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Guatemala’s active volcano named Pacaya erupted this May 28, 2010. The death toll from the erupting volcano climbs to three people and three remains missing.

The eruption killed a reporter from CNN affiliate Noti 7 and left three children between the age of twelve. missing. Later that day, two villagers from El Bejucal were confirmed dead because of the eruption, as said by David de Leon, spokesman for the national disaster commission. All of the three victims were crushed by rocks strewn by the volcano.

The eruption of Guatemala’s Pacaya (located about 15 miles or 25 kms south of Guatemala City), began about 7 pm (9 pm ET) last Thursday.

15 days of State of Calamity was declared by Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom and called for calm as the eruption spreads ash over the capital. This caused prompting evacuations and also the city’s international airport have been shut down.

The government urged residents of the villages not to leave their homes unless there was an urgent need. At least 1,600 people closest to the volcano from the villages have been evacuated to shelters.

Related posts:

1. Volcano Eruption in Iceland
2. Iceland Volcano Latest Updates- New Images and Screenshots
3. Iceland Volcano Latest Updates – Flights and Images

Ronnie Fieg gets together with Sebago to follow up his dockside collection with these mono leather LightHouse boots. The boots represent a clean and classic look utilizing premium Sebago leathers on the traditional Dockside sole. 120 pairs made per style and priced at $140 these are available today on Davidz.com as well as the David Z. flagship store is soho.

Continue reading for more images.

The White House responds to the Joe Sestak non-scandal, confirming that it worked to dissuade the Pennsylvania congressman from challenging Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) in the Democratic Senate primary but dismissing all charges of impropriety.

“We have concluded that allegations of improper conduct rest on factual errors and lack a basis in the law,” the memo reads.

First, it addresses the rumor that the administration offered Sestak the position of Secretary of the Navy. “The President announced his intent to nominate Ray Mabus to be Secretary of the Navy on March 26, 2009, over a month before Senator Specter announced that he was becoming a member of the Democratic Party in late April. Mabus was confirmed in May. At no time was Congressman Sestak offered, nor did he seek, the position of Secretary of the Navy.”

Then, it confirms that, as reported this morning by Greg Sargent, the White House enlisted Bill Clinton to see if Sestak would be interested in an uncompensated advisory role in the executive branch, on top of his congressional duties.

“It has been suggested that discussions of alternatives to the Senate campaign were improperly raised with the Congressman,” the memo continues. “There was no such impropriety. The Democratic Party leadership had a legitimate interest in averting a divisive primary fight and a similarly legitimate concern about the Congressman vacating his seat in the House. … There have been numerous, reported instances in the past when prior Administrations — both Democratic and Republican, and motivated by the same goals — discussed alternative paths to service for qualified individuals also considering campaigns for public office. Such discussions are fully consistent with the relevant law and ethical requirements.”

Full memo here. (h/t Marc Ambinder)

The UK has been gripped by the launch of the iPad if the Twitpics are to be believed. As you can see from the below ( thanks jasonlan and joanikin) there was a large crowd queuing outside Apple’s flagship London store on Regent’s Street, in a line which literally snaked around the corner into Hanover Square. Believe me, that is a long line.

Some estimates have put the crowd at around 500 people outside, waiting to grab the iPad.

There are several Android handsets that have been released in the past that came out with Android 1.5, and the expectation has always been that the device would be upgraded to a more recent, feature-rich version of the OS.  While that is usually the case, it doesn’t seem to be that way for the Samsung Behold II.  The Behold II was released with Android 1.5 with the promise of being upgraded to Android 2.0 in the future, but now it looks like Samsung has scrapped those plans.  Owners of the device have put together a petition online urging Samsung to either update the device, provide a replacement Android 2.0 handset,  or give out refunds.  If Samsung doesn’t comply with those demands, users say that “legal action will be taken.”

Samsung issued an official response on the situation this morning, stating that they plan to bring Android 1.6 to the Behold II and nothing higher.  The update will include Swype, Google Maps Navigation, an improved media player, and a few other goodies, but it is certainly no Android 2.0.  Samsung went on to say that “the Behold II is not upgradeable beyond Android 1.6,” which sounds like it may just be a case of Samsung not wanting to put the resources into an upgrade.  I suppose at least Samsung was nice enough to be straight with us rather than lying about an upgrade that was never going to come.  How do you Behold II users feel about this situation?  Are you planning on picking up a new device?  Share your thoughts with us!

