he's convicted on the murder charge. Brendan vanished from his father's home in the pre-dawn hours of October 13th on the 100 block of Cooper Street in Haddon Township. The 3-year-old todder was later found by a K-9 unit partially submerged in the water in a wooded section of nearby Cooper River Park. He was still wearing his pajamas. Investigators do not believe the child went to that area on his own because his socks were clean despite the muddy surroundings, and family members say Brendan was afraid of the dark making it unlikely that he would have gone into the wooded area in the pre-dawn hours. Also, there were no signs of forced entry at the home and Brendan slept on a love seat just nine feet from his father's bedroom door. D.J. Creato began dating a 17-year-old girl, Julie Spensky, in June of 2015 who had a dislike of children. In September, the girl became upset that Creato had custody of his son every other weekend, limiting their time together. Around 6 a.m., Creato called 911 to report his son missing. Brendan would be found dead just a few hours later. Medical examiners say the toddler’s brain showed a lack of oxygen before his death, indicating homicidal violence such as drowning, smothering or asphyxiation. He also had a fresh bruise near his collarbone. Creato’s bail was set at $750,000 and he cannot leave the state if he posts bail. .

The Washington Post / January 13, 2016 Gerrymander – To manipulate the boundaries of (an electoral constituency) so as to favor one political party. In his State of the Union speech, President Obama called on lawmakers and the public to take a number of steps "to change the system to reflect our better selves" for "a better politics." The top item on that list was to end partisan gerrymandering: "we have to end the practice of drawing our congressional districts so that politicians can pick their voters, and not the other way around," Obama said. In most states, state legislatures draw the district boundaries that determine how many delegates the state sends to the U.S. Congress, as well as the general partisan make-up of that delegation. State legislatures are partisan beasts, and if one party is in control of the process they can draw boundaries to give themselves a numeric advantage over their opponents in Congress. This process is called gerrymandering. Some state legislatures are more brazen about the process than others. Maryland's districts, drawn by Democrats, are one particularly egregious example. North Carolina's, drawn by Republicans, are another. Advocates of reform have proposed various solutions to the problem over the years. In some states, redistricting is put in the hands of an independent commission. In others, lengthy court battles are playing out to draw the districts more fairly. But a fundamental problem with district-drawing still remains: as long as humans are drawing the lines, there's a danger of bias and self-interest to creep into the process. There is another way, however: we could simply let computers do the drawing for us. From a technological standpoint it's fairly straightforward -- a software engineer in Massachusetts named Brian Olson wrote an algorithm to do it in his spare time. As I described it in 2014, Olson's algorithm creates "optimally compact" equal-population congressional districts in each state, based on 2010 census data. It draws districts that respect the boundaries of census blocks, which are the smallest geographic units used by the Census Bureau. This ensures that the district boundaries reflect actual neighborhoods and don't, say, cut an arbitrary line through somebody's house." To see what this looks like in practice, compare the upper map of our current congressional districts with one we stitched together from Olson's output (bottom). Big difference, isn't it? You can check out a larger version of the compacted map here. Rather than a confusing snarl of interlocked districts, you have neat, trim boundaries that make intuitive sense. Below are some individual state comparisons I made back in 2014 that let you see some more of the detail. Algorithms like this one prioritize compactness -- that is, ensuring that voters are geographically close together. One of the telltale signs of gerrymandering is dramatically non-compact districts that squiggle and squirm out in all different directions -- evidence of lawmakers trying to bring far-flung voters into a single district in order to achieve the partisan mix that best favors their party. Or, as Obama said: districts that let politicians pick their voters, rather than the other way around. Many political scientists are skeptical about the merits of drawing districts based on compactness. Their general argument is that districts are ideally based on communities of interest -- people who share a common demography, culture, class, etc. There's no particular reason, they say, that grouping voters by geographic proximity ensures this coherent community any more than drawing lines according to any other metric. Moreover, algorithms can be biased too. It's a point well-taken. But "community of interest" is an incredibly squishy term. You can define it pretty much however you want. As I wrote in 2014, if you're a politician in search of a figleaf justification for putting voters from disparate corners of the state into the same congressional district, you can always find one. Communities of interest are a great ideal, but in practice they're so fuzzy that they open the door to all manner of redistricting shenanigans, as we've seen. The main obstacles to automated redistricting are legal. For starters, the Voting Rights Act mandates that in some states, race needs to be a factor in redistricting to ensure that minority voters are represented in Congress. Again: a nice idea. But there's a tradeoff: packing all your minority voters into one district diminishes their clout everywhere else. We've seen this in the real world in Florida: the 5th District was originally drawn as a majority-minority district by Democrats. But Republicans saw fit to keep it that way in subsequent years, because it gave black voters less power in the surrounding districts. In the end, the prospect of an open, transparent algorithm drawing districts based on population and compactness may be an improvement upon the status quo, where politicians draw the boundaries that best serve their interests. Of course, the chances of this ever becoming reality are slim: doing so would require state legislators to voluntarily cede their redistricting powers to a computer program. And if there's anything lawmakers dislike, it's giving up power. .

Reuters / January 13, 2016 A Palestinian born in Iraq who entered the United States as a refugee was an ISIS sympathizer planning to set off bombs at two Houston malls, a federal investigator told a U.S. court on Wednesday. Federal investigators began looking into Omar Faraj Saeed Al-Hardan in 2014 and found that he was buying components on eBay to detonate homemade bombs, according to Herman Wittliff, a Department of Homeland Security special agent. Al-Hardan, 24, pleaded not guilty at the court in Houston to charges he supplied support to Islamic State and lied to U.S. officials. He was charged with offering his services and material support to ISIS. Al-Hardan also faces two charges about giving false information to U.S. officials over his ties to ISIS and being provided weapons training. The most serious charge carries up to 25 years in prison. Al-Hardan was granted legal permanent residency [green card] status in the United States in August 2011. He is not yet a U.S. citizen. In a second related case last week in Sacramento, the U.S. Department of Justice said Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab, 23, who came to the United States in 2012 as a refugee from Syria, was arrested on a federal charge of making a false statement involving international terrorism. Over 75 U.S. residents radicalized by Muslim militants have been arrested since 2014. .

