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Obama administration may be risking nuclear war
Excerpt: The New York Times reported on friday that the Obama administration is considering arming intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) with conventional warheads to provide a “Prompt Global Strike” option, enabling targets anywhere on the globe to be hit in as little as an hour. There is, however, one “small” problem with that idea. The launch of any […]

Obama Rolls Out Midterm Strategy
In in a new video, President Obama lays out the 2010 election strategy for Democrats.

It essentially boils down to re-engaging the voters who propelled him to the White House in 2008. Obama also warns that only by keeping the House and Senate under Democratic control will he be able to pursue his agenda.

Bennett Lacks Support for Renomination
A new Deseret News/KSL-TV poll of Republican delegates in Utah finds Sen. Bob Bennett’s (R-UT) 18-year career in the U.S. Senate may well end at the state GOP convention in two weeks.

Key finding: 41% of the delegates said they absolutely will not vote for Bennett.

“GOP convention rules say the ultimate second-place finisher must have at least 40 percent of the delegate vote to avoid final elimination. And the survey shows Bennett may not reach that percentage in the three rounds of voting.”

Countdown for Crist
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) has until this Friday, April 30 to decide whether he’ll drop out of the Republican U.S. Senate primary and run instead as an unaffiliated candidate.

The Fix: “Most Republican sources in Florida and Washington seem to believe that a Crist switch is a foregone conclusion — there is even speculation about when this week he might choose to announce it — but, as almost always in these sorts of delicate political situations, there are very few people who know the real deal and they are not talking much.”

Meanwhile, CQ Politics notes the biggest hurdle for Crist as an independent will be fundraising since he is not able to self-finance his campaign.

Taibbi: The Lunatics Who Made a Religion Out of Greed and Wrecked the Economy
The SEC’s lawsuit against Goldman Sachs is a chance to prevent greed without limits.

The SEC's lawsuit against Goldman Sachs is a chance to prevent greed without limits.

Spitzer’s Test on Political Courage And List of Those Who Don’t Have It (When It Comes to Israel)
In Sunday’s Times Elliot Spitzer offers a succinct guide to whether or not your representative is any good. Toughness is not the issue. It’s easy to be tough if the selection of one’s target is driven by politics. The real…



Politics – Climate change – Environment – Israel – Activism

What’s Holding Obama The Professor Back?
Dahlia, many thanks for your generous words–and for your excellent question, which has to have occurred to our president from time to time, especially in recent months. Should he say more–should he say anything at all–about his understanding of…


Supreme Court – United States – Barack Obama – United States Supreme Court – History

Kristol Supports Arizona Immigration Law: ?I Don?t Think It Violates Anyone?s Civil Rights?
Arizona governor Jan Brewer (R) signed a draconian immigration bill into law on Friday, which aims to “identify, prosecute and deport” undocumented immigrants. The law gives local police officers the power to detain anyone suspected of being in the U.S. illegally — a measure that many have concluded will “exacerbate racial profiling” and violate Americans’ […]

Arizona governor Jan Brewer (R) signed a draconian immigration bill into law on Friday, which aims to “identify, prosecute and deport” undocumented immigrants. The law gives local police officers the power to detain anyone suspected of being in the U.S. illegally — a measure that many have concluded will “exacerbate racial profiling” and violate Americans’ civil rights.

However, this morning on Fox News Sunday, Bill Kristol celebrated the new law, saying none of those problems would occur:

KRISTOL: I doubt that it violates the Constitution, if it does, it’s a matter of federal preemption against state law. I don’t think it violates anyone’s civil rights. … I have actually read this bill it is not draconian. It is not going to lead to major civil rights violations. Will a few people get stopped perhaps because some policeman has reasonable suspicion that a person is illegal? Will he be stopped perhaps on the street and asked to provide his driver’s license? Yes. That is the huge horrible civil rights violation that’s going to occur 5 times or 8 times or 13 times in Arizona.

Juan Williams called out Kristol’s naiveté: “Bill Kristol said 8 to 13 times…someone’s going to stop some guy on the street. No. Let me tell you something, anybody now with a Hispanic accent, anybody with brown skin is going to get harassed.” Watch it:

In fact, while many conservatives like Kristol have offered support for the law, a number have also denounced it. “There’s no such thing” as “American-looking,” Mike Huckabee said. Charles Krauthammer noted that it “could lead to a lot of civil rights abuses” and Fox News’ Judge Andrew Napolitano said that by signing the bill, Brewer is bankrupting the state because of “all the lawsuits that will happen — for all the people that are wrongfully stopped.”

