More carmakers caught in headlights of VW engine-rigging scandal

More carmakers caught in headlights of VW engine-rigging scandal
Volkswagen has admitted it installed illegal software into 11 million 2.0 liter and 3.0 liter diesel engines worldwide (AFP Photo/Josh Edelson)

Volkswagen emissions scandal

Volkswagen emissions scandal

Iran's 'catastrophic mistake': Speculation, pressure, then admission

Iran's 'catastrophic mistake': Speculation, pressure, then admission
Analsyts say it is irresponsible to link the crash of a Ukraine International Airline Boeing 737-800 to the 737 MAX accidents (AFP Photo/INA FASSBENDER)

Missing MH370 likely to have disintegrated mid-flight: experts

Missing MH370 likely to have disintegrated mid-flight: experts
A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 commercial jet.

QZ8501 (AirAsia)

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Leaders see horror of French Alps crash as probe gathers pace

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"The Recalibration of Awareness – Apr 20/21, 2012 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Old Energy, Recalibration Lectures, God / Creator, Religions/Spiritual systems (Catholic Church, Priests/Nun’s, Worship, John Paul Pope, Women in the Church otherwise church will go, Current Pope won’t do it), Middle East, Jews, Governments will change (Internet, Media, Democracies, Dictators, North Korea, Nations voted at once), Integrity (Businesses, Tobacco Companies, Bankers/ Financial Institutes, Pharmaceutical company to collapse), Illuminati (Started in Greece, with Shipping, Financial markets, Stock markets, Pharmaceutical money (fund to build Africa, to develop)), Shift of Human Consciousness, (Old) Souls, Women, Masters to/already come back, Global Unity.... etc.) - (Text version)

“… The Shift in Human Nature

You're starting to see integrity change. Awareness recalibrates integrity, and the Human Being who would sit there and take advantage of another Human Being in an old energy would never do it in a new energy. The reason? It will become intuitive, so this is a shift in Human Nature as well, for in the past you have assumed that people take advantage of people first and integrity comes later. That's just ordinary Human nature.

In the past, Human nature expressed within governments worked like this: If you were stronger than the other one, you simply conquered them. If you were strong, it was an invitation to conquer. If you were weak, it was an invitation to be conquered. No one even thought about it. It was the way of things. The bigger you could have your armies, the better they would do when you sent them out to conquer. That's not how you think today. Did you notice?

Any country that thinks this way today will not survive, for humanity has discovered that the world goes far better by putting things together instead of tearing them apart. The new energy puts the weak and strong together in ways that make sense and that have integrity. Take a look at what happened to some of the businesses in this great land (USA). Up to 30 years ago, when you started realizing some of them didn't have integrity, you eliminated them. What happened to the tobacco companies when you realized they were knowingly addicting your children? Today, they still sell their products to less-aware countries, but that will also change.

What did you do a few years ago when you realized that your bankers were actually selling you homes that they knew you couldn't pay for later? They were walking away, smiling greedily, not thinking about the heartbreak that was to follow when a life's dream would be lost. Dear American, you are in a recession. However, this is like when you prune a tree and cut back the branches. When the tree grows back, you've got control and the branches will grow bigger and stronger than they were before, without the greed factor. Then, if you don't like the way it grows back, you'll prune it again! I tell you this because awareness is now in control of big money. It's right before your eyes, what you're doing. But fear often rules. …”

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Brazil picks Sweden's Gripen for its air force

Google – AFP, Yana Marull (AFP), 18 December 2013
Brazilian Defense Minister Celso Amorim (L) speaks next to Air Force Commander
 Juniti Saito during a press conference in Brasilia on December 18, 2013 (AFP,
Evaristo Sa)

 Brasília — Sweden's Saab edged out French and US rivals to win a multi-billion-dollar contract to supply Brazil's air force with 36 new fighter jets, Defense Minister Celso Amorim said Wednesday.

Saab's Gripen NG was in competition with the Rafale made by France's Dassault company and US aviation giant Boeing's F/A-18 fighter for the long-deferred FX-2 air force replacement program.

"After analyzing all the facts, President Dilma Rousseff directed me to inform that the winner of the contract for the acquisition of the 36 fighter jets for the Brazilian Air Force is the Swedish Gripen NG," Amorim told a press conference.

He put the actual value of the contract, earlier estimated at $5 billion, at $4.5 billion as Saab offered the cheapest price.

The announcement came after more than 10 years of discussions and repeated delays due to budgetary constraints.

It came as a surprise, as experts were forecasting a Dassault-Boeing duel.

Amorim said the Gripen, a state-of-the-art, multi-role fighter, got the nod based on performance, assurances of technology transfer and overall costs.

The Gripen, which was favored by the air force brass, is capable of performing an extensive range of air-to-air, air-to-surface and reconnaissance missions.

It can carry up to 6.5 tons of armament and equipment.

Munitions include various missiles, laser-guided bombs, and a single 27 mm Mauser BK-27 cannon.

The Gripen is in use in the air forces of Britain, South Africa, the Czech Republic, Thailand and Hungary.

Rousseff had postponed a decision on the FX-2 replacement contract in early 2011 for budgetary reasons but air force chiefs made it clear that it was an urgent matter.

The air force said the new fighter aircraft were needed to maintain an adequate air defense as it is to retire its 12 Mirage jets in late December.

Brazil bought the refurbished Mirage 2000 C/Bs from France in 2005 for $80 million to fly for five years.

A key requirement for the sale was technology transfers so that the planes can be assembled in this country and give a boost to the domestic defense industry.

Amorim said negotiations with Saab would take 10-12 months, with the signing of the contract expected at the end of next year and delivery of the first aircraft 48 months later.

The defense minister said Brazil's top planemaker Embraer "will benefit greatly" from the deal.

The G1 news website quoted Air Force spokesman Marcelo Damasceno as saying the Gripen jets "will meet the operational needs of the Air Force for the next 30 years."

In 2009, then president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had expressed a preference for the Rafale but later backtracked and left the choice to his successor Dilma Rousseff.

A source close to Dassault in Paris said the Rafale was the most expensive among the three aircraft in contention.

"There is a prototype of the Gripen NG, which already has 300 hours of flight," said Brazilian Air Force Commander Juniti Saito.

"We are going to develop the plant jointly with Sweden. with Saab, to have 100 percent of the plane's intellectual property," he added.

"Within the Air Force, the Gripen was always seen as the favorite because, even though it has many US-made components, it is a project that will be developed jointly with Brazil," the daily O Estado de Sao Paulo said.


Brazil Leader Accuses US of Spying for ‘Economic’ Interests

Posted by Cempaka at 3:57 AM
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