Rubio rounding up support for immigration bill

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Senate debate on a far-reaching immigration bill is becoming a test of Sen. Marco Rubio's influence over fellow Republicans as the Florida conservative works to sell GOP lawmakers on landmark legislation that also may help determine the fate of his presidential ambitions.

Rubio, a tea party favorite who's acted as the bill's emissary to the conservative community, has spent recent weeks meeting individually with Republican senators to discuss changes to the bill that could get them on board. That included working with conservative Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, on a border security amendment Cornyn outlined Wednesday in The Dallas Morning News.

Rubio was to address House conservatives Wednesday, and he's been promoting the legislation with numerous TV and radio appearances. On Tuesday alone, he showed up on Fox News Channel, CNBC and Hugh Hewitt's talk radio show.

At the same time he's been making immigration advocates uneasy by issuing demands for stronger border security provisions in the legislation, including giving Congress more authority to write a border security plan instead of the Homeland Security Department. Rubio says he won't support the bill without such changes, and it won't be able to pass.

For Rubio, it's part of the balancing act he's been performing all year since joining more seasoned legislators like Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as part of the so-called Gang of Eight senators who authored the immigration bill. His challenge is to maintain the support of the tea party backers who lend him credibility and leverage in the immigration debate, while also getting credit for pushing a landmark piece of legislation that's opposed by many in the tea party but is a priority to the Latino voters who increasingly help determine the outcome of presidential elections.

"He speaks their language, he's been one of them this entire time, he was a tea party favorite from the beginning," said Rebecca Tallent, director of immigration policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, and a former aide to McCain. "Will he take some responsibility if they can't build a large coalition in the Senate? Absolutely. But so will the rest of the gang members."

The legislation, a priority for President Barack Obama, aims to boost border security and workplace enforcement, transform legal immigrant and worker programs and put some 11 million immigrants here illegally on a path to citizenship.

As the only author of the bill with the bona fides to sell it to conservatives, Rubio's been seen for months as key to its passage.

In recent weeks, Rubio's efforts have been largely behind the scenes as the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Rubio is not a member, debated the legislation before approving it on a bipartisan vote. Now, with the full Senate set to take up the bill next week, Rubio's about to assume a more public role. His performance may spell success or failure for the bill and for his own political prospects as a potential presidential candidate in 2016.

Rubio and other backers of the bill are working to build support for the legislation in the Democratic-controlled Senate, convinced that a resounding vote that includes many Republicans would pressure the GOP-led House to act.

But for now, while support is all but assured from a large majority of the Senate's 54-member Democratic caucus (including two independents), only Rubio, McCain and the two other Republicans who helped write the bill ? Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Jeff Flake of Arizona ? are definite "yes" votes among the GOP. On "Fox and Friends" on Tuesday, Rubio said the bill wouldn't have the 60 votes needed to pass the Senate without improvements.

Working with a list of 15 to 20 Republican senators who potentially could be persuaded to vote for the bill, Rubio's been meeting individually with lawmakers to hear their concerns. He worked with Cornyn on an amendment to enact tough new border requirements, including a biometric exit system at all airports and seaports, before any immigrant here illegally could achieve permanent legal residence. Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said Tuesday they'd met with Rubio to discuss their concerns over border security and enforcement, and Portman said he was weighing amendments to address them.

Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., wrote an opinion piece in the Las Vegas Review-Journal last weekend in which he seemed open to the bill if improvements could be made and discussed meeting with Rubio to make them.

"He's done a great job selling this to conservative talk show hosts and others in the conservative community," McCain said.

But Rubio's moves unsettle liberals who fear that the insistence on establishing new border requirements first could end up making the path to citizenship unachievable.

"I just hope he doesn't think he can give away the store and count on the kind of unified Democratic support we have now," said Frank Sharry of America's Voice, an immigrant advocacy group.

One change Rubio has focused on would give Congress, instead of the Homeland Security Department, a bigger role in creating a border security plan since many Republicans are skeptical of the Obama administration's commitment to enforcing border security. As he described it on Hewitt's show Tuesday, the plan would be legislated as part of the immigration bill, although other Republicans, including Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., have discussed having Congress vote on whether the border has been secured.

"People don't want to just turn it over to the Homeland Security Department to come up with a plan," Rubio said. "They want the plan to be laid out specifically with real measurables, and I think that's a good approach and so we're working with members now to do that."

"If we can pass a measure that ensures that we will never again have another wave of illegal immigration, I believe we will have immigration reform. And if we do not pass that, if that does not happen, I believe there will not be immigration reform. It's as simple as that."

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Follow Erica Werner on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ericawerner

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rubio-rounding-support-immigration-bill-072050164.html

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Report: Apple Is Finally Sealing Deals For Its Internet Radio

The New York Times is reporting that Apple's much-rumored music streaming service may soon be ready?even in time for next week's WWDC?thanks to the company finally signing contracts with major music labels.

The report suggests that Apple signed a deal with the Warner Music Group over the weekend for both recorded music rights and music publishing. It also apparently cemented an agreement with Universal Music Group over recorded music rights?but remains in discussion with Sony Music Entertainment. If it can snag the third it's home and dry, because together those three dominate the music market.

It is, of course, unclear exactly how the oft-rumored Apple music streaming service could turn out if it does materialize. But there does seems to be general consensus that it will be an internet radio service, differentiating itself from the like of Spotify and Rdio, and inevitably bad news for Pandora. Indeed, the licensing fees paid by Pandora have caused some heartache among music companies, who may now be softening to Apple's advances as a result?even if it is gunning to keep costs down.