Napolitano also said the law is “so unconstitutional that I predict a federal judge will prevent Arizona from enforcing it.” Indeed, law professors have expressed agreement:

[W]e turned to Karl Manheim of Loyola Law School in Los Angeles and Erwin Chemerinsky of UC Irvine Law to pregame it for us. Their response: the law is DOA.

The Arizona law appears to be “facially unconstitutional,” Manheim said. “States have no power to pass immigration laws because it’s an attribute of foreign affairs. Just as states can’t have their own foreign policies or enter into treaties, they can’t have their own immigration laws either.”

Despite conservative opposition to the Arizona law, other Republicans aren’t taking much of a stand either way. When asked if he supported it on Fox News Sunday this morning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) dodged, simply saying, “I haven’t studied it.” And on CNN today, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) said, “If that’s what the people [of Arizona] want to do, certainly they have that right.” Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin didn’t say whether she supports the law, but praised Brewer for signing it. “So more power to Jan Brewer for deciding that she was taking on an issue” she said, adding that “it is a states’ rights issue.”

Obama and Democrats appeal to new voters in midterms
President Obama will declare his stake in the November midterm elections for the first time on Monday as his Democratic Party announces an ambitious strategy to appeal to independent voters in its quest to maintain control of Congress.

President pays visit to Rev. Graham
MONTREAT, N.C. — President Obama arrived at the Rev. Billy Graham’s mountaintop log cabin Sunday afternoon, making a brief visit to the 91-year-old evangelist who has been a spiritual adviser to presidents for seven decades.

President Obama eulogizes 29 W.Va. miners
BECKLEY, W.VA. — President Obama eulogized the 29 miners who died in an explosion here this month, joining a community in mourning to say goodbye, to urge families to remember those who were lost, and to carry on.

The producers and cast of MTV’s long-running docu-soap The Hills are in chats to extend the show’s final season after discovering that exes Brody Jenner — who is reportedly dating singer Avril Lavigne — and Kristin Cavallari still have feelings for one another.

On Friday, reality star Kristin Cavallari told E!’s Marc Malkin that MTV may double its order for the sixth and final season of the series — which premieres this Tuesday.

“There’s a possibility of them ordering 12 more episodes,” Cavallari divulged. “I would like to do it.”

“I would like to do it. I’m in such a rhythm with things and I’m having a great time. We’re just now starting to get into some really good juicy stuff with a few new people. So I think we could do another 12 episodes and make it pretty good,” she added.

“And I can’t deny the fact that he (Jenner) is one of the most good looking men in the entire world. We have a lot of fun together. I don’t know if we could ever really get back together and be serious, but we are sort of trying to see if we could.”

Cavallari’s also hopeful that the extended Hills finale will feature a cameo by frenemy and former series star Lauren Conrad.

“I think it would be so great if she did (come back). There are many different ways of bringing her back.”

Ratings for the show took a nosedive after Lauren’s departure in 2009.

One series regular who won’t be back is onscreen villain Spencer Pratt. In a separate interview with Zap2It, Kristin claimed that Heidi Montag’s permanent manbag won’t be returning for The Hills’ final hoorah.

“Spencer got kicked off the show like a month and a half ago,” she revealed. “He’s done; he’s completely done.”

Malas noticias para todos aquellos seguidores de la marca Bentley en Europa o América. La marca acaba de anunciar que sus dos nuevos modelos exclusivos sólo se pondrán a la venta en China. Ambos modelos han sido presentados en la ciudad de Beijing.

El primer modelo no es otro que el Bentley Continental GT Design Series China, una versión exclusiva que sólo estará disponible en color naranja mientras que su interior podremos elegirlo en tres tonos diferentes, blanco, negro o naranja.

El segundo modelo que sólo estará disponible en este país asiático es el Bentley Continental Flying Spur Speed China Edition. Este modelo cuenta con la suspensión reajustada y el tubo de escape ha sido modificado para un mayor a la hora de la conducción.

Related posts:

1. Bentley Continental Supersports disponible en los concesionarios
2. Bentley Continental GT 2011, fotos espía
3. Fotos espía del Bentley Continental Supersport

Mostrando algumas novas atrações do Salão de Pequim 2010, a Hyundai apresentou o seu sedan Verna, também chamado de Accent. O carro possui algumas diferenças do cupê sedan Sonata, como dimensões da carroceria.

