GOP: Stronger borders or immigration bill will die

FILE - In this April 18, 2013 file photo, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., center, and others Senators, participate in a news conference on immigration on Capitol Hill in Washington. From left are, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., Rubio, Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin of Ill., and Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. One of the legislation?s authors, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has already acknowledged that the bill will face a tough road to passage if the border security elements are not improved. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

FILE - In this April 18, 2013 file photo, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., center, and others Senators, participate in a news conference on immigration on Capitol Hill in Washington. From left are, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., Rubio, Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin of Ill., and Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J. One of the legislation?s authors, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has already acknowledged that the bill will face a tough road to passage if the border security elements are not improved. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Landmark immigration legislation is doomed to fail in Congress unless border-security provisions are greatly strengthened, Republican senators bluntly warned on Tuesday.

"If in fact the American people can't trust that the border is controlled, you're never going to be able to pass this bill," declared Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.

His admonishment, joined by those of other GOP lawmakers, came as both Democratic and Republican senators filed a flurry of amendments ahead of the first votes Thursday in a separate committee on the far-reaching bill to deal with an estimated 11 million immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally and the millions more who might be expected to try to enter in the future. Some of the amendments could destroy the legislation's prospects by upending the carefully crafted deal negotiated over months by four Republican and four Democratic senators, supporters say.

Border security was the major sticking point on Tuesday.

"If we're going to get immigration reform through, if you're going to get it through the House, we're going to have to do a whole lot more on what is the definition of a controlled border than what is in this bill," said Coburn.

Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., voiced similar concerns at a hearing to examine border security provisions of the bill. One of the legislation's authors, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., has already acknowledged that the bill will face a tough road to passage if those elements are not made stronger, and in a statement Tuesday he welcomed possible changes.

"In order for this bill to become law, it will have to be improved to bolster border security and enforcement even further and to limit the federal government's discretionary power in applying the law. In addition, additional measures will be required to address potential costs to taxpayers," Rubio said.

Paul, a tea party favorite who has voiced support for comprehensive immigration overhaul, insisted his goal in raising questions about the bill is to make it better so it can pass not just the Democratic-controlled Senate but also the Republican-run House. He denied that he's out to kill the measure or slow it down.

"I want to be constructive in making the bill strong enough that conservatives, myself included, conservative Republicans in the House, will vote for this, because I think immigration reform is something we should do," Paul said.

"If it's not any stronger than this I don't see it getting through the House."

Echoing concerns raised by a number of Republicans, Paul said that the bill relies too much on setting goals and requiring studies about border security instead of insisting on actual accomplishments. Under the bill, "You have to have a plan to build a fence, but you don't have to build a fence," he complained.

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., an author of the legislation, defended the border security provisions and said that for some Republicans, border security is just their excuse to oppose immigration overhaul legislation.

Durbin said that border security is stronger than ever, but nonetheless "we went the extra step in this bill and they're saying it's still not enough. You kind of reach a point where you have to question their commitment to immigration reform."

The bill would allocate $5.5 billion for border measures aimed at achieving 100 percent surveillance and blocking 90 percent of illegal border crossers and would-be crossers in high-entrance areas.

The Homeland Security Department would have six months to create a new border-security plan to achieve the 90 percent effectiveness rate. Also within six months, the department would have to create a plan to identify where new fencing is needed. Once that happened, people who were in the U.S. illegally could begin to apply for a provisional legal status.

If the 90 percent rate wasn't achieved within five years, a commission made up of border state officials would make recommendations on how to do it.

After 10 years, people with provisional legal status could apply for permanent residency if the new security and fencing plans were operating, a new mandatory employment verification system was in place, and a new electronic exit system was tracking who leaves the country.

Among other things, Rubio has discussed strengthening the "triggers" that require certain steps to be taken before a path to citizenship can begin.

Officials with the Department of Homeland Security testified Tuesday that the U.S.-Mexico border is more secure than ever but they said the provisions in the bill would help them make it even stronger. They praised the pending legislation for directing more resources to the agency for surveillance equipment and for authorizing 3,500 new Border Patrol officers.

