Extinction May Not Be Forever

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De-extinction. What if plants and animal species wiped out of existence could be brought back? That's the novel notion springing from recent advances in synthetic biology. The idea is simple. Find samples, like the mummified passenger pigeon discovered recently in a museum desk drawer, and collect its DNA. Compare said DNA to that of its closest living relatives to see what specific genes make a passenger pigeon unique. Then splice those crucial genes into the living relative's DNA strands to produce a genetic copy of the extinct animal. Resurrection. The restoration potential is not limited to plants and animals that we have just recently eliminated. We could also potentially bring back species like woolly mammoths or saber-tooth cats. Not dinosaurs though, since DNA has a half-life of just 521 years or so. Of course, successfully bringing back the mammoth might also require restoration of its habitat, so it has a home to roam. But even without the reappearance of charismatic megafauna, such techniques will find uses from agriculture to injecting a bit more genetic diversity into dwindling populations of endangered species. The biggest contribution of the new biotechnology may not be de-extinction, but preventing extinction in the first place. Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.
? 2013 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/extinction-may-not-forever-130008094.html

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Are There Really Two Republican Parties? And If So, Why? (Powerlineblog)

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Riding in style: The evolution of the popemobile

Alessandro Di Meo / EPA

Images of the automobiles that have transported popes over the years.

By Elizabeth Chuck, Staff Writer, NBC News

Comes outfitted in protective bullet-proof glass. Draws a crowd wherever it goes. A driver is included; gold trim is optional.

Popemobiles also include such amenities as a handrail to let the pope easily stand and wave while in motion, a built-in stereo and arctic-cool air conditioning.

Eight popes have had their own set of holy wheels since Pope Pius XI got a stretch 460 Nurberg edition Mercedes-Benz in 1930, but the eighth, Pope Francis -- known for?taking the bus to work?before he was named pope -- may not want all the frills and custom built-ins that popemobiles offer.?

By retiring, Benedict XVI has passed along a white armored Mercedes SUV, which has a white leather interior with gold trim and a white leather turret that can be raised by hydraulic lift high enough for crowds to see the pope, if he wants to sit. (For longer trips around Italy, Benedict enjoyed his own helicopter.) Bullet-proof?Plexiglas?that's strong enough to withstand explosions surrounds the turret on three sides. There's an emergency oxygen supply built in, according to?The Telegraph.?

---

"The pope must feel comfortable. People must be able to see him. People have traveled very far; they want to be able to get a good look at him," said Christoph Horn, Director of Global Communications of Mercedes-Benz, from Stuttgart, Germany. "This is about creating a comfortable and safe environment for the pope to travel in and be seen in.?

The pre-mobile
Popes didn't have to wait for the invention of automobiles to be mobile. For centuries, popes traveled by throne when going out on local outings. The popes were carried by 12 bearers (representing the 12 disciples of the church) as they moved through crowds, Ronald Rychlak, a University of Mississippi law school professor who has written numerous books on religion,?said.

Daimler

The first car used by a pope.

All that changed when Pope Pius XI got his Benz. The limousine was a gift from the car company, which would provide vehicles for many popes after that.

"Usually more than one vehicle was provided, especially for the popes in the 1930s," Horn said. "They were traveling a lot, so many popemobiles were built for them."

Back then, popes traveled in limousines with open tops, he said. Over the years, more than 12 different models of cars and trucks would be provided for popes. Pius XI himself ushered in a new era of pope cars in 1960 with a Mercedes 300D Landaulet, which had a throne that rose high in the back, The New York Times reported, before he switched to a 1964 Lincoln model. His successor, Pope Pope VI, went back to the preferred Mercedes brand a year later.

But don't call it 'popemobile'
When popes travel abroad for state visits, it's not always possible for the vehicles they use at home to make the journey with them. Instead, customized cars are prepared ahead of the visit, submitted for Vatican approval from the country he will visit.

"The primary level of security is assigned to the host nation,"?Rychlak said. "If they want to have something like a popemobile for a major parade, let's say they're doing Mass at Yankee stadium or something like that, they would have to make arrangements to ship something over, or that's the kind of situation where there may be a gift made to the pope" by a major car company.

That was how the car that officially became known for the first time as the "popemobile" came into existence: Pope John Paul II had visited Ireland in 1979, and a boxy yellow Ford Transit van awaited him as his chariot. Last November, The Telegraph reported an Irish businessman had acquired the van from the Dublin Wax Museum, where it had been since the papal visit, and was transforming it into a party bus.

Many other popemobiles have stayed in the countries they were used in. In 2008, Newsweek got a peek at the popemobile Benedict used for his U.S. tour, describing it as "by far the fanciest and sleekest papal car ever built ... The papal handlers can shift their passenger from zero to 60 in less than eight seconds, but the drivers probably won't exceed 10 mph along the parade routes."

In 2002, John Paul II asked the media to stop using the term "popemobile," insisting it sounded "undignified."

A clear need for better security
John Paul II survived an assassination attempt in 1981 while in St. Peter's Square. A Turkish man was later convicted of firing the shots, which punctured the pope's car and struck him four times. John Paul II survived, but it was clear his wide-open truck wouldn't suffice to protect him. From then on, bulletproof glass has encased popemobiles, although popes have occasionally ridden around without covering for brief periods.

Arturo Mari / AP

A 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II in St. Peter's Square.

Since adding bulletproof glass, popemobiles have added other necessary features, including ultra-powerful air conditioning to cool down the glass dome that popes sit in, reports The Telegraph.

Other protection measures include heavy-metal reinforcement on the bottom of the vehicle as well as the other sides, and the driver is always a trusted longtime Vatican employee. There's no partition between the pope and his driver; a microphone enables him to broadcast messages to crowds through speakers outside the popemobile.

The current weighs five tons and was just presented to Benedict last December by Mercedes-Benz.

"We work with the members of the Vatican and with the people in charge of the garages of the Vatican," Horn said. "These are all individual vehicles that are built to specifications."

The new pope's desire to get up close and personal with his faithful has presented challenges for his security detail.

"The pope's going to want to be up close hugging and touching and meeting people and that's going to be a tremendous concern for his security people,"?Rychlak said. "His security forces have taken him aside, or probably already have, and are going to say, 'Holy Father, you're putting us in a horrible situation if you don't go along with these things.'"