O novo Verna Accent vai ser comercializado a partir de julho com duas versões, a primeira com motor a gasolina 1.6 de 105 cv, e a outra versão será com transmissão automática de 4 marchas e motor 1.6 com 120 cv.

A idéia da Hyundai é de, no futuro, lançar uma linha do Accent com motores a diesel e também um híbrido, como tem sido com seu parente Sonata Hybrid.

Imagens do Sedan

Via | Autoblog.it

2011 Nissan Leaf / 2011 Infiniti M

For a peek at the future styling for Nissan Motor Co., take a close look at the headlamps on the Nissan Leaf electric-car and the sculpted rear-end of the new 2011 Infiniti M. Front and rear lamps raised from the body surface and pronounced spoilers are two focus points Nissan will use to improve the aerodynamics and handling of vehicles, according to global design chief Shiro Nakamura says.

The main goal of the design trend is to win young drivers and bring sales of models such as the Nissan Altima up to those with other Japanese rivals.

Click here to get prices on the 2011 Infiniti M37.

“The important thing is the front end and the rear end,” Nakamura said. “Traditionally, the lamp surface has been flush with or a continuation of body surface. Now we are disconnecting that surface.”

Let’s just pray that the Nissan Juke crossover isn’t going to influence anything in the future at Nissan.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

Despite Beijing’s concerted effort to cool China’s residential property market, house price inflation continued its rapid acceleration in March. Property prices in 70 of China’s large and medium-sized cities rose 11.7% on a yearly basis in March, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows. It was the biggest year-on-year increase for a single month after the NBS expanded its coverage to 70 cities in July 2005.

After taking steps to restrict lending and curb speculation as soon as house prices started to recover in the middle of 2009, Chinese officials have since responded with another round of measures. The latest measure had the central government raise the required down payment for a family purchasing a second house from the existing 40% to 50%. Their promise of tough action has also been backed by directives to banks to cut lending and increase reserve requirements. The Shanghai stock exchange’s property index continues to trend lower as a result.

However, these efforts will not be enough to prevent overheating, according to the emerging markets research team at RBC Capital Markets. It forecasts a stronger yuan in 2010 and initial rate hikes in the next few months, with the benchmark lending rate climbing by 108 basis points to 6.39% by year-end. RBC also anticipates higher property taxes.

“Although bank lending was weaker than expected in March, suggesting that efforts to tighten liquidity are starting to work, it remains to be seen whether the strategy Beijing has adopted to date will be enough to slow down residential property, let alone curb overheating risks and contain price pressures in other parts of the economy.rebalancing of the Chinese economy,” RBC said in a report.

The general public seems to be getting the message with the local press reporting that some homebuyers are concerned about Beijing’s resolve to rein in the property market. RBC expects the impact of these measure will be most severe in cities that have seen the biggest gains – Shenzhen and Guangzhou looking most vulnerable.

Higher policy rates and a stronger currency may be the most effective way of removing policy stimulus and rebalancing the economy, Beijing is clearly being cautious about using these instruments. If the government’s fine-turing efforts work, China will face less pressure to move as quickly on rates and the yuan.

However, RBC feels that the strong momentum in China’s residential property market in recent months suggest that any easing in house price inflation will be limited. The analysts said other areas of the exonomy also face a serious risk of overheating as long as financing costs remain at current levels.

“The steps Beijing has already taken should have some impact, but we think policymakers still have more work to do.”

Despite skittishness that China’s surging GDP could cause an economic overheat, McLean & Partners Wealth Management portfolio manager Paul Ma believes the negative chatter signals an opportunity to add to positions in China.

“We believe that the Chinese government is fully capable of managing sustainable economic growth,” he said in a recent report that followed at visit to China.

Mr. Ma said the growth is a testament to the ability of China’s leadership in economic management. He cited the move to raise mortgage rates and down-payment requirements in a single day, and the $7.5-trillion yuan quota on total bank loans as efforts that should further shrink the bubble.

When China does announce an interest rate increase, the portfolio manager thinks there will be little effect since the corresponding market correction has already happened for the most part.

“As we expect no more bad news on the interest rate and the real estate fronts, the market slide is probably nearing its bottom and looking to move back up,” he said.

Jonathan Ratner

Sources in Yemen tell Fox News the government has launched a series of raids against terrorist hide-outs in the capital of Sana’a. This following an attempted failed suicide attack against the British ambassador there.

The Yemen Interior Ministry says they believe Al Qaeda is linked to that attack.