Via Engadget

One of the enduring confusions amid the debate over extending unemployment benefits revolves around the fact that the Democrats’ proposals don’t actually extend UI benefits at all. They simply extend the filing deadline to apply for existing benefits.

That dynamic hasn’t been lost on a growing number of unemployed folks who have exhausted all available assistance, and many of them are pushing for additional tiers of emergency help. Yesterday, though, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) indicated that Tier V advocates shouldn’t hold their breath.

Asked by a reporter if Democrats “foresee having another tier of expanded benefits,” Pelosi responded:

Not — not — no.  This bill will go into the end of November.  At that time we will take up something, but not between now and then.

Pelosi also noted that local politics are playing at least as much of a role as ideology in the debate over whether Congress should extend even existing benefits.

“The phenomenon or the situation that I see is that members who are from low-unemployment areas are very concerned about the deficit,” Pelosi said. “Members who are from high-unemployment areas are very concerned about the jobs.”

2011 Infiniti QX56

Infiniti is counting big on its 2011 version of the QX56 to increase sales for the model, which has been suffering along with the rest of the segment as buyers move towards more fuel-efficient and smaller options. However, with more power and more fuel-efficiency, the 2011 QX56 is expected to recapture some of the full-size large SUV market.

“We will have months when we sell 800 to 900 of these,” Ben Poore, Infiniti’s vice president in charge of sales and marketing, told Edmunds.

Click here to get prices on the 2011 Infiniti QX56.

That brings Poore’s predictions to annual sales of as high as 10,800 units for the 2011 QX56. Sales of the outgoing model averaged at 1,226 units a month and totaled 14,715 in 2005, making that its record sales year. However, last year sales for the QX56 were the model’s worst, averaging 536 units a month with year-long sales totaling 6,440 units.

It seems like there may be some sun shining on the QX56 in 2010 because sales are averaging at 770 a month.

Refresher: The 2011 Infiniti QX56 is powered by a 5.6L direct injected V8 making 400-hp and 413 lb-ft of torque. The engine is mated to a 7-speed automatic transmission, which helps add a 10 percent gain in fuel-economy. The 2011 QX56 can handle towing of up to a 8,500-pound towing capacity.

2011 Infiniti QX56:

– By: Omar Rana

Source: AutoObserver

Google (GOOG) has an astounding $26 billion in cash. Brent Callinicos is the guy responsible for investing it.

Brent runs a 30-person trading operation at Google and is developing a more agressive trading strategy by the day, reports Douglas MacMillan at Bloomberg BusinessWeek.

Lately, Brent has begun moving away from a cautious cash management strategy towards more higher risk/return investments. He’s specifically targeting corportate debt ($4.9 billion), agency residential mortgage-backed securities ($3.3 billion) and foreign government bonds ($332 million.)

Follow the Chart Of The Day on Twitter: www.twitter.com/chartoftheday

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• CHART OF THE DAY: The Half-Life Of A YouTube Video Is 6 Days
• CHART OF THE DAY: Yahoo’s Engagement Falls Off A Cliff
• CHART OF THE DAY: Microsoft Spends Eight Times As Much On R&D As Apple

…And we think we already know what it is.  Remember back a few weeks ago when we thought we knew what T-Mobile’s Project Emerald was?  At the time we purported that it was related to the Samsung Galaxy S arriving on the carrier.  After doing some digging around and reading we learned that the project might actually be related to a Sidekick handset.  Well, a Samsung source is telling BGR today that they and T-Mobile are working on a major product launch for July.  Read on to see what we though, and still do, think is happening.

The handset will be the Samsung Galaxy S. However, this will not be an all-out exclusive deal. T-Mobile will be one of four carriers to provide the phone…With the droid Incredible and HTC EVO getting a great deal of attention these last few weeks, Big Magenta has fast-tracked this phone for release the first week of July.