Florida couple kept adopted daughter in cage The Washington Post / January 9, 2016 A husband and wife in Sarasota, Fla., have been accused of child abuse after they admitted to authorities they routinely tied up and locked their 12-year-old daughter inside a playhouse. In an affidavit, the 5-by-7 foot playhouse was described by a detective as a “glorified cage.” “She wasn’t allowed to leave the playhouse to use the restroom,” said Sheriff’s Lt. Joe Giasone told WTSP. “She’d have to do all that inside.” Police say Eugenio Erquiaga, a doctor, and his wife, Victoria, a lawyer, used zip ties to restrain the girl’s ankles and wrists before locking her inside the cramped enclosure for hours on end. The playhouse could be barred shut with a piece of wood, had most of its windows screwed shut and smelled of urine Police said the couple — who were arrested Wednesday — told investigators that their daughter was prone to violent outbursts and the restraints were used to protect the family’s six other children. Police said the couple came up with the method of restraint recently, after seeing zip ties used in a television show featuring police. The pair is facing aggravated child abuse charges The alleged abuse may have escaped authorities’ attention if the victim hadn’t fled her family’s house, finding her way to a neighbor’s home. When the little girl with zip ties on her ankles and wrists arrived Sean Macindoe’s front door, the 19-year-old neighbor told authorities that the girl said: “My parents abandoned me. I was left and ran away.” The 12-year-old girl, who was adopted, was part of a large group of a biological and adopted children in the Erquiaga household, according to CBS News. In addition to two other adopted children, the family also includes four biological children from five to 13 years old. The couple’s other children are in custody of the Florida Department of Children and Families. .

Lesbian couple torture 5-year-old boy Associated Press / January 13, 2016 A lesbian couple from Oklahoma have been charged with child abuse involving one of the suspects’ 5-year-old son, who police say was struck with a hammer, whipped with a belt and tortured so badly he suffered strokes and seizures. Rachel Stevens, 28, and her partner Kayla Jones, 25, were booked into the Muskogee County Jail Tuesday on charges of felony child abuse by injury and child neglect. The case first came to light in early December when Stevens' 5-year-old son was flown to St John Medical Center in Tulsa suffering from seizures and lesions on his face. Doctors at the hospital contacted police after determining that the child had several broken bones in various stages of healing and appeared malnourished. While the boy was receiving medical treatment, he suffered two strokes 'due to his trauma.' Investigators subsequently interviewed the little boy and learned that the child had been tied up, had duct tape placed over his eyes and had been kept in a locked room. The toddler said his mother struck him on the hand with a hammer, and that both she and Jones hit him with a belt all over his body. According to police, the horrific abuse went on for several months. The little boy said on one occasion, his step-mother kicked him in the groin until he bled. The lesbian couple then had the audacity to launch a GoFundMe campaign for Stevens' son, claiming that the toddler was picking his own face and was having seizures after suffering a fall. Now more than a month later, the 5-year-old remains at the Tulsa hospital getting treated for his injuries. Stevens and Jones are out on bail, due back in court later this month. .

(The Face of America in Year 2015 - http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/40732-the-face-of-america-in-year-2015/?hl=face) Continued..............

18 U.S. Code § 2384 - Seditious conspiracy: "If two or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspire to overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States, or to levy war against them, or to oppose by force the authority thereof, or by force to prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States, or by force to seize, take, or possess any property of the United States contrary to the authority thereof, they shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Associated Press / January 13, 2016 An Oregon rancher whose cattle graze next to the national wildlife refuge that an armed group is occupying says he didn't give them permission to enter his property and remove part of a fence. The group protesting federal land policy tore down a stretch of government-erected fence Monday near the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The group says the goal was to give rancher Tim Puckett access to land that had been blocked for years. But Puckett says he wasn't aware of the group's plans and "they didn't have my permission to do anything." Puckett says one of his people allowed the group onto the property but didn't let them remove the fence. He says he works with federal officials on land management, and his employees have repaired the fence.

Interesting

Why? John Q. American didn’t vote (approve) this. Why not pull a Teddy Rooselvelt and, rather than take in refugees, go down to Central America and nip the problem in the bud? Or likewise, under a United Nations banner including Russia, resolve the governmental issues in these Central American countries so that their people will remain..........there? If from here on, the western world is to be expected to take in refugees from every country around the world in conflict, we’re going to go broke while we simultaneously import their homeland violence to the west including the United States. My feeling is the American people do not want a population density the likes of China or India. Why then, is our government trying so hard to import billions of immigrants (alleged refugees) from every corner of the globe? And obviously, without the approval of the American people? And, ironically, while people who applied years ago to legally immigrate to the U.S. continue to wait in line?

Reuters / January 13, 2016 The United States will expand its program helping the thousands of people fleeing violence in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday. The announcement follows backlash from Democrats in the U.S. Congress who called on the Obama administration to halt its deportations of families who fled the three crime-infested Central American countries and entered the United States without documentation. The expanded Refugee Admissions Program would offer "a safe and legal alternative to the dangerous journey many are currently tempted to begin, making them easy prey for human smugglers who have no interest but their own profits," Kerry said in a speech at the National Defense University. President Barack Obama previously said the United States would take in 3,000 refugees from Latin America by October this year. Kerry did not say whether the Obama administration planned to take in more than 3,000 people. He said the U.S. government would work with the United Nations and non-governmental organizations to identify people in need of refugee protection. He specifically mentioned those targeted by criminal gangs, including human rights activists. "We also continue to explore additional options, including for those who may be at imminent risk of harm," Kerry said. Once the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights refers a potential refugee to the United States for resettlement, the case is reviewed at a Resettlement Support Center, according to the State Department. The United States operates nine centers globally, but only one is in the Western hemisphere - in Quito, Ecuador. Kerry did not say whether the United States would deploy any federal workers to the region or had plans to open additional centers. The Department of Homeland Security has received more than 6,000 applications from minors in Central America, some of whom have begun to arrive in the United States as refugees, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said on Jan. 4. He said he expected the pace of child refugee arrivals to increase.