They're used to having to say that, though: Benedict didn't always like the feeling of a "shield between him and the people,"?Rychlak said. Most popemobiles are designed so the glass can be lowered, though.

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Leadership fight divides Occidental shareholders - report

(Reuters) - Occidental Petroleum Corp chairman and former chief executive Ray Irani is pushing to replace the oil company's current CEO, Stephen Chazen, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing "investors and people familiar with the company's operations."

However, several big investors who support Chazen have considered the possibility of trying to vote some directors, including Irani, off the board, the newspaper said, citing "people familiar with their plans."

The debate over the leadership of the fourth-largest U.S. oil company has divided major shareholders ahead of the company's annual meeting on May 3, the newspaper said.

The boardroom drama comes as shares of Occidental have fallen 18 percent in the past year, compared with an 11 percent rise for California rival Chevron Corp and a 4 percent rise for giant Exxon Mobil Corp.

Occidental, in a brief press release on February 14, announced that it was searching for someone to succeed Chazen, 66, after less than two years in the top job.

Yet, earlier this month at an industry event in New Orleans, Chazen told a group of investors that he did not volunteer to leave, the newspaper said.

Chazen is only the third CEO at Occidental in half a century. Irani was named CEO in 1990 by Armand Hammer, a flamboyant tycoon who spent three decades building the company up from a small firm of just three employees.

Chazen and Irani found both themselves targeted over their high compensation, until a shareholder effort to take board seats sparked reform in 2010. Chazen ended up earning compensation worth $31.7 million (20.8 million pounds) in 2011, down from $38.1 million the year before, while Irani made $49.8 million in 2011, down from $76.1 million.

The 78-year-old Irani, who is scheduled to retire at the end of 2014, owns a substantial amount of Occidental stock, the Journal said.

Occidental's lead director, Aziz Syriani, said in a statement that the company's independent directors, and not Irani, were making decisions about Chazen's eventual successor.

"Any suggestion otherwise, or insinuation that Dr. Irani is guiding the process, is completely and flatly wrong," Syriani said in the statement, which Occidental provided to Reuters.

An Occidental spokeswoman had no additional comment.

(Reporting by Julie Ingwersen; editing by Gunna Dickson)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/leadership-fight-divides-occidental-shareholders-report-181903044--finance.html

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Facebook expected to introduce themed Android OS, HTC handset next week

HTC's Status may not have been a tremendous hit, but it looks like Facebook hasn't severed its ties with the smartphone maker just yet. According to TechCrunch and New York Times sources, April 4th's "Come See Our New Home on Android" event is set to feature an HTC smartphone with a custom, Facebook-centric OS. It's perhaps the next best thing to a phone designed and manufactured by Facebook, but instead, HTC will be tasked with creating the hardware. The integration is expected to run deep, however -- when you power on the device, a Facebook home screen is what you'll see first. Additionally, the device's camera and messaging apps will default to Facebook, according to the New York Times report. Hardware specifications have yet to be revealed, but software will clearly be the focus here. Tune in at 1PM EST next Thursday for our liveblog, direct from Facebook HQ.

Filed under: Cellphones, Internet, HTC, Facebook

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Source: The New York Times, TechCrunch

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/dTqz5fi8OQk/

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13 Big-Time Advertisers On One Of The Sleaziest ... - Business Insider

Media TakeOut is a gossip site that makes TMZ look like The Wall Street Journal.

A typical story has the title, "OH NOOOOOO!!! Kim Kardashian's Thighs Have Been RUBBING TOGETHER Since The Weight Gain . . . And Now They Look All BURNT UP!!!"

It's safe for work ... mostly. Just be careful what you click on.

And dozens of blue-chip brands are advertising on it, including Visa, The Wounded Warrior Project, and AT&T.

One problem with online advertising, particularly when it's bought via automated bidding, is that often huge companies with wholesome images end up unintentionally buying ad space on a strange assortment of websites. As long as the ads get shown to the target audience for the right price, the rest is just details.

We've collected images of 13 brands that might not know what they're advertising next to.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/13-big-time-advertisers-on-one-of-the-sleaziest-websites-online-2013-3

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Pro-ject's Colorful Turntables Please Your Eyes and Your Ears

So you've decided to hop on the vinyl trend. You need a turntable. Pro-ject's candy hued Debut Carbon tables will appeal to both your eyes and your ears. More »

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Syracuse on to Final Four, beats Marquette 55-39

WASHINGTON (AP) ? When played to perfection, there's nothing quite like Syracuse's aggressive, half-court 2-3 zone defense.

It's 40 minutes of trapping and shot-challenging, of closing off angles, of trusting teammates.

"We showed," senior guard Brendan Triche said, "that defense wins games."

Yes, the Orange D certainly does.

With a second suffocating performance at the East Regional, No. 4-seeded Syracuse shut down No. 3 Marquette 55-39 Saturday to earn coach Jim Boeheim his fourth trip to the Final Four ? and first since a freshman named Carmelo Anthony helped win the 2003 NCAA championship.

"A tremendous, tremendous defensive effort," Boeheim said.

Fittingly, a matchup between schools from the soon-to-break-apart, rough-and-tumble Big East became quite a struggle on the offensive end. Syracuse (30-9) was led by senior forward James Southerland's 16 points. Michael Carter-Williams, a 6-foot-6 guard who is out front in the zone, was named the regional's top player after accounting for 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists, five steals and only one turnover Saturday.

Marquette (26-9) hadn't scored fewer than 47 points all season ? and, indeed, put up 74 in a victory over Syracuse on Feb. 25. But this time, Marquette kept turning the ball over, seeing its shots blocked or just plain missing.

The Golden Eagles' 39 points were a record low for a team in an NCAA tournament regional final since the shot clock was introduced in 1986.

"They beat us from start to finish. We collectively tried everything we knew to try," Marquette coach Buzz Williams said. "It is the zone, and it is the players in the zone."

Much like what happened Thursday in the regional semifinals, when Syracuse knocked off top-seeded Indiana by limiting it to a season-low output, too.

"I don't think we've played as good defensively as these last two games," Triche said. "We held some good teams down."