Might We Suggest…

• Samsung i897 Sounding More and More Like a Galaxy S
  
  A few months back a few documents were listed on the Bluetooth Special Interest Group website for a Samsung i897 handset.  At the time it was found that the quad-band GSM device featured a 4.0-inch …

Heading into the weekend, the selling is intensifiying.

Indices are down, and anyone associated with Deepwater is getting hammered again.

The Risk Trade Is Off — everything from stocks to commodities to risk currencies are accelerating to the downside.

Continuing Crisis In The Gulf: BP down 5.18%

Continuing Crisis In The Gulf: Transocean (RIG) down 3.3%

Continuing Crisis In The Gulf: Halliburton (HAL) down 6.97%

Big Shale Oil Purchase: Royal Dutch Shell (RDS) down 0.55%

Spanish Banking Consolidation: Santander (SAN.MC) up 1.57%

Worldwide iPad release: Apple (AAPL) up 0.64%

Hurricane Threats: Orange Juice up 1.27%

CEO Pay Scandal: Schlumberger (SLB) down 4.98%

Schlumberger’s CEO is ranked 10th in the world for pay, after a $15.4 million windfall.

Oil Drilling Permits Suspended: Anadarko (APC) down 5.2%

As a result of new U.S. government rules, Anadarko has had drilling permits suspended.

Worried about the future of oil? China isn’t.

See how China is investing in oil projects around the world >

Join the conversation about this story »

This is a guest post from Matt Garland of Healthy Lifestyle Design.

Do you have what it takes to unleash your inner Grok?

Everyone does. It’s inherent in our biology. And yet many don’t, not because of physical obstacles but mental ones. Such barriers manifest as false and misguided perceptions of Primal living’s complexity, difficulty, and restriction. Alas, these devilish traps inhibit many would-be Groks from realizing their full potential.

So, how do you evade these ensnarements and unleash your inner Grok?

You stop worrying about “how” you’ll live Primal and start thinking about “why” you should.

The “why” is essential. If you don’t know why you should adopt Primal living then you never will. How come? Because the “why” gives meaning to what you do. And when you have meaning you have the strength and resolve to succeed.

This simple 1-2-3-4 forumula will guide you to “why” Primal living is right for you. Have fun with it and get ready to unleash your inner Grok!

1. What do I have to lose?

People fear what they don’t understand. And I believe it’s safe to say that many don’t understand the reasons, science, benefits, and intentions of Primal living in the modern world. Hence, your inner Grok will remain scared and buried within under a blanket of misguided beliefs.

This is tragic because much of what conventional wisdom teaches you about Primal living is in fact untrue. Curiosity isn’t enough to overcome this insidious inertia. To unleash your inner Grok and fully reap the bounty of Primal living you must first define your fears.

This may sound like psychologist-talk and that may be true. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. And how it works is by putting your fears into blunt perspective. Fears are often grossly overstated and over-dramatized. Bringing them down to earth is a powerful means of controlling your fears – thereby not letting them control you.

So, what are your fears of living Primal? And what do you have to lose if you try?

Let me tell you what you WON’T lose:

• You won’t lose your “health” to hypertension, high cholesterol, obesity, etc.
• You won’t lose your family
• You won’t lose your personal relationships
• You won’t lose your job
• You won’t lose your mind
• You won’t lose your freedom
• You won’t lose your self-identity or self-confidence
• And you definitely won’t lose your life

Put plainly, there aren’t any substantive, decisive, permanent, or dangerous reasons to not try out the Primal living philosophy.

Once you see this, acknowledge this, and believe this you will unleash previously unknown and untapped wells of curiosity, motivation, and determination for greatness of health and life.

2. What do I have to gain?

You’ve defined your Primal living worst-case-scenarios. You’ve discovered that they aren’t the apocalyptic crises propagandized by many. In fact, the costs are meager, even trivial in many cases.

But lose-framing alone won’t do the job. You must define all that you can gain from trying the Primal living lifestyle. Take this seriously because understanding benefits is a much greater force for inspiration and courage than merely acknowledging the low costs.

So, what all can you gain from trying to live Primal?