Car 2 Climbs to 16th Place in Accumulated Rankings Hino Trucks Press Release / January 12, 2016 The second half of the rally kicks off. January 11: The second half of Dakar Rally 2016 kicked off with a 393km special set between Salta and Belén, Argentina. Fifty-one trucks raced out of the start line this day as only four trucks have withdrawn from the race so far, thanks to the relative calm of the first week. The course took contestants on a 129km liaison to the foothills in southeastern area of Salta. From there, they raced on a two-part SS consisting of 162km and 232km segments, with a 140km neutral zone sandwiched in between. While the first half featured high-speed pistes (unpaved road) that made for smooth driving, the latter half met contestants with a variety of terrain ranging from pistes that wove through rocky valleys to dried river beds, fesh-fesh (fine powdery sand of dry clay) and hilly off-piste terrain. Vehicles also climbed to a point at 3000m above sea level towards the end of the second half of the day. HINO TEAM SUGAWARA’s two HINO500 Series trucks were fully refreshed during the day of rest on January 10 and started the second half of the rally in great form. The starting order during the first half of the race had the trucks start after all the cars, but from this day on, the cars and trucks will be making a mixed start in the order of their previous day’s time. As a result, the team’s trucks will now be starting earlier in the day. Car 2 crewed by Teruhito Sugawara and Hiroyuki Sugiura did exceptionally well in this day’s SS. Although they blew both right side tires in a deep rut at one point in the day, they quickly recovered from this setback, finishing at 17th place in the overall Trucks category―within striking distance of the top group―and top in the Under 10-litre Class. The Yoshimasa Sugawara and Mitsugu Takahashi crew of Car 1 maintained a cautious pace, and finished the Special at 38th overall and 3rd in the class. Based on these results, Car 2 is now in 16th place, and Car 1 in 39th place in the overall Trucks category. The two trucks continue to maintain their one-two lead in the Under 10-litre Class. The bivouac in Belén, situated at the end of a 104km liaison coming out of the SS, was set up on a sporting ground in an intermountain area approximately 1200m above sea level. Tomorrow, on January12, contestants will race a looped course starting from and finishing at Belén. Yoshimasa Sugawara: The roads were bad the whole day, ranging from grassy sand hills to wadis. It was a lot of fun driving since I do quite well on these types of roads. Of course, we didn’t get stuck or blow any tires. Mitsugu Takahashi: I felt a bit tense as this was the first time I’ve navigated on sandy off-piste. I’m relieved that things worked out fine. Tomorrow is apparently going to be another challenging day. Teruhito Sugawara: We blew both tires on the right side when we fell into a deep rut towards the end of the SS, not that far away from the finish line. We were able to get back on track in 17 minutes, thanks to the help we got from the locals, but I do think about how we would’ve done without those lost minutes. Hiroyuki Sugiura: This was the first day of serious CAP (compass bearing) navigation in an off-piste setting. It finally feels like we’re racing the Dakar Rally as it’s supposed to be. Photo gallery - http://www.hino-global.com/dakar/latest_news/PD16-20.html