We are told the bomber jumped in the direction of the motorcade as it passed by on its way to the British embassy.

The Ambassador and British staff were unhurt in the “small explosion.”  Three people including two Yemeni policemen are reported hurt.

The nearby US embassy is urging Americans to “remain vigilant” in light of the attack. There are reports of heightened security at the embassy. The American embassy was the target of a deadly attack in September 2008.

The Britsh embassy is closed to the public and British authorities say they are assisting the Yemeni’s in a probe of the attack.

The incident also occured in the vicinity of the Movenpick and Sheraton hotels which foreign guests frequent.

All of this comes amid increased attention on Yemen and its Al Qaeda chapter, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. It is believed the affiliate is linked to last year’s Fort Hood shootings and the Christmas bombing attempt.

While there has yet to be any claim of responsibility, earlier this year Al Qaeda threatened attacks against western interests in the country.

RIM’s annual Wireless Enterprise Symposium (WES) is almost ready to kick off, and it seems that RIM’s PR team may have leaked the upcoming devices a little early. The Street is reporting that both the BlackBerry Bold 9650 and Pearl 9100 (to be called Pearl 3G?) will be launched at WES 2010, and are set to be available later next month. The BlackBerry Bold 9650 is very much just the Tour 9630, with a few minor upgrades (Wi-Fi and trackpad). The new Pearl 3G (Pearl 9100) will be the 3G upgrade to the current Pearl series. It will feature a 3.2 megapixel camera, 802.11n WiFi, GPS, and have a GSM/EDGE/HSPA radio.

The Bold 9650 is expected to hit both Verizon and Sprint shortly, and the Pearl 3G will come to Bell, TELUS, Rogers in Canada for sure, next month. No word (yet) on which networks in the United States will be getting the Pearl 3G. I’m sure we will see an official announcement very shortly regarding these two devices…

[via Engadget]

You’re reading a story which originated at BlackBerrySync.com, Where you find BlackBerry News You Can Sync With…

This story is sponsored by the new BlackBerry Sync Mobile App Store. Grab your free copy today at www.GetAppStore.com from your BlackBerry.

BlackBerry Bold 9650 and Pearl 3G 9100 Leaked.. Ahead of WES 2010

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“They don’t ask me to take my clothes off in movies anymore! It’s so sad! This industry is terrible for women of a certain age. But if you’re positive and you think you’re good, you can get roles for older women, and you’ll work,” Melanie Griffith, 52, who famously stripped down for roles in Ha-Gan and Night Moves, Hello Magazine, May 2010

98 years ago, there was a terrible volcanic eruption on Martinique, an island in the Caribbean. What’s been dubbed as the worst volcanic disaster of the 20th century, it killed all residents—except the sole drunk in this prison. More »

Geely GE

Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co. says that it has no immediate plans to export its own brand cars to developed markets. Speaking at the 2010 Beijing Motor Show, Frank Zhao, the company’s vice president for technology, said that the company will remain focused on the domestic market and other development markets.

“Regarding (selling to) developed markets, I think that will be something a couple of years down the road,” Zhao said. However, he said that Geely is studying developed markets.

“We are watching those markets on technology progress and also legal requirements very carefully, but we don’t have any closer structured plan,” Zhao said.

Geely purchased Volvo from Ford for a total of $1.8 billion for Volvo and its related assets. Speaking on the acquisition, Zhao said that Geely and Volvo operations will be kept separate.

“Our chairman Li Shufu has made it very clear that Geely is Geely and Volvo is Volvo. That means a lot because we have totally different customer segments and different markets,” he said.

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

The Refugee Studies Centre, (at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford) is pleased to announce that Professor Saskia Sassen will give the Annual Elizabeth Colson Lecture on 26 May 2010.

Saskia Sassen is the Robert S. Lynd Professor of Sociology and Member, The Committee on Global Thought, Columbia University. Her latest books are “Territory, Authority, Rights: From Medieval to Global” “Assemblages” (Princeton University Press 2008) and “A Sociology of Globalization” (Norton 2007). She has recently completed a five-year project for UNESCO on sustainable human settlement, the results of which have been published as one of the volumes of the “Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems” (Oxford: EOLSS Publishers).

The lecture will be entitled “The complexity of Powerlessness: What makes human rights law perform?” Saskia Sassen will speak about the limits of power and the complexities of powerlessness – the direct or mediated resistances that the powerless can deploy knowingly or not.

