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

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)

Leaders see horror of French Alps crash as probe gathers pace

"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. …

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

China targets foreign auto sector with Mercedes probe

Yahoo – AFP, Bill Savadove, 5 Aug 2014

A Mercedes symbol is pictured in front of the Mercedes-Benz's Shanghai
office on August 5, 2014 (AFP Photo/Johannes Eisele)

China's probes into foreign firms spread to the auto sector Tuesday as German car giant Daimler said it was assisting authorities after reports anti-monopoly investigators raided an office of its Mercedes-Benz unit.

"We confirm that we are assisting the authorities in their investigation," Daimler Greater China said in an email to AFP.

Analysts said the move marked an escalation of previous scrutiny of foreign automakers in China, the world's largest car market, following investigations of overseas firms in several other sectors over the past year.

A woman rides her bicycle past a 
Mercedes Benz at a cross road in
Beijing on August 5, 2014 (AFP
Photo/Wang Zhao)
A team of nine anti-monopoly investigators from China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) paid a surprise visit to a Mercedes-Benz premises in Shanghai on Monday, grilled employees and "forcibly" checked computers, reported Jiemian, a new media platform of state-run Shanghai United Media Group.

Daimler, maker of Mercedes-Benz and Smart cars, did not directly refer to the incident in its statement but said the matter was ongoing.

The report quoted an unnamed source saying that the investigation focused on "Benz's prices of finished automobiles and its policy of maintaining minimum prices with distributors".

"It is an escalation from what they (authorities) were doing," said Namrita Chow, principal analyst for IHS Automotive in London. "The NDRC has had probes into different pricing strategies... however, nothing was done about it."

She added the latest investigation did not appear to be into an organised pricing cartel, but rather what China considered to be unfairly high prices for spare parts and automobiles compared with other markets.

Beijing imposes heavy duties on imported cars and parts, which manufacturers say ramp up prices for Chinese consumers.

The NDRC is one of several Chinese government bodies that investigates violations of the country's "anti-monopoly" law. It is responsible for doing so from a pricing perspective.

On Sunday, Daimler announced it would slash prices of more than 10,000 spare parts for its Mercedes-Benz cars in China from September 1, according to a separate statement that linked the move to a pricing and "anti-monopoly" investigation of the entire Chinese auto industry.

Pharmaceuticals to milk powder

The Mercedes-Benz office, in a western suburb of Shanghai, includes a dealership with a showroom and a service centre.

Several showroom employees told AFP they were unaware of any investigation.

But a security guard said the premises were visited by an investigation team two days in a row.

"They were here all day yesterday and three or four hours this morning," he said.

A sign outside says it is an authorised dealer of Mercedes-Benz China and the Beijing Benz Automotive Co. -- a joint venture between Daimler and Chinese partner BAIC Motor, which has been producing Mercedes-Benz passenger cars since 2006.

Since last year, China has launched sweeping probes into alleged wrongdoings by foreign companies in several sectors, including the pharmaceutical and baby milk powder industries.

Last week, a Chinese government agency said it was investigating US software giant Microsoft for allegedly operating a monopoly in its market after raiding four of its offices around the country.

The logo of the Mercedes-Benz's
Shanghai office is pictured on
August 5, 2014 (AFP Photo/
Johannes Eisele)
The State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC), which also enforces the anti-monopoly law, said that probe centres on Microsoft's Windows operating system -- which is used on the vast majority of computers in China -- and the Office suite of programs.

The SAIC on Monday warned Microsoft not to "obstruct" the investigation in a meeting with the company's deputy general counsel Mary Snapp, according to a statement on its website.

In another chill for US tech firms, state media have said China is planning to announce US chip maker Qualcomm has monopoly status in the mobile phone chip market.

Over the weekend, a newspaper said that the government had left two foreign firms specialising in Internet security, Symantec of the United States and Russia-headquartered Kaspersky, off a list for procurement in favour of domestic firms.

And last year, China fined six baby formula producers -- all but one of them foreign -- a total of $108 million for price-fixing.

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