President Obama's 2016 State of the Union Address Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, my fellow Americans: Tonight marks the eighth year I've come here to report on the State of the Union. And for this final one, I'm going to try to make it shorter. I know some of you are antsy to get back to Iowa. I also understand that because it's an election season, expectations for what we'll achieve this year are low. Still, Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the constructive approach you and the other leaders took at the end of last year to pass a budget and make tax cuts permanent for working families. So I hope we can work together this year on bipartisan priorities like criminal justice reform, and helping people who are battling prescription drug abuse. We just might surprise the cynics again. But tonight, I want to go easy on the traditional list of proposals for the year ahead. Don't worry, I've got plenty, from helping students learn to write computer code to personalizing medical treatments for patients. And I'll keep pushing for progress on the work that still needs doing. Fixing a broken immigration system. Protecting our kids from gun violence. Equal pay for equal work, paid leave, raising the minimum wage. All these things still matter to hardworking families; they are still the right thing to do; and I will not let up until they get done. But for my final address to this chamber, I don't want to talk just about the next year. I want to focus on the next five years, ten years, and beyond. I want to focus on our future. We live in a time of extraordinary change — change that's reshaping the way we live, the way we work, our planet and our place in the world. It's change that promises amazing medical breakthroughs, but also economic disruptions that strain working families. It promises education for girls in the most remote villages, but also connects terrorists plotting an ocean away. It's change that can broaden opportunity, or widen inequality. And whether we like it or not, the pace of this change will only accelerate. America has been through big changes before — wars and depression, the influx of immigrants, workers fighting for a fair deal, and movements to expand civil rights. Each time, there have been those who told us to fear the future; who claimed we could slam the brakes on change, promising to restore past glory if we just got some group or idea that was threatening America under control. And each time, we overcame those fears. We did not, in the words of Lincoln, adhere to the "dogmas of the quiet past." Instead we thought anew, and acted anew. We made change work for us, always extending America's promise outward, to the next frontier, to more and more people. And because we did — because we saw opportunity where others saw only peril — we emerged stronger and better than before. What was true then can be true now. Our unique strengths as a nation — our optimism and work ethic, our spirit of discovery and innovation, our diversity and commitment to the rule of law — these things give us everything we need to ensure prosperity and security for generations to come. In fact, it's that spirit that made the progress of these past seven years possible. It's how we recovered from the worst economic crisis in generations. It's how we reformed our health care system, and reinvented our energy sector; how we delivered more care and benefits to our troops and veterans, and how we secured the freedom in every state to marry the person we love. But such progress is not inevitable. It is the result of choices we make together. And we face such choices right now. Will we respond to the changes of our time with fear, turning inward as a nation, and turning against each other as a people? Or will we face the future with confidence in who we are, what we stand for, and the incredible things we can do together? So let's talk about the future, and four big questions that we as a country have to answer — regardless of who the next President is, or who controls the next Congress. First, how do we give everyone a fair shot at opportunity and security in this new economy? Second, how do we make technology work for us, and not against us — especially when it comes to solving urgent challenges like climate change? Third, how do we keep America safe and lead the world without becoming its policeman? And finally, how can we make our politics reflect what's best in us, and not what's worst? Let me start with the economy, and a basic fact: the United States of America, right now, has the strongest, most durable economy in the world. We're in the middle of the longest streak of private-sector job creation in history. More than 14 million new jobs; the strongest two years of job growth since the '90s; an unemployment rate cut in half. Our auto industry just had its best year ever. Manufacturing has created nearly 900,000 new jobs in the past six years. And we've done all this while cutting our deficits by almost three-quarters. Anyone claiming that America's economy is in decline is peddling fiction. What is true — and the reason that a lot of Americans feel anxious — is that the economy has been changing in profound ways, changes that started long before the Great Recession hit and haven't let up. Today, technology doesn't just replace jobs on the assembly line, but any job where work can be automated. Companies in a global economy can locate anywhere, and face tougher competition. As a result, workers have less leverage for a raise. Companies have less loyalty to their communities. And more and more wealth and income is concentrated at the very top. All these trends have squeezed workers, even when they have jobs; even when the economy is growing. It's made it harder for a hardworking family to pull itself out of poverty, harder for young people to start on their careers, and tougher for workers to retire when they want to. And although none of these trends are unique to America, they do offend our uniquely American belief that everybody who works hard should get a fair shot. For the past seven years, our goal has been a growing economy that works better for everybody. We've made progress. But we need to make more. And despite all the political arguments we've had these past few years, there are some areas where Americans broadly agree. We agree that real opportunity requires every American to get the education and training they need to land a good-paying job. The bipartisan reform of No Child Left Behind was an important start, and together, we've increased early childhood education, lifted high school graduation rates to new highs, and boosted graduates in fields like engineering. In the coming years, we should build on that progress, by providing Pre-K for all, offering every student the hands-on computer science and math classes that make them job-ready on day one, and we should recruit and support more great teachers for our kids. And we have to make college affordable for every American. Because no hardworking student should be stuck in the red. We've already reduced student loan payments to ten percent of a borrower's income. Now, we've actually got to cut the cost of college. Providing two years of community college at no cost for every responsible student is one of the best ways to do that, and I'm going to keep fighting to get that started this year. Of course, a great education isn't all we need in this new economy. We also need benefits and protections that provide a basic measure of security. After all, it's not much of a stretch to say that some of the only people in America who are going to work the same job, in the same place, with a health and retirement package, for 30 years, are sitting in this chamber. For everyone else, especially folks in their forties and fifties, saving for retirement or bouncing back from job loss has gotten a lot tougher. Americans understand that at some point in their careers, they may have to retool and retrain. But they shouldn't lose what they've already worked so hard to build. That's why Social Security and Medicare are more important than ever; we shouldn't weaken them, we should strengthen them. And for Americans short of retirement, basic benefits should be just as mobile as everything else is today. That's what the Affordable Care Act is all about. It's about filling the gaps in employer-based care so that when we lose a job, or go back to school, or start that new business, we'll still have coverage. Nearly eighteen million have gained coverage so far. Health care inflation has slowed. And our businesses have created jobs every single month since it became law. Now, I'm guessing we won't agree on health care anytime soon. But there should be other ways both parties can improve economic security. Say a hardworking American loses his job — we shouldn't just make sure he can get unemployment insurance; we should make sure that program encourages him to retrain for a business that's ready to hire him. If that new job doesn't pay as much, there should be a system of wage insurance in place so that he can still pay his bills. And even if he's going from job to job, he should still be able to save for retirement and take his savings with him. That's the way we make the new economy work better for everyone. I also know Speaker Ryan has talked about his interest in tackling poverty. America is about giving everybody willing to work a hand up, and I'd welcome a serious discussion about strategies we can all support, like expanding tax cuts for low-income workers without kids. But there are other areas where it's been more difficult to find agreement over the last seven years — namely what role the government should play in making sure the system's not rigged in favor of the wealthiest and biggest corporations. And here, the American people have a choice to make. I believe a thriving private sector is the lifeblood of our economy. I think there are outdated regulations that need to be changed, and there's red tape that needs to be cut. But after years of record corporate profits, working families won't get more opportunity or bigger paychecks by letting big banks or big oil or hedge funds make their own rules at the expense of everyone else; or by allowing attacks on collective bargaining to go unanswered. Food Stamp recipients didn't cause the financial crisis; recklessness on Wall Street did. Immigrants aren't the reason wages haven't gone up enough; those decisions are made in the boardrooms that too often put quarterly earnings over long-term returns. It's sure not the average family watching tonight that avoids paying taxes through offshore accounts. In this new economy, workers and start-ups and small businesses need more of a voice, not less. The rules should work for them. And this year I plan to lift up the many businesses who've figured out that doing right by their workers ends up being good for their shareholders, their customers, and their communities, so that we can spread those best practices across America. In fact, many of our best corporate citizens are also our most creative. This brings me to the second big question we have to answer as a country: how do we reignite that spirit of innovation to meet our biggest challenges? Sixty years ago, when the Russians beat us into space, we didn't deny Sputnik was up there. We didn't argue about the science, or shrink our research and development budget. We built a space program almost overnight, and twelve years later, we were walking on the moon. That spirit of discovery is in our DNA. We're Thomas Edison and the Wright Brothers and George Washington Carver. We're Grace Hopper and Katherine Johnson and Sally Ride. We're every immigrant and entrepreneur from Boston to Austin to Silicon Valley racing to shape a better world. And over the past seven years, we've nurtured that spirit. We've protected an open internet, and taken bold new steps to get more students and low-income Americans online. We've launched next-generation manufacturing hubs, and online tools that give an entrepreneur everything he or she needs to start a business in a single day. But we can do so much more. Last year, Vice President Biden said that with a new moonshot, America can cure cancer. Last month, he worked with this Congress to give scientists at the National Institutes of Health the strongest resources they've had in over a decade. Tonight, I'm announcing a new national effort to get it done. And because he's gone to the mat for all of us, on so many issues over the past forty years, I'm putting Joe in charge of Mission Control. For the loved ones we've all lost, for the family we can still save, let's make America the country that cures cancer once and for all. Medical research is critical. We need the same level of commitment when it comes to developing clean energy sources. Look, if anybody still wants to dispute the science around climate change, have at it. You'll be pretty lonely, because you'll be debating our military, most of America's business leaders, the majority of the American people, almost the entire scientific community, and 200 nations around the world who agree it's a problem and intend to solve it. But even if the planet wasn't at stake; even if 2014 wasn't the warmest year on record — until 2015 turned out even hotter — why would we want to pass up the chance for American businesses to produce and sell the energy of the future? Seven years ago, we made the single biggest investment in clean energy in our history. Here are the results. In fields from Iowa to Texas, wind power is now cheaper than dirtier, conventional power. On rooftops from Arizona to New York, solar is saving Americans tens of millions of dollars a year on their energy bills, and employs more Americans than coal — in jobs that pay better than average. We're taking steps to give homeowners the freedom to generate and store their own energy — something environmentalists and Tea Partiers have teamed up to support. Meanwhile, we've cut our imports of foreign oil by nearly sixty percent, and cut carbon pollution more than any other country on Earth. Gas under two bucks a gallon ain't bad, either. Now we've got to accelerate the transition away from dirty energy. Rather than subsidize the past, we should invest in the future — especially in communities that rely on fossil fuels. That's why I'm going to push to change the way we manage our oil and coal resources, so that they better reflect the costs they impose on taxpayers and our planet. That way, we put money back into those communities and put tens of thousands of Americans to work building a 21st century transportation system. None of this will happen overnight, and yes, there are plenty of entrenched interests who want to protect the status quo. But the jobs we'll create, the money we'll save, and the planet we'll preserve — that's the kind of future our kids and grandkids deserve. Climate change is just one of many issues where our security is linked to the rest of the world. And that's why the third big question we have to answer is how to keep America safe and strong without either isolating ourselves or trying to nation-build everywhere there's a problem. I told you earlier all the talk of America's economic decline is political hot air. Well, so is all the rhetoric you hear about our enemies getting stronger and America getting weaker. The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth. Period. It's not