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Volkswagen Emissions Investigation Zeroes in on Two Engineers

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Re: Volkswagen Emissions Investigation Zeroes in on Two Engineers

#22
post #9

The rest of the commenters are quick to dismiss this article as presenting scapegoats, but I'm very keen to see more in-depth investigation about how this was orchestrated. There are a lot of different ways that this type of cheating can develop over time, and simply saying "lots of people knew must have known about this" isn't very satisfying to me. There are plenty of ways that upper management can stay in the dark…

Well, I believe that there will obviously be an effort to scapegoat some low level suckers, and, as such, the whole effort is garbage.

The basic principle is liar's reports are worthless. When reporters want to create a particular outcome (no executives should do hard time), what you end up with is fundamentally dishonest. And since we have reasonable doubts about the integrity of the investigation -- it's being performed by employees of the original deceivers -- the whole thing is garbage. You can't take it and unshade it a little bit; people who have proved their untrustworthiness simply cannot be trusted. Not just a little bit; not at all.

ps -- what constitutes a believable report? One done by criminal investigative services belonging to a country where the government doesn't own a major stake in the company being investigated.

Re: Volkswagen Emissions Investigation Zeroes in on Two Engineers

#23
post #9

The rest of the commenters are quick to dismiss this article as presenting scapegoats, but I'm very keen to see more in-depth investigation about how this was orchestrated. There are a lot of different ways that this type of cheating can develop over time, and simply saying "lots of people knew must have known about this" isn't very satisfying to me. There are plenty of ways that upper management can stay in the dark…

"we didn't know" is curiously not an excuse you can use in any other facet of human life except to exculpate rich people

In what other facet of human life would you be held responsible for something you had no knowledge of?

Re: Volkswagen Emissions Investigation Zeroes in on Two Engineers

#24

It's going to be ridiculous that people will go to jail for this and not any of the people responsible for the subprime mortgages.

So, I've been wondering about this. Who, exactly, would you want to see in jail for "subprime mortgages" and on what charge?

I hear people say the general statement a lot, but I'm not sure who specifically they're talking about.

Re: Volkswagen Emissions Investigation Zeroes in on Two Engineers

#25
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"we didn't know" is curiously not an excuse you can use in any other facet of human life except to exculpate rich people

In what other facet of human life would you be held responsible for something you had no knowledge of?

Typically ignorance of the law is not an excuse when found disobeying it, and there are more laws than any reasonable person can know.

Re: Volkswagen Emissions Investigation Zeroes in on Two Engineers

#26
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"we didn't know" is curiously not an excuse you can use in any other facet of human life except to exculpate rich people

In what other facet of human life would you be held responsible for something you had no knowledge of?

The Selective Service frequently reminds me that ignorance of the law is no excuse to break the law.

Re: Volkswagen Emissions Investigation Zeroes in on Two Engineers

#27
"For more than a year, Volkswagen executives told the Environmental Protection Agency that discrepancies between the formal air-quality tests on its diesel cars and the much higher pollution levels out on the road were the result of technical issues, not a deliberate attempt to deceive Washington officials."

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/Volkswagen-...

So VW is telling us that this year of lying to the EPA was done completely by these two engineering managers and nobody else in the VW executive staff?

Re: Volkswagen Emissions Investigation Zeroes in on Two Engineers

#28
post #22
post #9

The rest of the commenters are quick to dismiss this article as presenting scapegoats, but I'm very keen to see more in-depth investigation about how this was orchestrated. There are a lot of different ways that this type of cheating can develop over time, and simply saying "lots of people knew must have known about this" isn't very satisfying to me. There are plenty of ways that upper management can stay in the dark…

Well, I believe that there will obviously be an effort to scapegoat some low level suckers, and, as such, the whole effort is garbage. The basic principle is liar's reports are worthless. When reporters want to create a particular outcome (no executives should do hard time), what you end up with is fundamentally dishonest. And since we have reasonable doubts about the integrity of the investigation -- it's being perf…

Neither of the people mentioned are low level suckers.

Re: Volkswagen Emissions Investigation Zeroes in on Two Engineers

#29
post #9

The rest of the commenters are quick to dismiss this article as presenting scapegoats, but I'm very keen to see more in-depth investigation about how this was orchestrated. There are a lot of different ways that this type of cheating can develop over time, and simply saying "lots of people knew must have known about this" isn't very satisfying to me. There are plenty of ways that upper management can stay in the dark…

[deleted]

Re: Volkswagen Emissions Investigation Zeroes in on Two Engineers

#30
glad they found the culprits. I was absolutely certain it would be renegade engineers and the higher level up (politically secured allies) have nothing to do with it. Torches and pitchforks everyone.

The amount of restraint I have to exercise as an ex-consultant who made his living working for the likes of Audi, VW & Siemens nobody here can possibly comprehend.

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