Volkswagen Scam

The German transport ministry announced that Volkswagen had rigged emission tests on 2.8 million diesel vehicles in Germany alone. Switzerland temporarily banned the sale of VW diesels in the country.

It sounds like the sinister plot of some straight-to-DVD movie. Since 2009, Volkswagen had been installing elaborate software in "clean diesel" vehicles sold in the US, so that the cars' pollution controls only worked when being tested for emissions. The rest of the time, the vehicles could freely spew hazardous, smog-forming compounds.

Suffice to say, regulators were livid once they caught on. Not only did the EPA order the German firm to fix the affected vehicles but the agency could end up levying fines in $ Billions.
The Department of Justice is also contemplating criminal charges.

The scandal has only widened from there. Volkswagen admitted that some 11 million clean diesel cars sold worldwide contain software to fool regulators, with the vast majority of cars likely to be in Europe.

Volkswagen, in other words, is in deep shit.  The company has halted US sales of its 2015 and 2016 clean diesel vehicles and now has to fix millions of existing cars. It has already set aside $7.3 billion to deal with the problem. Meanwhile, VW's stock price has been plummeting, with the company losing one-third of its market cap in the last week.

If VW can fix it, why didn't just manufacture it appropriately from the start?

Just a thought.

Who am I to Judge?

The Faces

Turned away by security.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2015/sep/23/young-girl-hugs-pope-francis-video

Do unto .....

He was not to shake hands, but stopped to shake Kerry's hand.

The pope's car is the smallest "Fiat 500"

Francis..

Prison...

For Obama, it was part of his campaign to reform the criminal justice system, particularly mandatory sentencing for non-violent offenders. There are an estimated 1,574,700 inmates in state and federal prisons, according to 2013 figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

"As a society, we seem to be OK with certain communities just being locked in this cycle,'' Obama says in the special.
"Our kids are being raised around drug crime, they naturally gravitate toward drug crime, they then get involved in the criminal justice system, and it just churns, and everybody thinks that's normal."

Let us fix it.

Reap.....

To wreak havoc on Washington, America needs a leader with real solutions,”  “Political rhetoric is not enough we need a plan of action. Actions speak louder than words. I have a plan to move this country forward. Walker didn't say what he is going to do to the people for the coming eight years.

Walker has made a political career out of targeting labor unions. As governor, he famously authorized legislation that stripped most collective bargaining rights from public-sector workers, sparking protests from labor unions around the country. He dealt another blow to unions this year, when he signed a "right-to-work" law that makes it illegal for unions to require workers to join a union and pay dues even if they benefit from the union contract.

As a presidential candidate, Walker frequently alluded to his success fighting union power, which he cited as proof of his leadership abilities.

His anti Union actions opened the field widely for problems with equal pay act, employees rights, and increased management cost, law suits, discriminations, among other many issues. With that the Republican voters gave him equal to Zero vote, Wreaking havoc on his own campaign.

Just a thought.

Look after each other.

September 2015 is also known as National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month which helps promote resources and awareness around the issues of suicide prevention, how you can help others and how to talk about suicide without increasing the risk of harm.

Suicidal thoughts can affect anyone regardless of age, gender or background. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among YOUNG PEOPLE. 

More teenagers and young adults die from suicide than from cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung disease, COMBINED

In many cases the individuals, friends and families affected by suicide are left in dark, feeling shame or stigma that prevents talking openly about issues dealing with suicide. So be sensitive to your young. Relax your rules, it is a new era. 

Look after the young.

Just a thought.

The Francis Effect

In the latest evidence of what is sometimes referred to as the “Francis Effect,” Cuban President Raul Castro captured worldwide attention in early May when he met with Pope Francis at the Vatican and said he was considering a return to the Faith.

Better sensitized to the issue than predecessors because of his Latin American roots, the 78-year-old pontiff facilitated a back channel for talks and sent missives to Presidents Raul Castro and Barack Obama at a delicate stage in the secret negotiations in 2014.

That bore fruit with a prisoner swap, the opening of embassies, and an easing of some travel and trade restrictions, although a half-century-old economic embargo is still in place, only removable by the U.S. Congress.

Francis is a popular figure in Cuba and thousands of people lined the streets of Havana as he was driven in, cheering, waving Cuban and Vatican flags, and holding banners with the slogan: “Missionary of mercy, welcome to Cuba!”

Peace to Cuba