Think rationally but think big! Grok certainly did. Here are some ideas to get you started:

• I’ll have real-world experience to evaluate the Primal living philosophy on its merits
• I’ll become more self-confident by allowing myself to try something new to improve my health and life
• I’ll cultivate more energy and focus as I ween off of energy-draining processed foods
• I’ll gain more peace-of-mind and personal freedom from Primal living’s simplicity
• I’ll feel better as I allow my body to perform activities and functions that it was built to do
• I’ll reclaim my right to be the full authority of my personal health and happiness
• I’ll have fun trying new foods and new activities as well as by building new social relations that share the Primal living ideals
• I’ll develop much improved wellness from elevated quality of sleep, nutrition, relaxation, etc

Feel free to pause your analysis here and compare your lose-list with your gain-list. The dichotomy is surely profound – illustrating the incredible ROI of a Primal lifestyle.

Okay, break over. Time to carry on!

3. What do my friends and family have to lose and gain?

Humans do not live in isolation. We are social creatures. This relationship, network-building skill is a defining characteristic of our species responsible largely for our survival and evolution.

Grok knew this well. No member of the tribe was more important that the tribe itself.

Fully understanding this axiom is the next powerful means of unleashing your inner Grok because you’ll see that your choice to live Primal won’t only empower yourself but your tribe as well.

So ask your family members and dear friends about their thoughts on Primal living. Share your lose-versus-gain analysis. Describe your beliefs in unleashing the power of your true Grok.

And compliment the feedback you collect with your own thoughts about how your friends and family will benefit from a Primal you. Maybe you’ll determinate that:

• My friends and family will have a stronger, healthier, more energized me to be around
• My friends and family can learn from my learnings about Primal living
• My friends and family will gain more respect for me as I confidently pursue greater health
• My friends and family will become inspired by my example and want to try Primal living too
• My friends and family will better understand me and my beliefs in living a remarkable life

Such determinations are deeply personal to you. Make them meaningful and make them count.

And don’t be shy. Some won’t understand. Others won’t agree. That’s okay. Be respectful to all opinions but firm in yours. And always remember, “the sure path to failure and misery is trying to please everybody.” – Tim Ferriss

4. Can I take it for a test drive?

Hopefully by now you’ve seen the logic and benefit to Primal living and are ready to try. If so, let’s get to it!

But if you’re not, here’s the final step in unleashing your inner Grok – just TRY it!

Choosing to try Primal living is not a permanent, all-binding decision. There is no fine-print to be weary of. You’re in control, remember? So relax and simply take Primal living for a test drive.

Evaluate your progress mentally, physically, and emotionally after a few weeks. Like what you see and feel? Awesome! Keep going! Don’t like what you see and feel? Then pause and re-evaluate. Or even stop if you so choose. The choice is yours.

But do yourself right and give your Primal living trial a fair go. One week isn’t adequate enough. Aim for two. Nothing happens (positive or negative) overnight.

And lastly, you need not go “all-in” on Primal living at the start. Radical lifestyle changes have a much higher degree of failure. So it’s perfectly acceptable (even encouraged) to start slow. Adopt a few of the Primal lifestyle elements to begin with. Evolve from there.

What do you think?

Why is Primal living important and meaningful for you?

What obstacles have you evaded on your Primal lifestyle journey?

What advice would you give those just starting to unleash their inner Groks?

Please share your thoughts in the comments because all Groks (young and wise) will benefit!

(Photo: stuckincustoms)

About Matt:

Matt Gartland is a healthy lifestyle geek extraordinaire, blogger, world traveler, lifestyle entrepreneur, lifelong kid, bookworm, athlete, and more.

He writes at Healthy Lifestyle Design (HLD), where he unleashes his passion for remarkable and unconventional living propelled by amazing health. Follow Matt on Twitter and join the HLD Tribe on Facebook.

Related posts:

1. Unleash Your Inner Grok
2. The “Grok Crawl”
3. Did Grok Really Eat That Much Meat?

Ye has kept relatively quiet for some time now, but on his new single, Kanye emphatically announces his return to music. Power is just that, a powerful track laced with a gritty baseline and Mr. West going on with his braggadocios self, “I guess every superhero needs his theme music”.

Listen to the track now after the jump.

K p by user9196076

Ozzy Osbourne scares the tourists! That Ozzy’s always horsing around. The singer pranked visitors at the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in New York City this week by standing in for his wax figure. In anticipation of the release of his new album Scream out June 22, the Black Sabbath star decided to have some fun and provoke some screams by scaring unsuspecting tourists at Times Square hotspot.