even close. We spend more on our military than the next eight nations combined. Our troops are the finest fighting force in the history of the world. No nation dares to attack us or our allies because they know that's the path to ruin. Surveys show our standing around the world is higher than when I was elected to this office, and when it comes to every important international issue, people of the world do not look to Beijing or Moscow to lead — they call us. As someone who begins every day with an intelligence briefing, I know this is a dangerous time. But that's not because of diminished American strength or some looming superpower. In today's world, we're threatened less by evil empires and more by failing states. The Middle East is going through a transformation that will play out for a generation, rooted in conflicts that date back millennia. Economic headwinds blow from a Chinese economy in transition. Even as their economy contracts, Russia is pouring resources to prop up Ukraine and Syria — states they see slipping away from their orbit. And the international system we built after World War II is now struggling to keep pace with this new reality. It's up to us to help remake that system. And that means we have to set priorities. Priority number one is protecting the American people and going after terrorist networks. Both al Qaeda and now ISIL pose a direct threat to our people, because in today's world, even a handful of terrorists who place no value on human life, including their own, can do a lot of damage. They use the Internet to poison the minds of individuals inside our country; they undermine our allies. But as we focus on destroying ISIL, over-the-top claims that this is World War III just play into their hands. Masses of fighters on the back of pickup trucks and twisted souls plotting in apartments or garages pose an enormous danger to civilians and must be stopped. But they do not threaten our national existence. That's the story ISIL wants to tell; that's the kind of propaganda they use to recruit. We don't need to build them up to show that we're serious, nor do we need to push away vital allies in this fight by echoing the lie that ISIL is representative of one of the world's largest religions. We just need to call them what they are — killers and fanatics who have to be rooted out, hunted down, and destroyed. That's exactly what we are doing. For more than a year, America has led a coalition of more than 60 countries to cut off ISIL's financing, disrupt their plots, stop the flow of terrorist fighters, and stamp out their vicious ideology. With nearly 10,000 air strikes, we are taking out their leadership, their oil, their training camps, and their weapons. We are training, arming, and supporting forces who are steadily reclaiming territory in Iraq and Syria. If this Congress is serious about winning this war, and wants to send a message to our troops and the world, you should finally authorize the use of military force against ISIL. Take a vote. But the American people should know that with or without Congressional action, ISIL will learn the same lessons as terrorists before them. If you doubt America's commitment — or mine — to see that justice is done, ask Osama bin Laden. Ask the leader of al Qaeda in Yemen, who was taken out last year, or the perpetrator of the Benghazi attacks, who sits in a prison cell. When you come after Americans, we go after you. It may take time, but we have long memories, and our reach has no limit. Our foreign policy must be focused on the threat from ISIL and al Qaeda, but it can't stop there. For even without ISIL, instability will continue for decades in many parts of the world — in the Middle East, in Afghanistan and Pakistan, in parts of Central America, Africa and Asia. Some of these places may become safe havens for new terrorist networks; others will fall victim to ethnic conflict, or famine, feeding the next wave of refugees. The world will look to us to help solve these problems, and our answer needs to be more than tough talk or calls to carpet bomb civilians. That may work as a TV sound bite, but it doesn't pass muster on the world stage. We also can't try to take over and rebuild every country that falls into crisis. That's not leadership; that's a recipe for quagmire, spilling American blood and treasure that ultimately weakens us. It's the lesson of Vietnam, of Iraq — and we should have learned it by now. Fortunately, there's a smarter approach, a patient and disciplined strategy that uses every element of our national power. It says America will always act, alone if necessary, to protect our people and our allies; but on issues of global concern, we will mobilize the world to work with us, and make sure other countries pull their own weight. That's our approach to conflicts like Syria, where we're partnering with local forces and leading international efforts to help that broken society pursue a lasting peace. That's why we built a global coalition, with sanctions and principled diplomacy, to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran. As we speak, Iran has rolled back its nuclear program, shipped out its uranium stockpile, and the world has avoided another war. That's how we stopped the spread of Ebola in West Africa. Our military, our doctors, and our development workers set up the platform that allowed other countries to join us in stamping out that epidemic. That's how we forged a Trans-Pacific Partnership to open markets, protect workers and the environment, and advance American leadership in Asia. It cuts 18,000 taxes on products Made in America, and supports more good jobs. With TPP, China doesn't set the rules in that region, we do. You want to show our strength in this century? Approve this agreement. Give us the tools to enforce it. Fifty years of isolating Cuba had failed to promote democracy, setting us back in Latin America. That's why we restored diplomatic relations, opened the door to travel and commerce, and positioned ourselves to improve the lives of the Cuban people. You want to consolidate our leadership and credibility in the hemisphere? Recognize that the Cold War is over. Lift the embargo. American leadership in the 21st century is not a choice between ignoring the rest of the world — except when we kill terrorists; or occupying and rebuilding whatever society is unraveling. Leadership means a wise application of military power, and rallying the world behind causes that are right. It means seeing our foreign assistance as part of our national security, not charity. When we lead nearly 200 nations to the most ambitious agreement in history to fight climate change — that helps vulnerable countries, but it also protects our children. When we help Ukraine defend its democracy, or Colombia resolve a decades-long war, that strengthens the international order we depend upon. When we help African countries feed their people and care for the sick, that prevents the next pandemic from reaching our shores. Right now, we are on track to end the scourge of HIV/AIDS, and we have the capacity to accomplish the same thing with malaria — something I'll be pushing this Congress to fund this year. That's strength. That's leadership. And that kind of leadership depends on the power of our example. That is why I will keep working to shut down the prison at Guantanamo: it's expensive, it's unnecessary, and it only serves as a recruitment brochure for our enemies. That's why we need to reject any politics that targets people because of race or religion. This isn't a matter of political correctness. It's a matter of understanding what makes us strong. The world respects us not just for our arsenal; it respects us for our diversity and our openness and the way we respect every faith. His Holiness, Pope Francis, told this body from the very spot I stand tonight that "to imitate the hatred and violence of tyrants and murderers is the best way to take their place." When politicians insult Muslims, when a mosque is vandalized, or a kid bullied, that doesn't make us safer. That's not telling it like it is. It's just wrong. It diminishes us in the eyes of the world. It makes it harder to achieve our goals. And it betrays who we are as a country. "We the People." Our Constitution begins with those three simple words, words we've come to recognize mean all the people, not just some; words that insist we rise and fall together. That brings me to the fourth, and maybe the most important thing I want to say tonight. The future we want — opportunity and security for our families; a rising standard of living and a sustainable, peaceful planet for our kids — all that is within our reach. But it will only happen if we work together. It will only happen if we can have rational, constructive debates. It will only happen if we fix our politics. A better politics doesn't mean we have to agree on everything. This is a big country, with different regions and attitudes and interests. That's one of our strengths, too. Our Founders distributed power between states and branches of government, and expected us to argue, just as they did, over the size and shape of government, over commerce and foreign relations, over the meaning of liberty and the imperatives of security. But democracy does require basic bonds of trust between its citizens. It doesn't work if we think the people who disagree with us are all motivated by malice, or that our political opponents are unpatriotic. Democracy grinds to a halt without a willingness to compromise; or when even basic facts are contested, and we listen only to those who agree with us. Our public life withers when only the most extreme voices get attention. Most of all, democracy breaks down when the average person feels their voice doesn't matter; that the system is rigged in favor of the rich or the powerful or some narrow interest. Too many Americans feel that way right now. It's one of the few regrets of my presidency — that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better. There's no doubt a president with the gifts of Lincoln or Roosevelt might have better bridged the divide, and I guarantee I'll keep trying to be better so long as I hold this office. But, my fellow Americans, this cannot be my task — or any President's — alone. There are a whole lot of folks in this chamber who would like to see more cooperation, a more elevated debate in Washington, but feel trapped by the demands of getting elected. I know; you've told me. And if we want a better politics, it's not enough to just change a Congressman or a Senator or even a President; we have to change the system to reflect our better selves. We have to end the practice of drawing our congressional districts so that politicians can pick their voters, and not the other way around. We have to reduce the influence of money in our politics, so that a handful of families and hidden interests can't bankroll our elections — and if our existing approach to campaign finance can't pass muster in the courts, we need to work together to find a real solution. We've got to make voting easier, not harder, and modernize it for the way we live now. And over the course of this year, I intend to travel the country to push for reforms that do. But I can't do these things on my own. Changes in our political process — in not just who gets elected but how they get elected — that will only happen when the American people demand it. It will depend on you. That's what's meant by a government of, by, and for the people. What I'm asking for is hard. It's easier to be cynical; to accept that change isn't possible, and politics is hopeless, and to believe that our voices and actions don't matter. But if we give up now, then we forsake a better future. Those with money and power will gain greater control over the decisions that could send a young soldier to war, or allow another economic disaster, or roll back the equal rights and voting rights that generations of Americans have fought, even died, to secure. As frustration grows, there will be voices urging us to fall back into tribes, to scapegoat fellow citizens who don't look like us, or pray like us, or vote like we do, or share the same background. We can't afford to go down that path. It won't deliver the economy we want, or the security we want, but most of all, it contradicts everything that makes us the envy of the world. So, my fellow Americans, whatever you may believe, whether you prefer one party or no party, our collective future depends on your willingness to uphold your obligations as a citizen. To vote. To speak out. To stand up for others, especially the weak, especially the vulnerable, knowing that each of us is only here because somebody, somewhere, stood up for us. To stay active in our public life so it reflects the goodness and decency and optimism that I see in the American people every single day. It won't be easy. Our brand of democracy is hard. But I can promise that a year from now, when I no longer hold this office, I'll be right there with you as a citizen — inspired by those voices of fairness and vision, of grit and good humor and kindness that have helped America travel so far. Voices that help us see ourselves not first and foremost as black or white or Asian or Latino, not as gay or straight, immigrant or native born; not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans first, bound by a common creed. Voices Dr. King believed would have the final word — voices of unarmed truth and unconditional love. They're out there, those voices. They don't get a lot of attention, nor do they seek it, but they are busy doing the work this country needs doing. I see them everywhere I travel in this incredible country of ours. I see you. I know you're there. You're the reason why I have such incredible confidence in our future. Because I see your quiet, sturdy citizenship all the time. I see it in the worker on the assembly line who clocked extra shifts to keep his company open, and the boss who pays him higher wages to keep him on board. I see it in the Dreamer who stays up late to finish her science project, and the teacher who comes in early because he knows she might someday cure a disease. I see it in the American who served his time, and dreams of starting over — and the business owner who gives him that second chance. The protester determined to prove that justice matters, and the young cop walking the beat, treating everybody with respect, doing the brave, quiet work of keeping us safe. I see it in the soldier who gives almost everything to save his brothers, the nurse who tends to him 'til he can run a marathon, and the community that lines up to cheer him on. It's the son who finds the courage to come out as who he is, and the father whose love for that son overrides everything he's been taught. I see it in the elderly woman who will wait in line to cast her vote as long as she has to; the new citizen who casts his for the first time; the volunteers at the polls who believe every vote should count, because each of them in different ways know how much that precious right is worth. That's the America I know. That's the country we love. Clear-eyed. Big-hearted. Optimistic that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word. That's what makes me so hopeful about our future. Because of you. I believe in you. That's why I stand here confident that the State of our Union is strong. Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