All told, Marquette made only 12 of 53 shots ? 23 percent ? and was 3 for 24 on 3-pointers. Vander Blue, who carried Marquette to the round of eight, was held to 14 points on 3-for-15 shooting.

"They cover ground really good. You've got to get the ball in the middle, you've got to play inside out, you've got to get to the free-throw line and wear them down with the 3-pointer when you can," Blue said. "They're really good at what they do in that zone."

Consider these numbers through four games in the tournament: Syracuse is averaging 6.5 blocks and 10.8 steals, while forcing opponents into 29 percent shooting, including 15 percent on 3-pointers.

"We couldn't get one to drop in from up close," said Marquette's Jamil Wilson, who was 0 for 5 on 3-pointers, 1 for 9 overall. "We couldn't get one to drop in from outside."

The next team to try to solve that defense will be the winner of Sunday's South Regional final between Florida and Michigan. Syracuse is 3-0 in national semifinal games under Boeheim.

And to think: Exactly three weeks ago, in this very same building, Syracuse wrapped up its final Big East regular-season schedule before heading to the Atlantic Coast Conference with a bad-as-can-be performance in a lopsided loss to Georgetown. Syracuse's 39 points that day were the Orange's tiniest total in a half-century.

That was Syracuse's fourth loss in a span of five games, a stumbling way to head into tournament play.

That night, Boeheim forgot to adjust his alarm clock to account for daylight saving time, and so showed up late for a pre-practice coaches' meeting. His players, turned out, had organized their own session without supervision, starting the work it would take to get going in the right direction.

"I watched them for a few minutes and it was really a good thing. I thought our practices were really good after that," Boeheim said. "You can turn things around in this game."

Since then, Syracuse has won seven of eight.

"When you bounce back like that, that says a lot about your kids, your team and your character," Boeheim said. "This is a heck of a bounce back."

And the secret to success? Defense, naturally.

"We got the right personnel for each key position," C.J. Fair said. "We got big long guards, we got big long forwards that can cover ground and our centers do a good job holding down the inside."

Because of that, Syracuse really needed only one run on offense in the second half, making five shots in a row during a spurt that gave it a 41-28 lead with 9? minutes left.

Last season, Syracuse fell a victory short of the Final Four, losing to Ohio State in the round of eight.

"We wanted to get over the hump," Southerland said. "That's what I told the guys: We've still got two more to go."

With President Barack Obama ? a basketball fan who picked Indiana to win the title ? and NFL Rookie of the Year Robert Griffin III of the Washington Redskins sitting in the crowd, Syracuse harassed Marquette into missing 14 of its first 15 tries from beyond the 3-point arc.

Marquette started 1 for 10 overall on field-goal tries, with Blue's 3-pointer about 1? minutes in the only make. He celebrated as though it came at the end of the game, not the outset, punching the air and tapping defender Triche on the back while heading to the other end of the court.

After Blue's 3, Marquette missed its next seven shots. There would be other such stretches. Six misses in a row. Six misses in a row. Even nine in a row.

The Golden Eagles also went nearly 6? minutes without a single field-goal attempt in the first half. Forget about putting the basketball through the net; Syracuse was so smothering, Marquette did not even manage to shoot.

When Southerland hit a 3, off a pass and screen by Carter-Williams, the Orange led 24-18 at halftime.

After helping cut down the net to celebrate Saturday, Southerland was asked whether he thought this sort of thing was possible when his team was leaving the same arena on March 9 after losing meekly to Georgetown.

"We just did a good job of recovering from that," Southerland explained, "and not sulking."

___

Follow Howard Fendrich on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/syracuse-final-four-beats-marquette-55-39-224041028--spt.html

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'Facebook phone' likely to put social network at front of Android

Rosa Golijan , NBC News ? ? ? 1 hr.

"Come See Our New Home on Android," the invitation sent to members of the press on Thursday declared. Does this mean the long-rumored Facebook phone is about to become official? What is the social network's next move? And does it stand a chance?

Facebook is intending to introduce a modified version of Google's Android operating system, according to sourcing from TechCrunch's Josh Constine, the New York Times' Nick Bilton and Brian X. Chen, and the Wall Street Journal's Evelyn M. Rusli and Amir Efrati. This version of Android will put Facebook front and center and "will debut on a handset made by HTC, according to a Facebook employee and another person who were briefed on the announcement," Chen and Bilton explain.

"Imagine Facebook?s integration with iOS 6, but on steroids, and built by Facebook itself," Constine adds. "It could have a heavy reliance on Facebook?s native apps like Messenger, easy social sharing from anywhere on the phone, and more."

?It?s putting Facebook first,? a person familiar with the matter emphasized to Wall Street Journal reporters. But unlike competitors such as Amazon and Google, it is not putting Facebook itself into the hardware game.

"With Amazon, it's pretty clear," mobile industry consultant Chetan Sharma told NBC News. "They want to sell their content and services. They're building their own devices, which is different from what Facebook is doing."

However, the idea of a modified version of Android may be viewed as an act of hostility directed at Facebook's frenemy, Google.

"The reaction from Google will be interesting to see," Sharma pointed out. "There's obviously overlap ... It seems to Google that it's underpinning their Google+ efforts. Longer term, I don't see them letting it go and letting other people do their work."

But even if Google lets Facebook's plans fly, there are other issues to consider, Sharma says. "If it's just a phone that's going to be pushed by HTC, its chances are going to be limited," he explains. "[HTC] doesn't have the marketing powers." To truly stand a shot, Facebook needs to join hands with carriers.

Of course, some might wonder whether any carriers would be game. After all, Facebook's VoIP efforts and its baked-in Messenger service might conflict with carriers' business agendas, right?

Not necessarily so, says Sharma. "In certain markets [VoIP and Messenger] would be challenging," he elaborates. "In markets where unlimited voice and messaging is already bundled in ? in those scenarios operators have less resistance to the idea. They already make money on voice and messaging and they'll also make money on the data used by Facebook."

Initial whispers don't suggest that "Facebook Home," as the social network's device/software combo is expected to be named, is going to be pitched by any carriers, so we'll have to see how things fare with merely HTC. (Of course, that's assuming all these rumors and reports pan out.)

Things will be official on Thursday, April 4, and we'll be in Menlo Park, Calif., to report live.

Want more tech news or interesting links? You'll get plenty of both if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on Twitter, subscribing to her Facebook posts, or circling her on Google+.