Android 2.2 Froyo features

• Video walkthough
• Benchmarking Android 2.2 (Froyo) and the JIT against Android 2.1 (Eclair)
• Google Android developer explains more about Dalvik and the JIT in Froyo
• Froyo Feature: A better Android Market
• Froyo Feature: Android 2.2 screen rotation
• Froyo Feature: vcf contact cards now integrated into Android 2.2
• Froyo Feature: 3D gallery and camera changes in Android 2.2
• Froyo Feature: Easily switch between your eight-most recent applications
• Froyo Feature: A better stock Android keyboard
• Froyo Feature: Bluetooth voice dialing
• Froyo Feature: 802.11n WiFi support
• Froyo Feature: How to use the Google Chrome to Phone Extension
• Froyo Feature: New security lock options
• Froyo Feature: USB and wireless hotspot tethering
• Froyo feature: USB Mass Storage tweaks

• How to update Android 2.2 Froyo to your Nexus One, the manual way
• Running a modded Nexus One? Here’s the easiest way to get Froyo
• Now that we have Froyo, it’s time to feed Flash to Android 2.2
• Yes, the version of Froyo we’re using isn’t final, but you knew that, right?
• Why carriers need time to upgrade their Android versions [#io2010]

Evo 4G news

• Sprint Evo 4G hardware hands-on
• Sprint Evo 4G software walkthrough
• How to turn off Sense on the Evo 4G and return the stock Android home screens
• Video: Multitouch on the Sprint Evo 4G
• Sprint Evo 4G sized up alongside the Palm Pre
• Evo 4G’s front-facing camera shoots images in reverse
• Sling Player, Android, Evo 4G – ’nuff said
• HTC EVO 4G rooted before its official release
• Win a free Evo 4G from Android Central! [contest]

Other hardware news

• Motorola Droid Shadow
• And here’s another picture of the Motorola Droid Shadow
• Hands-on with the LG Ally [#io2010]
• T-Mobile is making the myTouch 3G Slide the center of its universe
• T-Mobile Garminfone coming June 9 for $199 after rebate
• Dell Streak gets official announcement & specs
• Shots of space – from the HTC Incredible

Other software news

• Fring nearly as excited about the Evo 4G as you, launches video calling
• Vlingo speech app now available in the Market
• Android Quick App – Adobe Reader
• Android Quick App: Pixel Zombies Live Wallpaper

Google/Android news

• Google snags Palm webOS UI guru Matias Duarte to work on Android

This is a post by Android Central. It is sponsored by the Android Central Accessories Store

Finalmente ha sido cazado, por fin podemos ver el Volkswagen Jetta completamente al descubierto. Incluso, una de las fotos espía publicada es del interior de este nuevo vehículo. También debemos destacar que la unidad fotografiada no tienen ningún tipo de camuflaje.

Para este nuevo diseño, Volkswagen ha optado por hacer uso de unas ópticas más pequeñas de lo que nos tienen acostumbrados. En general, la nueva línea del Jetta es muy elegante a la vez que tiene algún toque deportivo.

Por otra parte, el modelo de las fotos corresponde a la versión americana. Sobre la europea no sabemos nada todavía aunque se rumorea que no contará con grandes cambios estéticos.

Related posts:

1. 25.000 Volkswagen Jetta llamados a revisión
2. Volkswagen Phaeton, fotos espía
3. Volkswagen Golf MKVII, fotos espía