1/12/2016 Gerard de Rooy victory in stage 8 puts Iveco in the lead in the Dakar ​ In the first special with a strong focus on navigation, Gerard de Rooy skillfully threaded his way through the dunes of northern Argentina and landed his Iveco Powerstar in first place in the general classification, after proving himself as the best competitor in yesterday's race. After crossing the finish line of yesterday's stage, the pilots agreed that the course, which covered 534 exhausting kilometers and produced changes in the top spots in all four categories of the 2016 Dakar Rally, was "90% navigation". Stage 8, connecting the cities of Salta and Belén, included the first sand and dune areas, which put the remaining teams' navigational and driving skills to the test. Gerard de Rooy got ahead in the Trucks category and claimed Iveco's second stage victory in this edition. This win puts the Dutchman, who won the Dakar in 2012, in the lead of the race. This is the second time that Iveco is in first place in the the Dakar 2016 general, after Federico Villagra dominated the entire lineup in Stage 5. Gerard de Rooy crossed the finish line 2 minutes and 35 seconds ahead of the Russian pilot Eduard Nikolaev and 5 minutes and 23 seconds ahead of Andrey Karginov, both of whom were piloting Kamazes. Federico Villagra finished today in 6th place and was the strongest Iveco competitor after De Rooy. The Argentine pilot is just 2 minutes away from the competition's Top 5. Pieter Versluis's relatively slow progress and the great distance Gerard de Rooy was able to put between himself and the Dutch pilot today allowed Team PETRONAS De Rooy Iveco to make it to the top of the Dakar, but the team still has five stages ahead of it to defend this privileged position. The Iveco Trakkers also had a good day, with Ton van Genugten finishing 17 minutes and 34 seconds behind De Rooy and Pep Vila ending the day 29 minutes and 15 seconds from the lead. The Spanish pilot took advantage of Iveco's winning streak and broke into the Top 10. That means that, now, 4 of the 10 best trucks in the Dakar are Iveco trucks. Starting today, the Dakar caravan will once again begin the "marathon" stages, in which the competitors will not be allowed to receive help from their teams at the end of the day and the vehicles will be held for the night in a closed park. This may be a new filter in the competition, considering that the Belén-Belén loop, which begins this Tuesday, may be one of the most complex stages of the race. Stage 8 Trucks 4:41:59-1. GERARD DE ROOY (NLD), IVECO 2. Nikolaev (RUS), Kamaz – plus 2 minutes 35 seconds 3. Karginov (RUS), Kamaz – plus 5 minutes 23 seconds 4. Valtr (CZE), Tatra – plus 13 minutes 38 seconds 5. Sotnikov (RUS), Kamaz – plus 13 minutes 47 seconds 6. FEDERICO VILLAGRA (ARG), IVECO – plus 14 minutes 35 seconds 9. TON VAN GENUGTEN (NLD), IVECO – plus 17 minutes 34 seconds 11. PEP VILA (SPA), IVECO – plus 29 minutes 15 seconds General Classification Trucks 25:49:26-1. GERARD DE ROOY (NLD), IVECO 2. Nikolaev (RUS), Kamaz – plus 7 minutes 58 seconds 3. Versluis (NLD), MAN – plus 13 minutes 29 seconds 4. Stacey (NLD), MAN – plus 20 minutes 46 seconds 5. Mardeev (RUS), Kamaz – plus 22 minutes 21 seconds 6. FEDERICO VILLAGRA (ARG), IVECO – plus 24 minutes 39 seconds 7. TON VAN GENUGTEN (NLD), IVECO – plus 41 minutes 3 seconds 10. PEP VILA (SPA), IVECO – plus 1 hour 49 minutes 51 seconds - ALEŠ LOPRAIS (CZE), IVECO – dropped out To learn more about Iveco's teams and vehicles and to follow Iveco day-by-day throughout the race, visit www.iveco.com/dakar