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Inside Okla. clinic, a 'menace' to public health

TULSA, Okla. (AP) ? The crisp, stucco exterior of an Oklahoma dental clinic concealed what health inspectors say they found inside: rusty instruments used on patients with infectious diseases and a pattern of unsanitary practices that put thousands of people at risk for hepatitis and the virus that causes AIDS.

State and local health officials planned to mail notices Friday urging 7,000 patients of Dr. W. Scott Harrington to seek medical screenings for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. Inspectors allege workers at his two clinics used dirty equipment and risked cross-contamination to the point that the state Dentistry Board branded Harrington a "menace to the public health."

"The office looked clean," said Joyce Baylor, who had a tooth pulled at Harrington's Tulsa office 1? years ago. In an interview, Baylor, 69, said she'll be tested next week to determine whether she contracted any infection.

"I'm sure he's not suffering financially that he can't afford instruments," Baylor said of Harrington.

Health officials opened their investigation after a patient with no known risk factors tested positive for both hepatitis C and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. After determining the "index patient" had a dental procedure about the likely time of exposure, investigators visited Harrington's office and found a number of unsafe practices, state epidemiologist Kristy Bradley said.

"I want to stress that this is not an outbreak. The investigation is still very much in its early stages," Bradley said.

Harrington voluntarily gave up his license, closed his offices in Tulsa and suburban Owasso, and is cooperating with investigators, said Kaitlin Snider, a spokeswoman for the Tulsa Health Department. He faces a hearing April 19, when his license could be permanently revoked.

"It's uncertain how long those practices have been in place," Snider said. "He's been practicing for 36 years."

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is consulting on the case, and agency spokeswoman Abbigail Tumpey said such situations involving dental clinics are rare. Last year a Colorado oral surgeon was accused of reusing needles and syringes, prompting letters to 8,000 patients, Tumpey said. It wasn't clear whether anyone was actually infected.

"We've only had a handful of dental facilities where we've had notifications in the last decade," Tumpey said.

The Oklahoma Dentistry Board lodged a 17-count complaint against Harrington, saying he was a "menace to the public health by reasons of practicing dentistry in an unsafe or unsanitary manner." Among the claims was one detailing the use of rusty instruments in patients known to have infectious diseases.

"The CDC has determined that rusted instruments are porous and cannot be properly sterilized," the board said.

Health officials are sending letters to 7,000 known patients but cautioned that they don't know who visited his clinics before 2007. The letters urge the patients to be tested for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV ? viruses typically spread through intravenous drug use or unprotected sex, not occupational settings.

Harrington could not be reached for comment Thursday. A message at his Tulsa office said it was closed, and the doctor's answering service referred callers to the Tulsa Health Department. Phone numbers listed for Harrington were disconnected. A message left with Harrington's malpractice attorney in Tulsa, Jim Secrest II, was not immediately returned.

Harrington's Tulsa practice is in a tony part of town, on a row of some of the city's most upscale medical practices. The white-and-green stucco, two-story dental clinic has the doctor's name in letters on the facade.

According to the complaint, the clinic had varying cleaning procedures for its equipment, needles were re-inserted in drug vials after their initial use and the office had no written infection-protection procedure.

Harrington told officials he left questions about sterilization and drug procedures to his employees.

"They take care of that, I don't," the dentistry board quoted him as saying.

The doctor also is accused of letting his assistants perform tasks only a licensed dentist should have done, including administering IV sedation. Also, the complaint says the doctor's staff could not produce permits for the assistants when asked.

Susan Rogers, executive director of the state Dentistry Board, said that as an oral surgeon Harrington regularly did invasive procedures involving "pulling teeth, open wounds, open blood vessels." The board's complaint also noted Harrington and his staff told investigators a "high population of known infectious disease carrier patients" received dental care from him.

Despite the high-risk clientele, a device used to sterilize instruments wasn't being properly used and hadn't been tested in six years, the board complaint said. Tests are required monthly.

Also, a drug vial found at a clinic this year had an expiration date of 1993 and one assistant's drug log said morphine had been used in the clinic last year despite its not receiving any morphine shipments since 2009.

Officials said patients will be offered free medical testing at the Tulsa Health Department's North Regional Health and Wellness Center.

___

Associated Press reporter Jeannie Nuss in Little Rock, Ark., contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/inside-okla-clinic-menace-public-health-070118890.html

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Key groups reach immigration deal as overhaul advances

By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Prospects for a broad U.S. immigration overhaul brightened on Saturday after major U.S. business and labor groups reached an agreement on a guest-worker program, a source familiar with the deal said.

The agreement was reached on Friday night in a conference call between the head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Tom Donohue, and the president of the AFL-CIO labor organization, Richard Trumka, with New York Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer acting as the mediator, according to the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A guest-worker program has been a major stumbling block to efforts by a bipartisan group of senators known as the Gang of Eight to reach a compromise on a way to create a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million illegal immigrants in the United States, most of whom are Hispanics.

Labor unions have argued against a guest-worker program, worrying that a flood of low-wage immigrant laborers would take away jobs from Americans. The agreement covers the pay levels for low-skilled temporary workers and the types of jobs that would be included.

Schumer briefed White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on Saturday on the breakthrough, the source said.

The agreement still must be approved by the Gang of Eight senators, four Democrats and four Republicans. If they do so as expected, Senate legislation on a broad new immigration law would be advanced in the Senate in the coming weeks.

In recent days, the immigration effort had been stalled by failure to forge an agreement on the guest-worker program, although the White House insisted that progress was being made.

President Barack Obama wants to fulfill a campaign pledge by gaining passage of a law that would create a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants currently in the country. He has vowed to do what he can on immigration through executive actions in the absence of legislation.

Immigration long has been a controversial issue in the United States and previous efforts to craft a comprehensive overhaul of American immigration laws have failed, with Democrats and Republicans remaining far apart.

Many Republicans previously had taken a hard position against illegal immigrants. Obama's unsuccessful Republican challenger last year, Mitt Romney, had advocated "self-deportation" of illegal immigrants. Republicans in Arizona and other states passed tough laws cracking down on illegal immigrants.

But the mood for a deal is ripe because Republicans saw Hispanic Americans vote overwhelmingly for Obama and other Democratic candidates in last November's elections and they need to woo this increasingly important voting bloc.