[JURIST] US President Barack Obama [official website] held a press conference [transcript] Thursday to announce new regulations to mitigate future oil spill disasters and the current plan of action for resolving the crisis created by the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill [BBC backgrounder] in the Gulf of Mexico. The government will be suspending several offshore drilling activities including exploration of platform locations in Alaska, pending lease sales in the Gulf and Virginia, and the drilling of 33 deepwater exploratory wells in the Gulf. The government will also suspend the issuance of new permits to drill deepwater wells for six months. Obama stated that increased government regulation in the oil industry was necessary to alter the “cozy and sometimes corrupt” relationship it has built with federal regulators, specifically the Minerals Management Service (MMS) [official website]. The president admitted that even though Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar [official profile] has worked hard to reform the once notoriously corrupt MMS, more action is necessary to ameliorate that agency’s malfeasance. Responsibilities of the MMS, which include not only providing permits, but also enforcing laws governing oil
drilling, will be divided so individuals who permit the drilling will be different from those that are in charge of regulation and enforcement of safety standards. New permits from the MMS will also require a 30-day safety and environmental review. When asked about the resignation of MMS director Elizabeth Birnbaum [official profile], Obama stated that he was not yet aware of the circumstances under which Birnbaum resigned, but that he had given Salazar command of the “top-to-bottom” reformation of the MMS and trusted him to secure a staff which is “operating at the highest level and aren’t making excuses when things break down, but are intent on fixing them.” Obama closed the press conference by reiterating his commitment to tackle the crisis created by the oil spill.

The US government has struggled to gain political control over the oil spill ever since the severity of the spill and the lack of federal regulation of offshore drilling became public. Last week, Obama signed an executive order establishing an independent commission [JURIST report] to investigate offshore drilling and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The bipartisan National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling will be charged with identifying the causes of the BP oil spill and developing options to mitigate future occurrences through laws, regulations and agency reform. The Obama administration has also asked Salazar to conduct a “top-to-bottom” reform of the MMS [speech text] and ordered immediate inspections of all deep water operations in the Gulf. The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was a result of an oil well blowout that caused an explosion 5,000 feet below the surface of the Gulf. The amount of oil spilled into the Gulf is part of an ongoing debate but the resulting oil slick has covered at least 2,500 square miles and has now surpassed the Exxon Valdez [JURIST news archive] as the worst oil spill in US history. The White House is keeping a daily chronology of events [text].

Wade Roush wrote:

The Cambridge, MA-based One Laptop Per Child Foundation arguably launched an industry with its XO-1 Laptop, which first went into large-scale production in 2007. The worldwide buzz generated by the little green machine, which was intended mainly for classroom use in technologically underserved areas of the world, inspired computer makers to build an array of low-cost commercial netbooks. But since then, hardware makers have leapfrogged OLPC—with Apple’s iPad, in particular, fueling perceptions that the future of personal computing lies in tablet-style devices with multitouch screens.

This week, the organization unveiled its near-term plans for catching up with the tablet revolution—but it bears little resemblance to the snazzy, dual-screen device OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte first showed off in May 2008. Instead, the foundation is working with Santa Clara, CA-based Marvell Technology Group to develop a version of Marvell’s planned Moby tablet that will run OLPC’s Linux-based operating system and educational software.

Marvell announced the Moby as a “reference design” in March. Envisioned to cost $99 or less, the device will have Marvell’s own 1-Gigahertz Armada microprocessor inside, and will have a multitouch, high-definition LCD screen. At the website for the Moby initiative, Mobylize.org, the company pitches the device as a low-cost alternative to the iPad for students, who could use it for reading e-textbooks. (In a politically savvy pilot program, Marvell says it plans to donate one Moby tablet to every student in an at-risk public school in the District of Columbia.)

Judging from early mock-ups of the Moby—which will be available this fall, according to Marvell—the device will resemble a somewhat chunky iPad, right down to the single “home” button on the bezel. Marvell hasn’t announced the device’s full specs, but says the tablet will include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM, and GPS radios and will support “multiple software standards including full Adobe Flash, Android, Windows Mobile, and Ubuntu.” (Ubuntu is a variant of Linux.) Like the iPad, the Moby is expected to have a long battery life compared to a laptop, but unlike the iPad, it will have a built-in camera for photography and video conferencing. Marvell also says the device’s virtual keyboard will provide “touch feedback,” although it hasn’t specified how this will work.

With OLPC’s software on board, the Moby tablet should be able to do support all the same educational activities the XO-1 does, including the wireless mesh networking that is a key element of the foundation’s “constructionist” philosophy for computer-mediated learning. Because it won’t have a physical keyboard or many of the other moving parts that go into a laptop, the device may even be more …Next Page »

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UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS

Para competir com seu rival direto, o Smart ForTwo da Mercedes, a BMW está estudando a produção de uma versão de dois lugares para o seu Mini, e assim aumentar seus lucros com carros mais baratos que o de costume.