Immigration and human rights help to explore these more abstract issues – especially in powerful countries vis-à-vis undocumented workers, who are among the most vulnerable subjects in those same countries. And yet, under certain conditions, the powerless can make history, even if they do not gain power in this process. She will discuss two institutional domains where powerlessness can become complex and the powerless have made history.

The lecture will take place at the Bernard Sunley Lecture Theatre, St Catherine’s College, Manor Road, Oxford (0X1 3UJ). The event will start at 5pm and will be followed by a drinks reception.

For more information or to reserve a seat, please contact Wouter te Kloeze: [email protected], +44(0)1865 281726

• The complexity of Powerlessness: What makes human rights law perform?

New Zealand has been working on putting in place a three strikes law which is only marginally better than the one that it originally tried to pass. Right now, it looks like the “new bill” is moving forward with little opposition, even though there are some serious unanswered questions. Reader Matt Perryman has written up a detailed look at some of the bigger issues, asking about things like the privacy issues and the costs put on ISPs. However, his final two points are perhaps the most important. First, he notes that no details have been released or discussed about this special “copyright tribunal” that will handle these cases, even though that’s pretty central to the whole deal:

You’re creating a copyright tribunal to handle all of these complaints, and yet we’ve heard exactly nothing about what this will entail, regarding standards of evidence and valid defenses….

The dilemma: I have a wifi hotspot in my home, attached to my internet account. It’s unsecured. A hacker or ne’er do well logs in to my hotspot, torrents a bunch of movies without my knowledge. Later I receive infringement notices and have to show up at the tribunal. I’m stunned, because I know nothing about it.

Is my defense of an unsecured wifi hotspot, combined with total ignorance of the matter, valid?

Change the parameters a little. My hotspot is secured by WEP, and a hacker cracks it (which is amazingly easy to do). Same scenario ensues. Is this a valid defense?

What about IP spoofing? What if someone frames me for infringement when I’ve not engaged in the activity? Is that a valid defense?

No matter what you feel the answers to the above questions are, the fact that this is not clear and has not been discussed with regards to New Zealand’s proposed law seems tremendously problematic. It leaves all sorts of questions on the table that could make the law incredibly bad. And the answers to those questions — no matter which way they go, raise questions about this law:

If these defenses are valid, then the copyright tribunal is redundant; anyone aware of these issues has so many plausible defenses that there is no way to prove infringement.

If these defenses are not valid, then the tribunal is a sham and a rubber-stamp for industry interests, because there is no way to prove your innocence in light of accusation.

His final point is that this bill would create a new class of criminals totally at the behest of an industry — which isn’t quite how things are supposed to work:

You’re criminalizing a non-criminal behavior based on exactly nothing of substance, and at the behest of a private industry.

I’m of the mindset that if you’re going to criminalize a behavior, you had best meet the burden of proof as to why that behavior is being outlawed.

Can the NZ MPs do that? If they can, they’re doing their best to hide their evidence. The industry’s own statistics have been called into question and ultimately they’ve been debunked.

So the obvious question: on what grounds are you justifying this?

Good questions — but somehow I doubt we’ll get any substantial answers from New Zealand MPs.

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Paris Hilton has reportedly rekindled her romance with her former fiance mere days after splitting from The Hills’ Doug Reinhardt.

The heiress-socialite was snapped over the weekend enjoying dinner with model Jason Shaw at NYC’s Woo Lae Oak. Hilton dated Shaw for almost three years before calling off their engagement in 2003 — but tattles say the pair’s feelings for one another have stood the test of time.

“When Jason found out that she had ended her relationship with Doug, he was thrilled and made plans with her right away,” one pal told E! Online. “Paris has always loved Jason and cared about him deeply. But when they were together she was just a kid and not ready for such a commitment.”

Isn’t it ironic that when the times in your life when you’re broke, you want to drink the most? Well, Alanis, 7-11 feels your pain and has met your cries for cheap swill with a new, bespoke beer sold only at 7-11’s.

The new brew goes by the moniker “Game Day”, though it can apparently be consumed both during the off-season and at night. What else do we know about this beer? It’s available in regular and light varieties, it’s cheap ($6.99 for 12), and it’s beer. 7-11 claims it performed “well” in taste tests against other premium beers, which probably means it did not perform “well” and tastes like Lone Star or Pabst, sans the irony. However, given time, might 7-11 beer become the beverage equivalent of thrift-store clothing? That’s up to the hipsters.

While the coolness factor is pending, drink up. Why? It’s REALLY cheap. Isn’t that enough?

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