Many Republicans see gaining favor with the Hispanic voting bloc, which accounts for 10 percent of the U.S. electorate and is growing, as a matter of political survival.

Republicans want to ensure that security along the U.S.-Mexican border is improved before immigrants can get on a path to citizenship. Obama feels security is sufficient but this disagreement is not seen as a deal-breaker.

"We're seeing right now a good bipartisan spirit," Obama told Spanish-language network Univision on Wednesday. "I want to encourage that and hopefully we'll be able to get it done."

(Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by Will Dunham)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/business-labor-groups-reach-immigration-deal-overhaul-advances-193136796.html

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The South: A near-solid block against 'Obamacare' (The Arizona Republic)

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Common gene variants explain 42 percent of antidepressant response

Friday, March 29, 2013

Antidepressants are commonly prescribed for the treatment of depression, but many individuals do not experience symptom relief from treatment. The National Institute of Mental Health's STAR*D study, the largest and longest study ever conducted to evaluate depression treatment, found that only approximately one-third of patients responded within their initial medication trial and approximately one-third of patients did not have an adequate clinical response after being treated with several different medications. Thus, identifying predictors of antidepressant response could help to guide the treatment of this disorder.

A new study published in Biological Psychiatry now shares progress in identifying genomic predictors of antidepressant response.

Many previous studies have searched for genetic markers that may predict antidepressant response, but have done so despite not knowing the contribution of genetic factors. Dr. Katherine Tansey of Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London and colleagues resolved to answer that question.

"Our study quantified, for the first time, how much is response to antidepressant medication influenced by an individual's genetic make-up," said Tansey.

To perform this work, the researchers estimated the magnitude of the influence of common genetic variants on antidepressant response using a sample of 2,799 antidepressant-treated subjects with major depressive disorder and genome-wide genotyping data.

They found that genetic variants explain 42% of individual differences, and therefore, significantly influence antidepressant response.

"While we know that there are no genetic markers with strong effect, this means that there are many genetic markers involved. While each specific genetic marker may have a small effect, they may add up to make a meaningful prediction," Tansey added.

"We have a very long way to go to identify genetic markers that can usefully guide the treatment of depression. There are two critical challenges to this process," said Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry. "First, we need to have genomic markers that strongly predict response or non-response to available treatments. Second, markers for non-response to available treatments also need to predict response to an alternative treatment. Both of these conditions need to be present for markers of non-response to guide personalized treatments of depression."

"Although the Tansey et al. study represents progress, it is clear that we face enormous challenges with regards to both objectives," he added. "For example, it does not yet appear that having a less favorable genomic profile is a sufficiently strong negative predictor of response to justify withholding antidepressant treatment. Similarly, there is lack of clarity as to how to optimally treat patients who might have less favorable genomic profile."

Additional research is certainly required, but scientists hope that one day, results such as these can lead to personalized treatment for depression.

###

Elsevier: http://www.elsevier.com

Thanks to Elsevier for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/127522/Common_gene_variants_explain____percent_of_antidepressant_response

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North Korea turns up volume by silencing final military hot line

What happens now?

By Robert Marquand,?Staff writer / March 27, 2013

South Korean Army soldiers patrol along a barbed-wire fence near the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, Wednesday. North Korea said Wednesday that it had cut off a key military hot line with South Korea that allows cross-border travel to a jointly run industrial complex in the North.

Ahn Young-joon/AP

Enlarge

North Korea's edgy game of war talk continued?at ever higher volumes today with the announcement that it will cut off the last military hot line with South Korea.

Skip to next paragraph Robert Marquand

Staff writer

Over the past three decades, Robert Marquand has reported on a wide variety of subjects for?The Christian Science Monitor, including American education reform,?the wars in the Balkans, the Supreme Court, South Asian politics, and the oft-cited "rise of China." In the past 15 years he has served as the Monitor's bureau chief in Paris, Beijing, and New Delhi.?

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?Under the situation where a war may break out any moment, there is no need to keep North-South military communications,? said the regime, according to the Korean Central News Agency in Pyongyang.

The severed line of communication comes as the North, under young and new President Kim Jong-un, has said it is moving into its highest military alert status and has threatened to target Hawaii and Guam with rockets, after last month conducting its third nuclear test.?

The escalating rhetoric has brought a new agreement between US and South Korean officials that would dictate military action should the North cross the border, shell islands, or harm shipping in the kind of low-level actions Pyongyang has attempted in recent years.?

US military officials called the North Korean statement ?bellicose.??Many have expressed doubt that North Korea?s rockets have the range to reach US bases in Guam and Hawaii, but a few, including the?editor of Jane?s Defense Weekly, estimated they could reach US military bases in Japan, according to USA Today.?

Yesterday the small, poor state that is anchored by devotion to the Kim family dynasty, and is now nearly entirely dependent on China for basic sustenance but has also devoted considerable resources to its military, repeated a longstanding threat to turn Seoul into a ?sea of fire,? among other similarly colorful threats.

Earlier this year, the North said it would no longer answer?a hot line at the Demilitarized Zone. The hot line that the country is now threatening to shut down linked the two Koreas at the?Kaesong industrial park, created in the North during the warming winds of unification in the 2000s. The economic complex has long been a symbol of the potential for North-South cooperation.?

The New York Times today notes the North?s threat on the hot line follows comments from?Park Geun-hye,?the newly elected president of South Korea, that North Korea needed to end its nuclear threats in order to gain better traction with the South:

?If North Korea provokes or does things that harm peace, we must make sure that it gets nothing but will pay the price, while if it keeps its promises, the South should do the same,? she said during a briefing from her government?s top diplomats and North Korea policy-makers. ?Without rushing and in the same way we would lay one brick after another, we must develop South-North relations step by step, based on trust, and create sustainable peace.?

Scott Snyder of the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, a veteran Korea-watcher once based in Seoul, tells The Christian Science Monitor that Pyongyang's main grievance appears to be recent United Nations sanctions targeted at the North.

Mr. Snyder argues that the meaning of the North?s sudden blustery behavior will only become clearer ?once the question of the consolidation of [Kim Jong-un?s] power becomes clearer.?