Meanwhile, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, delivering the Republican response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, called called herself a "proud daughter of Indian immigrants" and said individuals [illegal immigrants] willing to work hard and follow the law shouldn't feel unwelcome. But Haley is on the right track in saying: 'We must fix our broken immigration system,' said Haley. 'That means stopping illegal immigration. And it means welcoming properly vetted legal immigrants, regardless of their race or religion. Just like we have for centuries.'

Associated Press / January 12, 2016 On Tuesday, House Democrats gathered at a press conference to denounce his policies and release a letter signed by 139 lawmakers calling for deportation raids to stop. "It's just unacceptable," said Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Illinois. "I've been 99.9 percent with this president of the United States but in this particular case, when his administration sows the seeds of terror throughout the [illegal] immigrant community of the United States and millions of people are affected, that's what I'm going to concern myself with."

No he certainly doesn't. He's a refreshing and brilliant individual who calls a spade a spade.

The Guardian / January 12, 2016 On immigration, Clinton promised she would not be the next “deporter-in-chief” if elected. But she could not answer whether she would deport children, saying the issue was more complicated than that. When the moderators pressed her for a more straightforward response, Clinton said only that children would receive “due process”. During the debate, Clinton broke with President Barack Obama and called on his administration to stop the recent deportation raids that have targeted Central American [illegal] immigrants who crossed the border in mass last summer fleeing violence and poverty in their native countries. “Our immigration enforcement efforts should be humane and conducted in accordance with due process, and that is why I believe we must stop the raids happening in immigrant communities,” Clinton said in a statement. Senator Sanders and Governor Martin O’Malley had already condemned the raids and urged the president to end them. Clinton said she did not see a “contradiction” between her support for immigration reform and her calls for increased border security, which she said included funding for a fence not a wall.

