What Were They Thinking? -- September 25, 2015; Apple Will See Record iPhone Sales This Weekend -- Source

What in the world were they thinking?

There is a long tradition of scandal and skulduggery in the auto industry, but few schemes appear as premeditated as Volkswagen’s brazen move to use sophisticated software to circumvent United States emissions standards.

That such a thing could happen at Volkswagen, Germany’s largest company and the world’s largest automaker by sales — 202.5 billion euros last year — has mystified consumers and regulators around the world. But given Volkswagen’s history, culture and corporate structure, the real mystery may be why something like this didn’t happen sooner.

“The governance of Volkswagen was a breeding ground for scandal,” said Charles M. Elson, professor of finance and director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. “It was an accident waiting to happen.”

The company, founded by the Nazis before World War II, is governed through an unusual hybrid of family control, government ownership and labor influence. Even by German standards, “Volkswagen stands apart,” said Markus Roth, a professor at Philipps-University Marburg and an expert in European corporate governance. “It’s been a soap opera ever since it started.”

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New Wind Farm In Western North Dakota

From The Minot Daily News:

The North Dakota Public Service Commission will hold a public hearing in Tioga on Oct. 8, 2015, regarding a proposal for a wind farm and associated facilities in Williams County.

Lindahl Wind Project, LLC has filed an application for the 150-megawatt Lindahl Wind Farm Project, consisting of up to 75 wind turbine generators north of Tioga.

Basin Electric has agreed to purchase the entire output of the project.

Estimated cost of the project is $248.5 million.

The project will encompass about 13,000 acres and will be located about four miles north of Tioga.

 $250 million / 150 = $1.7 million MW.

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Apple iPhones Will Break All Records This Weekend

Yahoo!Finance is reporting:

Apple will see record sales of its newest iPhone this weekend, predicts social app company Foursquare.

The mobile app developer forecasts Apple will sell between 13 million and 15 million iPhone units this weekend with launch of the new 6s model.

Specifically, Foursquare data show a 360% increase in visits to Apple stores last week compared to their prior 12-week average. In the week leading up to the September 2014 release of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models, foot traffic was 330% higher than its previous 12-week average. Apple sold 10 million units that launch weekend.