O novo modelo do Mini teria um motor de 3 cilindros, o que possibilitaria a produção do veículo a um preço aceitável pela montadora alemã. As apostas são de que um novo conceito do Mini apareça em algum evento em breve.

Também existe outro plano da BMW, que seria baseado no modelo da foto acima, o Beachcomber. Mas não existem maiores informações a respeito, apenas em um futuro próximo.

Via | Blogauto

House Democratic leaders just started a series of procedural votes leading up to what they hope will be passage of sweeping legislation extending a number of expiring tax breaks and unemployment insurance benefits.

To appease budget hawks in their own party, however, they’ve made a number of changes. Most significantly:

1) They’ve cleaved the bill into two parts: one that includes the tax extensions and unemployment benefits provision, and one that would prevent Medicare doctors from receiving a steep pay cut at the end of this month.

2) The bill no longer extends COBRA health benefits, which help newly unemployed workers pay their health insurance premiums.

3) And it no longer includes funding to help states cover Medicaid patients — funding the states see as vital to balance their budgets, as Medicaid rolls have increased through the recent economic downturn at the same time that revenues have dropped.

If the two bills pass the House today, they will then move to the Senate, which, for all practical purposes, has already adjourned for a week-long Memorial Day vacation. That leaves the upper chamber to take up the House bills when Congress returns June 7. Meanwhile, a number of safety-net benefits — including unemployment benefits and COBRA health benefits — will expire.

This exchange will appear in the June 24 issue of The New York Review. Peter Beinart’s essay “The Failure of the American Jewish Establishment” appeared in the Review‘s June 10 issue. Abraham H. Foxman is National Director of the Anti Defamation League in New York City.

Benjamin Netanyahu; drawing by John Springs

Abraham H. Foxman:

Peter Beinart offers a conveniently impressionistic view of the American Jewish community to frame his critique of Israeli policy trends. He should know better than to fall into the trap of generalizing about the Jewish state without giving proper context for what is going on.

He sees an Israel that is clearly moving to the right, that has less regard for the “other,” no matter who that may be, and that is unwilling to take seriously efforts toward peace. Beinart seems to be suffering from the same problems we have seen in the Obama administration, ignoring what Israel has gone through over the last decade and thereby misreading what Israelis are thinking today.

Israelis, to a large extent, and this is shared by many in the American Jewish community (another of Beinart’s targets), feel frustrated that all their efforts toward changing the dynamic have been met with rejection and/or violence. Most Israelis understand that continuing to sit in the West Bank is not good for the country. So at Camp David in 2000 they tried a solution of ending the conflict, which included withdrawing from 90 percent of the territories and eliminating the majority of settlements. They got a big no and suicide bombs.

In 2005, they withdrew unilaterally from Gaza with the intent to do likewise in the West Bank because they saw no partner for peace. They got Hamas and rockets against their civilians. In 2008, with a different Palestinian interlocutor, they went back to a full and better offer for a Palestinian state and got nothing again. So after all that, is it surprising that the public in the last election said, nothing works, let’s hold on until there’s real change on the other side?

There’s no evidence, contrary to Beinart, that there’s a fundamental change in Israel away from peace and away from concessions. What there is is a justified cynicism about the willingness of the other side to end the conflict and a confusion about what real options Israel has regarding its dilemma of how to withdraw and still have security.

The lesson that Beinart and the administration should draw from all this is not what kinds of pressures should be put on Israel to change the situation. Israel has taken initiatives and will be ready to do so again when the time is ripe.

The issue is what can be done with a divided Palestinian leadership and with at best a passive if not destructive Arab world, to bring about that long-awaited change in which the Palestinians fully accept the legitimacy of the Jewish state. That should be the goal so that when Israel once again moves toward a new initiative, for the first time there will be a Palestinian side, supported by the Arab states, ready to say yes, a yes that will finally change the lives of Israelis and Palestinians for the better.

Peter Beinart:

Abraham Foxman’s letter illustrates the problem my essay tries to describe: an American Jewish leadership that publicly defends the Israeli government, any Israeli government, rather than defending Israeli democracy, even when the former menaces the latter.