The hearing touched briefly on the Boston Marathon bombings, which exposed some failures, including an apparent lack of communication among federal agencies when one of the alleged bombers, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, traveled to Russia last year. A student from Kazakhstan accused of hiding evidence for one of the bombers also was allowed to return to the U.S. in January without a valid student visa.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., an author of the immigration bill, said the legislation could be amended to address any such problems, particularly in the areas of humanitarian visas and student visas.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-05-07-Immigration/id-9571bb9f30a84c419f6c4d97cee3862d

national enquirer kate gosselin helicopter crash matt jones whitney houston in casket photo resolute national enquirer whitney houston casket photo

Seeking Syria accord, Kerry tells Putin of common ground

By Arshad Mohammed and Alexei Anishchuk

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The U.S. secretary of state sought Russian help in ending Syria's civil war on Tuesday, telling President Vladimir Putin in Moscow that common interest in a stable Middle East could bridge divisions among the big powers.

Putin, however, kept John Kerry waiting three hours before their meeting at the Kremlin, fiddled with a pen while his guest spoke and made no mention in his own public remarks of the conflict in Syria, which has generated some of the frostiest exchanges between Washington and Moscow since the Cold War.

Yet with the killing now in a third year and no end in sight as U.N. intervention remains stymied by international arguments, Kerry struck a positive tone as he set about trying to narrow differences sufficiently to agree a plan for a settlement that proved out of reach at talks in Geneva almost a year ago:

"The United States believes that we share some very significant common interests with respect to Syria - stability in the region, not having extremists creating problems throughout the region and elsewhere," Kerry told Putin.

"We have both embraced in the Geneva communiqu? a common approach, so it's my hope that today we'll be able to dig in to that a little bit and see if we can find common ground."

The United States and Russia endorsed a plan in Geneva last June that called for the creation of a transitional government in Syria, where at least 70,000 people have now been killed since March 2011, but which left open the question of what would happen to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Long-time arms supplier to Assad and suspicious of Western aid for opponents of authoritarian leaders around the world, Moscow says Assad's departure must not be a precondition for a dialogue among Syrians to end the conflict.

Russia, backed by China, has refused Western appeals to consider sanctions on Assad, vetoing three U.N. Security Council resolutions condemning his crackdown on opposition groups.

The United States, reluctant to give military aid directly to an insurgency that includes militant Islamists but alarmed that violence is continuing and may spread, is making a new push for a joint international approach to contain the conflict.

Israeli air strikes in Syria have heightened a sense of urgency in a region strained by confrontations between Assad's ally Iran and other Arab powers, as well as the hostility between Israel and its neighbors, notably Iran and Hezbollah.

WIDER US-RUSSIA STRAINS

Differences over Syria have deepened strains in ties between the United States and Russia that are also hampered by what Washington views as a crackdown on Russian civil society since Putin began a third term as president a year ago after the biggest protests since he first rose to power in 2000.

Kerry's visit is intended to help improve relations and pave the way Obama to hold talks with Putin in September, when Russia hosts a summit of the Group of 20 nations. Obama and Putin are also to meet at a Group of Eight summit in Britain in June.

Speaking of Obama, Kerry said: "There are many issues: ... economic cooperation, the challenges of North Korea, Iran, Syria and many other issues on which he believes that we could cooperate very significantly."

Putin, a former KGB spy who accused Washington of helping foment protests against him last year, was less effusive than Kerry but said he was glad to see him in Moscow and expressed hope that relations would improve.

Both sides have said they hope to increase cooperation on counter-terrorism following the Boston Marathon bombings, which U.S. officials suspect were carried out by two ethnic Chechens who once lived in Russia.

"We recently had a substantial phone conversation with President Obama. And we had an opportunity to discuss many aspects of our relations," Putin said.

"I think it is very important that our key ministries, our foreign ministries and agencies, work together to resolve the acutest issues of the modern world."

(Writing by Timothy Heritage; Editing by Steve Gutterman and Alastair Macdonald)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/kerry-tells-putin-u-russia-share-common-interests-143632575.html

ncis jenelle evans jenelle evans aapl cispa Katherine Russell Tsarnaev Richie Havens

Chromium code hints at Google Now for OS X

A few months back Chromium whiz François Beaufort spotted a piece of code in the open source web browser that hinted at Google Now possibly coming to Chrome. Today, the programmer has uncovered an issue log pointing out notification center enhancements for OS X. An entry, listed as "[Mac][MC] Implement notification updates and relayouts" could possibly indicate Google Now having a future on Apple's desktop platform. With Google's I/O a little over a week away, hopefully we won't have to wait too long to find out. In the meantime, we'll reach out to the company for a comment on Beaufort's findings and see what turns up.