As for the arrival of such a service at WWDC next week, well, it's an optimistic rumor. But if Apple does manage to have the majority of contracts in place ahead of June 10th it's not beyond the realms of possibility. Either way, we don't have too long to wait before we find out. [New York Times]

Source: http://gizmodo.com/report-apple-is-finally-sealing-deals-for-its-internet-510984817

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Student Breaks Cymbals, Recovers with Star-Spangled Banner Salute

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2013 elections promise fireworks (cbsnews)

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Egyptian tourist critically injured in Istanbul protests -medics

In my apartment, the cordless phone sits right next to the 2,400 baud modem ... in my drawer of outdated gadgets. My last VCR sits at the bottom of a landfill, buried right next to my VHS copy of "Y2K: The Movie." But for some consumers right here in America, ancient technologies are still a part of everyday life as they continue to buy brand-new cassette tapes, subscribe to dial-up Internet and make calls from a pay phone.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egyptian-tourist-critically-injured-istanbul-protests-medics-134544867.html

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This week in history

This week in history: Joan of Arc was martyred, a ballet causes a riot, and two people made it to the top of Everest for the first time. Plus, London's Big Ben clock goes into operation. Read all about it.

Joan of Arc (AP)

Joan of Arc martyred
Considered a heroine of France, the 18-year-old claimed to hear the voice of God that told her to lead the French army to several victories in the 100 Years War. She was eventually captured by the British who burned her at the stake as a heretic on May 30, 1431. Five hundred years later the pious war hero was canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.

Edmund Hillary, Col. John Hunt and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953 (AP)

First people to summit Mount Everest
Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first people to summit Mount Everest, the world's highest peak, 60 years ago. The amazing feat has been followed by about 3,500 other climbers. The legacy seems to be a dirty one?the mountain is littered with garbage.

Big Ben clock in London (Getty Images)
Big Ben goes into operation
On May 31, 1859, the clock tower at the Palace of Westminster, commonly known as Big Ben, began operation. The nickname, referring to the bell inside the tower, was officially named the Elizabeth Tower to celebrate the queen's diamond jubilee in 2012.

Composer Igor Stravinsky (Getty Images)

'Rite of Spring' causes riot
Ballet is not normally associated with outrage, but this dance, provocatively choreographed by Vaslav Nijinsky with music composed by Igor Stravinsky and performed on May 29, 1913, in Paris, was too modern for some ears and eyes.

As Slate described it, "As the music became more brutal and rhythmically complex and Nijinsky?s provocative choreographing of the sacrifice of a young virgin unfolded, laughter and catcalls devolved into an outright riot, with the audience becoming so loud at points that the orchestra could not even be heard." One hundred years later, the piece is "indisputably one of the most important and influential compositions of the 20th century."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/week-history-131920813.html

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The scoop on bird poop: Evolving diversity of microbial life in bird guts

May 31, 2013 ? Gut bacteria are known to have a central role both in human and in animal health. Animals acquire different bacteria as they age but how the microbial communities in the bodies of wild animals change over time is not well understood. Wouter van Dongen and colleagues at the Vetmeduni Vienna have examined the gastrointestinal bacteria of chick and adult black-legged kittiwakes. Surprisingly, the microbial assemblages of chicks and adults generally differ greatly, with only a few types of bacteria in common.

The findings have recently been published in the journal BMC Ecology.

Gastrointestinal bacteria are important for digestion, immune functions and general health. Wouter van Dongen and colleagues from the Konrad Lorenz Institute of Ethology of the Vetmeduni Vienna have collaborated with scientists from the Laboratoire ?volution & Diversit? Biologique (EDB), Toulouse and from the US Geological Survey, Anchorage to study the cloacal bacterial assemblies of black-legged kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla). The bacteria in the cloaca are known to be similar to assemblages deeper within the gastrointestinal tract, so the researchers examined samples from the cloaca of birds at different ages to look indirectly at gut bacteria.

Flushing bacteria

To obtain bacterial samples, the researchers "flushed" the birds' cloacae by gently infusing a salt solution into the cloacae and collecting the liquid. The bacterial diversity in the cloaca of each bird could be estimated with the aid of molecular genetic techniques. The scientists were able to identify different bacterial assemblages and thus to draw a clear picture of how bacterial communities in bird guts change as the birds age.

From a youthful hodgepodge to a stable community

There turned out to be a great variety of bacterial species in the guts of kittiwake chicks but the assortment in the adults was much less diverse. Astonishingly, the sampled chicks and adults had only seven out of a total of 64 bacteria species in common and some of the bacteria that were very common in adults were not present in chicks at all. Wouter van Dongen says, "We were very surprised to find that the bacteria in chick gastrointestinal tracts are so different from those in adults. Given that chicks share the nest with their parents and eat food that is regurgitated by the parents, we expected the level of bacterial sharing to be a lot higher." The scientists? findings suggest that young birds are susceptible to many species of bacteria that pass through their gut. As the animals mature, the number of bacterial species decreases. Particular groups of bacteria that stay ultimately form a stable community.

A number of causes

It is known from other studies that the composition of gastrointestinal microbes changes according to the age of the host. The differences may correlate with changes in the birds? gut chemistry over time or with changes in diet or may result from competition between bacterial species. A more developed immune system in adults and the lack of mobility of the young could also play a part. Further studies are needed to determine the causes and consequences of the variation in the bacterial assemblages in guts of wild birds.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Veterin?rmedizinische Universit?t Wien.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Wouter FD van Dongen, Jo?l White, Hanja B Brandl, Yoshan Moodley, Thomas Merkling, Sarah Leclaire, Pierrick Blanchard, ?tienne Danchin, Scott A Hatch, Richard H Wagner. Age-related differences in the cloacal microbiota of a wild bird species. BMC Ecology, 2013; 13 (1): 11 DOI: 10.1186/1472-6785-13-11

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/k0MAdBmzEdI/130531105238.htm

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