Agence France-Presse today said that a significant meeting among party elites and power brokers in the closed world of Pyongyang is about to take place.

"They will discuss how to handle the nuclear issue, inter-Korean relations and North Korea's longstanding demand for a peace treaty with the United States," Professor Yang Moo-jin of the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul told AFP.

Comparisons between the new Kim and his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, the patriarch of North Korea, are flowing freely, since there is a resemblance between the two. But Snyder notes that too little is yet known of the young Kim, who took over from his father Kim Jong-il last year, and that his youth is not necessarily a plus in such a high-stakes game.

?Right now the song is the same, but the volume is a lot louder. We don?t know his risk tolerance yet ? does he understand the game he is playing??

The US-South Korea military agreement follows a recent scrapping by the North of the historic legal armistice that effectively ended the Korean war in the 1950s. It came on the anniversary of the infamous sinking of the Choenan Navy vessel in 2010, which resulted in the deaths of 46 South Korean sailors, something that has had powerful emotional resonance in the South. (The Choenan was raised from the ocean floor, and forensics by the South claim the vessel was torpedoed by the North, something the North denies.)?

USA Today quotes an Asia-watcher who feels the key to dealing with Pyongyang runs through Beijing:

US diplomats should talk to their Chinese counterparts and say, "Your ally North Korea is acting in a very belligerent and destabilizing way," said [Richard] Bush, who heads the Brookings Institution Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies. "They're acting in ways that are contrary to the principles you [China] have laid out. The situation is somewhat dangerous. You need to restrain your ally."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/P8CCMVqq_nQ/North-Korea-turns-up-volume-by-silencing-final-military-hot-line

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Court: EPA can stop some power plant modifications

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) -- Government regulators can try to halt construction projects at power plants if they think the companies didn't properly calculate whether the changes would increase air pollution, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday, marking the latest twist in a decades-long fight over the Clean Air Act.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sued Michigan-based DTE Energy in 2010, because the company was replacing key boiler parts at its Monroe Unit 2 coal-fired power plant without installing pollution controls. The EPA said the controls were required because the utility was performing a major overhaul, but DTE argued the $65 million project was only routine maintenance and was therefore exempt.

A federal judge threw out the suit, saying the EPA went to court too soon. But the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that decision in a 2-1 ruling, saying the law doesn't block the EPA from challenging suspected violations of its regulations until long after power plants are modified.

Thursday's ruling comes amid years of skirmishing between the EPA and the electric power industry over bringing coal-fired plants into compliance with the Clean Air Act. The federal law requires utilities to figure out ahead of time what kind of pollution any proposed changes to their power plants may cause, but the industry, environmental groups and EPA often differ over what circumstances require adding the anti-pollution devices.

DTE performed calculations required under EPA regulations and concluded that after the project, its annual emissions of sulfur dioxide would rise by 3,701 tons and its nitrogen oxide emissions would rise by 4,096 tons. But it contended the increases would result from higher demand for electric power, not the plant modifications. The EPA disagreed, saying the project would cause "a significant net emissions increase."

U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman agreed with DTE that regulators couldn't take action against the company unless data collected after the project's completion showed the company had miscalculated its future emissions. Friedman threw out the lawsuit last year, but the EPA appealed.

The appeals panel said Friedman erred by overstating the limits on EPA's authority to challenge power plant construction projects before they are finished. The agency can do so if it finds a company didn't follow the rules when projecting its emissions, the court said.

However, the appeals court didn't rule on whether DTE had complied with the regulations. It only returned the case to the district court for further consideration.

"Overall, we're encouraged by the decision of the appellate court," DTE spokesman Alejandro Bodipo-Memba said. He said the ruling dealt with a "narrow procedural issue" and upheld most of Friedman's reasoning.

The court made clear that the EPA cannot second-guess a company's emission projections ahead of construction and can intervene to block such projects only under limited circumstances, said Scott Segal, director of the Electric Reliability Coordinating Council, an industry group.

But that interpretation of the ruling was disputed by Eric Schaeffer, the director of the Washington-based Environmental Integrity Project and a former EPA attorney. He said the appeals court decision allows the EPA to intervene if the agency can produce evidence that a company is underestimating how a construction project will affect its emissions totals without waiting until the work is finished.

A message seeking comment at the U.S. Department of Justice, which represented EPA in the case, wasn't returned Thursday.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/court-epa-stop-power-plant-234321976.html

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Subaru Issues Vehicle Recall for Just 30 Vehicles

Subaru noticed?two defects in a handful of their cars, and they have decided, for consumer safety, to issue vehicle recall notices.

The first vehicle recall is due to?defective moonroof glass in just 14 model year 2011 Outback and Legacy vehicles. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the moonroof glass can detach and fall, because an inadequate amount of adhesive was used, and the adhesive was not positioned effectively. The vehicles were manufactured between April 6 and May 12, 2011. The glass could fall while the vehicle is in motion and cause a crash, said the NHTSA.

Subaru has already notified the affected owners. Dealers will inspect the moonroof glass and either apply more adhesive, or replace the moonroof glass for free.

Subaru has also issued a vehicle recall notice for?16 vehicles in model year 2012?? these are also in the Outback and Legacy lines. These vehicles have a problem with the windshield wiper motor, according to the NHTSA.?It is actually an expansion of a previous recall?which affected 2010-2011 model year Outbacks? and Legacies, in which the windshield wipers can overheat and fail. This means that, in rain or snow, the driver?s visibility will be reduced and the defect can cause a crash. The overheated motor could also cause the wiper bottom to melt, and potentially catch fire. The current recalled vehicles were manufactured between April 6^th?and May 12^th, 2011.

Subaru has already notified affected owners in this case as well, and Subaru dealers will replace the wiper motor for free.

Any concerned Subaru owners can contact Subaru about recall notices at?1-800-782-2783, or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration at?1-888-327-4236.

What To Do If You Have Been Injured, and the Manufacturer Did Not Issue a Vehicle Recall

If a defect in your vehicle caused a car accident, you may not know immediately what recourse you have. Although the law is complicated, you do have legal recourse against the vehicle?s manufacturer. It is important for manufacturers to pay attention to the quality of their products and issue vehicle recall notices in a timely fashion ? however,?not all automobile manufacturers will do so, and consumers can be seriously injured or killed.