Trucks Are Completely Refreshed on Rest Day Hino Trucks Press Release / January 11, 2016 Team finishes the first half with a one-two lead in the Under 10-litre Class. January 9: The arrival of both of the team's trucks was delayed this day, with Car 2 crewed by Teruhito Sugawara and Hiroyuki Sugiura arriving at 11:30pm, and Car 1 piloted by Yoshimasa Sugawara and Mitsugu Takahashi―which suffered a one-hour time loss when they got stuck in a river crossing early in the SS―arriving at the bivouac in good shape at about 2:30am. Car 2 finished at 18th overall and top in the Under 10-litre Class for the day, and Car 1 came in at 45th place overall and 3rd in the class. The accumulated rankings for Car 2 and Car 1 were 18th overall and top in the class, and 41st overall and 2nd in the class, respectively. As of the completion of the first half of the rally, the team's two trucks continue to maintain their one-two lead in the Under 10-litre Class. January 10 was a rest day for the crew, while the mechanics spent the whole day inspecting and servicing the trucks. Parts and oils were also replaced as scheduled, and both HINO500 Series trucks were fully refreshed to take on the second week of the rally. The teams have six more stages to go before they reach the finish line in Rosario on January 16. In the coming days in the foothills of the Andes Mountains in central Argentina, contestants will be faced with demanding courses including deserts in the outlying areas of Fiambala where average speeds will naturally be much lower. On January 11, teams will race on a two-part SS with a total distance of 394km on their way to Belén. Yoshimasa Sugawara: Early in the SS yesterday, we got stuck on soft dirt when we were looking for a good point to cross a river. It took us about an hour to get out and it was already dark by the time we got near the end of the SS. I'm relieved that we were able to complete the day in good shape to take on the second half of the race. Mitsugu Takahashi: This was the first time I experienced getting stuck in a truck so it was a bit nerve-racking. We got help from a truck crew that was also stuck near us, and from spectators as well. I was relieved that we made it out. Teruhito Sugawara: The latter half of the rally will be more demanding, and I think the time differences will widen between trucks in different ranking positions. Currently, we are 2 hours and 20 minutes behind the leader, but I think this would have been more like 4 hours on our previous truck. This is testimony to how good this truck is, and I'm excited to see how much more we can do in the second half. Hiroyuki Sugiura: So we're done with the highland stages, which are my bane. We're told that there will be soft sandy terrain tomorrow, so it looks like we're finally going to see something more Dakar Rally-like. Katsuyuki Nagoshi: We tuned the turbo to work hard under the air-deprived conditions at high altitudes to give the engine more power, and I think that went fairly well. We've also been able to identify areas for improvement, so that's data we can use in our development moving forward. Masaki Nakamura: On Car 2, we replaced the front leaf as scheduled, as well as its broken stabilizer and its tires. We performed a number of tasks on Car 1 including replacing its propeller shaft. We were told that Salta gets frequent rain showers so we were fortunate that it stayed dry. Photo gallery - http://www.hino-global.com/dakar/latest_news/PD16-19.html

KrAZ Trucks Press Release / January 4, 2016 2015 was a rewarding year for KrAZ Trucks. We withstood blows of financial and political crisis and showed better performance. The total number of vehicles that rolled off the main assembly line in the previous year amounts to 1,401 units (up 101 percent from 2014). KrAZ employees consider this result as great and important victory! Amid decline in production of motor vehicles, production shutdown in the automotive branch and other industries of the country, domestic and foreign market segments stagnation, sales slowdown, and leap in prices for electricity, gas and components KrAZ remains one of few truckmakers that had dynamical and stable performance. During 2015 the company showed positive growth rate in each quarter and half-year. The second half-year was more fruitful than the first one: the company built 824 vehicles and reached 43 percent growth. The performance figures achieved in the fourth quarter are the best among results for this year: 417 vehicles. December was the most fruitful month of the previous year: 182 vehicles were delivered to the finished products warehouse, up 53 percent from November 2015’s figure and 7 percent up as compared to the similar period of the previous year. 72 percent of products manufactured in the last month of the outgoing year were intended for export sales, while the rest of vehicles for inner market. Platform trucks accounted for 58 percent of the total number of vehicles built by the company, chassis cabs for 30 percent, truck tractors for 6 percent, special vehicles for 4 percent, dump trucks for 2 percent. In addition to our core truck products, our Kremenchug Automobile Plant built 21 towed vehicles: 16 trailers and 5 semi-trailers, 75 percent up from the previous year’s result. All the vehicles built in 2015 by the company were shipped to customers. Export sales account for 40 percent, sales to Ukrainian customers account for 60 percent. KrAZ’s staff believes that fulfillment of very important government defence order and several foreign trade contracts and contracts awarded through bidding process entered into with Ukrainian and foreign partners is a significant achievement. In 2015 efforts were made to do a large amount of work to develop new and upgrade mass-produced vehicles. Some new models have been added the lineup, including the KrAZ-5401 4х2 light chassis cab having maximized commonality with various power plants and special superstructures, a range of heavy armored vehicles such as KrAZ-Hurricane (8х8) and KrAZ-Fiona (6х6), the KrAZ-7233С4 8x4 four-axle dump truck, the 4х4 chassis cab with two steerable axles used for conversion into special vehicle. In addition, Ford engines have been adapted to KrAZ mass-produced vehicles, 15-tonnes trailer has been developed and built, more models have been added to the lineup of special vehicles based on KrAZ chassis intended for use by road maintenance entities of the country. In 2015, the company was focused primarily on the quality of its products. Many efforts were made to improve the reliability of KrAZ trucks and gather customer feedback. In 2016, KrAZ Trucks is determined to move forward and do all the best to achieve increase in production and sales, improve benefits package, develop and launch new models in the domestic and foreign markets. Moreover, efforts will be made this year to reduce cost of products, improve production performance and quality of products. .

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