Obviously, as Foxman suggests, the Palestinians are not blameless. Yasser Arafat deserves history’s scorn for not responding more courageously to the chances for peace at Camp David and the much better ones put forward by Clinton in December 2000. And the election of Hamas was a tragedy, for both Israel and the Palestinians. But to suggest that Palestinian and Arab behavior fully explains the growing authoritarian, even racist, tendencies in Israeli politics is to don a moral blindfold, a blindfold that most young American Jews, to their credit, will not wear.

Firstly, Palestinian rejectionism cannot explain Avigdor Lieberman’s crusade to humiliate, disenfranchise, and perhaps even eventually expel Arab Israelis, the vast majority of whom want nothing more than to be accepted as equal citizens in the country of their birth. Lieberman is not a marginal figure. He was Benjamin Netanyahu’s chief of staff; he heads Israel’s third-largest party; he serves as foreign minister; and when Israel held mock elections in ten high schools last year, he won.

Nor are his views marginal. In 2008, in a poll cited by Yediot Ahronot, 40 percent of Jewish Israelis did not believe that Arab Israelis should be allowed to vote. Among Jewish Israeli high school students surveyed this March, the figure was 56 percent. We cannot wish this away, and we cannot blame it all on Israel’s foes. When do American Jewish organizations plan to start forcefully opposing Lieberman and the forces he represents? When he becomes prime minister?

Secondly, Palestinian rejectionism does not explain Netanyahu’s deep-seated hostility to a Palestinian state. Foxman praises Ehud Barak and Ehud Olmert for their willingness to concede such a state in East Jerusalem and almost all of the West Bank. (Olmert’s was never a formal offer, and came when he was already a lame duck, but he deserves credit for it nonetheless.) But if Foxman genuinely supports those offers, why does he not criticize Netanyahu’s opposition to them? Netanyahu, after all, spent the Barak and Olmert years opposing a Palestinian state. And even last year, when under intense American pressure he verbally endorsed the concept, he simultaneously added two conditions that make a peace deal virtually impossible: that Jerusalem remain united under Israeli sovereignty and that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.

In the real Israel, as opposed to the imaginary one that American Jewish leaders conjure, there is no consensus on a Palestinian state. There are Israelis who believe that such a state is a demographic and moral necessity. And there are Israelis—like Lieberman, Effi Eitam, and the leaders of Shas—who are doing their best to make a Palestinian state impossible, for instance by ringing East Jerusalem with settlements. American Jewish leaders cannot profess solidarity with the first group while serving as intellectual bodyguards for the second.

There is a strange lack of Israeli agency in Foxman’s story. It is true that Palestinian leaders in the West Bank are weak, and that this makes a peace settlement harder. But their weakness flows in part from their inability to stop settlement growth. (Even this year, despite Netanyahu’s “freeze,” his own transportation minister boasts that “the construction momentum in Judea and Samaria is the same as when it was at its peak.”) It is true that the Palestinians are divided. But when the Saudis brokered a national unity government in February 2007, Israel and the US did everything they could to torpedo it, including reportedly urging elements in Fatah to try (unsuccessfully) to seize power militarily in Gaza, thus overturning the election that Hamas won.

The ADL was founded “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.” What I have always admired about that statement is its suggestion that to truly defend Jewish dignity, one must also defend the dignity of other vulnerable groups. At home, the ADL still honors that mission, working valiantly, for instance, against racial profiling in Arizona. But how can an organization that is so vigilant in opposing bigotry in the US be so complacent about a government shaped by men like Lieberman, Effi Eitam, and Ovadia Yosef? How can it not take its rightful place in the struggle on behalf of Palestinians evicted from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah?

When it comes to Israel, the ADL too often ignores the interconnectedness of Jewish and non-Jewish dignity. After all, the same sort of settler fanatics who burn Palestinian olive groves also assassinated an Israeli prime minister. The same ultra-Orthodox hooligans who burn Christian holy books also attack Jewish women trying to pray at the Western Wall. And the same Israeli government that demonizes Israeli Arabs also demonizes Israeli human rights groups. To be for ourselves, we must also be for others. I hope the ADL will live that ethic again.