Under?products liability law, it?s the injured party?s burden to prove that the product was defective. Therefore, it is important that the product be inspected by one or more qualified experts to determine the exact nature of the defect and whether that defect caused the harm suffered. If the product is not recovered, the customer may be left with no proof that the product was defective.

Every year, thousands of consumers sustain serious injuries from defective products. A defective product lawyer can help you with an injury you may receive.?Many of these injuries could be avoided if the manufacturers or distributors of these products took additional steps to ensure consumer safety. Defective products that commonly cause injuries include medical devices, pharmaceutical products, and other defective products such as toys, cars and automotive parts.

If you have experienced a problem with a?defective product?in your automobile, especially if a defective part has led to an?auto accident?or?personal injury, and a proper vehicle recall notice has not been issued, you may be entitled to compensation.?The attorneys at the Strom Law Firm can help. We can help you with complicated auto insurance claims, and make sure you receive the compensation you deserve to help you with lost income and medical bills. Our attorneys are licensed to practice in South Carolina, Georgia, and New York. We offer free, confidential consultations to discuss the facts of your case, so?contact us?today at?(803) 252-4800.

Tagged as: Pete Strom, SC Defective Products Attorney, SC Defective Products Lawyer, SC Personal Injury Attorney, SC Personal Injury Lawyer, Subaru vehicle recall, The Strom Law Firm

Source: http://stromlawpersonalinjury.com/2665/subaru-issues-vehicle-recall-for-just-30-vehicles/

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South Africa says Mandela makes progress, in good spirits

By Shafiek Tassiem

SOWETO, South Africa (Reuters) - South African former President Nelson Mandela is in good spirits and making progress, doctors said on Friday, after the 94-year-old anti-apartheid hero was taken to hospital for the third time in four months for a lung infection.

The medical report was a relief to South Africans who had been anxiously praying and waiting for an update on the health of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, hospitalized before midnight on Wednesday. Global leaders sent their best wishes.

President Jacob Zuma's government had already reported Mandela was responding well to treatment, and Zuma had sought to reassure the nation, recalling that the revered statesman's advanced age meant he required frequent medical checks.

"President Nelson Mandela is in good spirits and enjoyed a full breakfast this morning," Zuma's office said in a statement.

"The doctors report that he is making steady progress. He remains under treatment and observation in hospital," it added.

Mandela became South Africa's first black president after winning the country's first all-race election in 1994.

A former lawyer, he is revered at home and abroad for leading the struggle against white minority rule - including spending 27 years in prison on Robben Island - and then promoting the cause of racial reconciliation.

In churches across South Africa, many included Mandela in their prayers on Good Friday, one of the most important days in the Christian calendar.

At the Regina Mundi Catholic Church in the Soweto township outside Johannesburg where Mandela once lived, churchgoers lit candles for him. "He's an icon today and we are free because of him," parishioner Oupa Radebe said.

"I hope this time God will have mercy on him to give him the strength and courage to continue to be an icon for our country," Father Benedict Mahlangu said at the service.

U.S. President Barak Obama sent Mandela his best wishes.

"When you think of a single individual that embodies the kind of leadership qualities that I think we all aspire to, the first name that comes up is Nelson Mandela. And so we wish him all the very best," he said.

"LIKE A FATHER"

Mandela's fragile health has been a concern for years as he has withdrawn from the public eye and mostly stayed at his affluent homes in Johannesburg and in Qunu, the rural village in the destitute Eastern Cape province near where he was born.

President Zuma has urged the nation to remain calm.

"Of course I have been saying to people, you should bear in mind Madiba is no longer that young and if he goes for check-ups every now and again, I don't think people must be alarmed about it," Zuma told the BBC on Thursday.

"In Zulu, when someone passes away who is very old, people say he or she has 'gone home'. I think those are some of the things we should be thinking about."

Madiba is the clan name by which many South Africans refer to Mandela, whose face adorns the country's new bank notes.

Despite his absence from the political scene for the past decade, he remains an enduring and beloved symbol of the struggle against racism.

"He's like a father to me ... There is no more apartheid, black and white can go to the same places," said Princess Nopuhle, a student, aged 18, in Johannesburg's Mandela Square.

As he has receded from public life, critics say his ruling African National Congress (ANC) has lost the moral compass he bequeathed it when he stepped down as president in 1999.

Under such leaders as Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo, the ANC gained wide international respect when it battled white rule.

LEADER OF "GOLDEN PERIOD"

Once the yoke of apartheid was thrown off in 1994, it began governing South Africa in a blaze of goodwill from world leaders who viewed it as a beacon for a troubled continent and world.

Almost two decades later, this image has dimmed as ANC leaders have been accused of indulging in the spoils of office, squandering mineral resources and engaging in power struggles.

Mandela has been criticized for not doing enough to prevent an HIV/AIDS epidemic and for making political compromises in the transition from apartheid that led to the black majority being still largely excluded from the benefits of the country's mineral wealth.

But his achievement in leading South Africa out of apartheid and averting all-out racial war is seen as eclipsing this.

"Amongst most South Africans, he is associated with a so-called ?golden period' of the end of apartheid and the beginning of the new democratic state. He represents all of the best of that, including the reconciliation," said Nic Borain, an independent political analyst.

Mandela was in hospital briefly earlier this month for a check-up and spent nearly three weeks in hospital in December with a lung infection and after surgery to remove gallstones.

That was his longest stay in hospital since his release from prison in 1990 after serving almost three decades for conspiring to overthrow the apartheid government.

Mandela has a history of lung problems dating back to when he contracted tuberculosis as a political prisoner.

Many South Africans said they felt the country's problems had worsened since Mandela withdrew from active politics.

"There was more peace and freedom when he was running it. Now the splits have come back again," said Natascha Roberts, taking pictures of her family in front of a towering statue of Mandela at the Sandton City mall in suburban Johannesburg.

"If he can go on for another few years, it would be great."

(Additional reporting by Pascal Fletcher in Johannesburg; Writing by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Alistair Lyon)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/south-africas-mandela-spends-second-night-hospital-092102547.html

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Same-sex marriage is not the last frontier (Powerlineblog)

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Gun control backers struggle to win some Democrats

FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2013 photo, Emma Clyman, 5, of Manhattan, holds a sign that reads "No More Newtowns" outside city hall park during the One Million Moms for Gun Control Rally in New York. Despite a proposal backed by over 8 in 10 people in polls, gun control supporters are struggling to win over moderate Democrats in their drive to push expanded background checks of firearms purchasers through the Senate next month. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2013 photo, Emma Clyman, 5, of Manhattan, holds a sign that reads "No More Newtowns" outside city hall park during the One Million Moms for Gun Control Rally in New York. Despite a proposal backed by over 8 in 10 people in polls, gun control supporters are struggling to win over moderate Democrats in their drive to push expanded background checks of firearms purchasers through the Senate next month. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)

FILE - In this May 19, 2011 file photo, Chairman Mark Pryor, D-Ark., speaks during a hearing of the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance on cell phone privacy on Capitol Hill in Washington. Despite a proposal backed by over 8 in 10 people in polls, gun control supporters are struggling to win over moderate Democrats like Pryor in their drive to push expanded background checks of firearms purchasers through the Senate next month. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2012 file photo, Sen.-elect Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., address her supporters in Bismarck, N.D. Despite a proposal backed by over 8 in 10 people in polls, gun control supporters are struggling to win over moderate Democrats like Heitkamp in their drive to push expanded background checks of firearms purchasers through the Senate next month. (AP Photo/Will Kincaid, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? It would seem a lobbyist's dream: rounding up votes for a proposal backed by more than 8 in 10 people in polls. Yet, gun control supporters are struggling to win over moderate Democrats in their drive to push expanded background checks for firearms purchasers through the Senate next month.

Backed by a $12 million TV advertising campaign financed by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, gun control groups scheduled rallies around the country Thursday aimed at pressuring senators to back the effort. President Barack Obama was meeting at the White House with gun violence victims.

Moderate Senate Democrats like Mark Pryor of Arkansas and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota are shunning Bloomberg as a meddling outsider while stressing their allegiance to their own voters' views and to gun rights. While saying they're keeping an open mind and support keeping guns from criminals and people with mental disorders, many Democrats are avoiding specific commitments they might regret later.

"I do not need someone from New York City to tell me how to handle crime in our state. I know that we can go after and prosecute criminals without the need to infringe upon the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding North Dakotans," Heitkamp said this week, citing the constitutional right to bear arms.

Heitkamp does not face re-election next year, but Pryor and five other Senate Democrats from Republican-leaning or closely divided states do. All six, from Southern and Western states, will face voters whose deep attachment to guns is unshakeable ? not to mention opposition from the still potent National Rifle Association should they vote for restrictions the NRA opposes.

"We have a politically savvy and a loyal voting bloc, and the politicians know that," said Andrew Arulanandam, spokesman for the NRA, which claims nearly 5 million paying members.

The heart of the Senate gun bill will be expanded requirements for federal background checks for gun buyers, the remaining primary proposal pushed by Obama and many Democrats since 20 first-graders and six women were shot to death in December at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada already has given up any hope of winning majority support for reimposing a ban on assault weapons and large-capacity magazines for ammunition.

Today, the background checks apply only to sales by the nation's roughly 55,000 federally licensed gun dealers. Not covered are private transactions like those at gun shows and online. The Senate measure is still evolving as Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., use Congress' two-week recess to negotiate for additional support in both parties.

Expanding background checks to include gun show sales got 84 percent support in an Associated Press-GfK poll earlier this year. Near universal background checks have received similar or stronger support in other national polls.

Polls in some Southern states have been comparable. March surveys by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute found more than 9 in 10 people in Florida and Virginia backing expanded background checks, the same margin found by an Elon University Poll in North Carolina in February.

Analysts say people support more background checks because they consider it an extension of the existing system. That doesn't translate to unvarnished support from lawmakers, in part because the small but vocal minorities who oppose broader background checks and other gun restrictions tend to be driven voters that politicians are reluctant to alienate.

"It's probably true that intense, single-issue gun voters have been more likely to turn out than folks who want common-sense gun laws," said Mark Glaze, director of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, the group that Bloomberg helps lead. Glaze, however, said he believes that has changed somewhat since Newtown and other recent mass shootings.

Several moderate Democrats are holding back as they assess the political landscape. They're also waiting to see exactly what the Senate will consider.

Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, said Wednesday his state's voters tell him, "Don't take away our rights, our individual rights, our guns." Begich said he opposes a strict proposal requiring background checks for nearly all gun sales but will wait to see whether there is a bipartisan compromise he can support.

The problems faced by gun control supporters go beyond the challenge of winning moderate Democrats. GOP opponents are sure to force Democrats to get 60 of the Senate's 100 votes to win, and there are only 53 Democrats plus two independents who generally support them.

Also targeted by Bloomberg's ads are 10 Republicans, including Sen. Jeff Flake of Arizona, home of ex-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was severely wounded in a mass shooting; the retiring Saxby Chambliss of Georgia; and moderate Susan Collins of Maine.

In another indicator of hurdles facing gun control forces, the Senate voted 50-49 last week to require 60 votes for any legislation narrowing gun rights. The proposal lost because 60 votes in favor were required, but six Democrats voted for the proposal, offered by conservative Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah.

"It confirms there's no such thing as an easy gun vote," said Jim Kessler, a senior vice president of the centrist Democratic group Third Way.

Underscoring the uncertainty about moderate Democrats:

?Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., is "still holding conversations with Virginia stakeholders and sorting through issues on background checks" and proposals to ban assault weapons and high capacity ammunition magazines, spokesman Kevin Hal said.

?Pryor said of Bloomberg's ads: "I don't take gun advice from the mayor of New York City. I listen to Arkansans." Spokesman Michael Teague said Pryor opposes universal background checks but could favor expanding the requirement to gun show sales.

?Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., told the Greensboro News & Record she favors expanded background checks, but said her vote would depend on the measure's details. Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Ind., answered, "Yes," when the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette asked whether he supports gun show background checks.

The gun bill also increases penalties for illegal gun sales and slightly boosts aid for school safety.

More abrupt changes like an assault weapons ban generally get slight majorities in polls. Democratic leaders decided to omit it from the Senate bill because such a provision lacks enough votes.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-03-28-Gun%20Control-On%20the%20Fence/id-469b590ff10f4d89b0515ab9f40d1f40

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