Filed under: Internet, Software, Google

Comments

Via: The Next Web

Source: Fran?ois Beaufort (Google+)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/K-58UKc8elg/

nba playoff schedule rondo morris claiborne mothers day gifts clippers lisa lampanelli lisa lampanelli

Activists: Israeli strike kills 42 Syrian soldiers

BEIRUT (AP) ? Israel's weekend airstrike on a military complex near the Syrian capital of Damascus killed at least 42 Syrian soldiers, a group of anti-regime activists said Monday, citing information from military hospitals.

The Syrian government has not released a death toll, but Syrian state media have reported casualties in Sunday's pre-dawn airstrike, Israel's third into Syria this year.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said about 150 soldiers are normally stationed in the area that was targeted, but that it was not clear how many were there at the time of the strike.

Rami Abdel-Rahman, the head of the group, said his sources at Syrian military hospitals gave him information on 42 Syrian soldiers killed in the Israeli attack.

Israel's government has not formally confirmed involvement in strikes on Syria.

However, Israeli officials said the attacks were meant to prevent advanced Iranian weapons from reaching Lebanon's Hezbollah militia, an ally of Syria and foe of Israel.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss covert military operations.

Israel on Monday signaled a return to "business as usual," with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arriving in China for a scheduled visit.

Syria and its patron Iran have hinted at possible retribution for the strikes, though the rhetoric in official statements has been relatively mild.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi warned Monday that Israel was "playing with fire," but gave no other suggestions of possible consequences, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

Syria's government called the attacks a "flagrant violation of international law" that has made the Middle East "more dangerous."

Israeli officials have indicated they will keep trying to block what they see as an effort by Iran to send sophisticated weapons to Lebanon's Hezbollah militia ahead of a possible collapse of Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.

Israel has repeatedly threatened to intervene in the Syrian civil war to stop the transfer of what it calls "game-changing" weapons to Hezbollah, a Syrian-backed group that battled Israel to a stalemate during a month-long war in 2006.

Since carrying out a lone airstrike in January that reportedly destroyed a shipment of anti-aircraft missiles headed to Hezbollah, Israel had largely stayed on the sidelines. That changed this weekend with the pair of airstrikes, including an attack near a military complex close to Damascus early Sunday that set off powerful explosions.

A senior Israeli official said both airstrikes targeted shipments of Fateh-110 missiles bound for Hezbollah. The Iranian-made guided missiles can fly deep into Israel and deliver powerful half-ton bombs with pinpoint accuracy.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was discussing a covert military operation.

Israeli defense officials have identified several strategic weapons that they say cannot be allowed to reach Hezbollah.

They include Syrian chemical weapons, the Iranian Fateh-110s, long-range Scud missiles, Yakhont missiles capable of attacking naval ships from the coast and Russian SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles. Israel's airstrike in January destroyed a shipment of SA-17s meant for Hezbollah, according to U.S. officials.

Israeli officials said the Fateh-110s reached Syria last week. Friday's airstrike struck a Damascus airport where the missiles were being stored, while the second series of airstrikes early Sunday targeted the remnants of the shipment, which had been moved to three nearby locations, the officials said.

None of the Iranian missiles are believed to have reached Lebanon, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing a classified intelligence assessment.

In launching the strikes, Israel took a gamble that Assad has little desire to open a new front with Israel when he is preoccupied with the survival of his regime.

Still, Israel was taking precautions. Israel's military deployed two batteries of its Iron Dome rocket defense system to the north of the country Sunday.

"Alongside readiness and alertness, it's always good to prepare and train ? but there are no winds of war," the head of Israel's northern command, Maj. Gen. Yair Golan, told Israeli media.

On Monday afternoon, the Israeli military reported that two shells fired from Syria had landed in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. The military said the shelling appeared to be accidental spillover from the Syrian civil war and was not connected to tensions over the reported airstrikes.

Stray shelling and gunfire from the Syrian civil war has periodically landed in the Golan in recent months. The Israeli military believes most of these incidents have not specifically targeted Israel.

Tzahi Hanegbi, an Israeli lawmaker who is close to Netanyahu, said Monday that Israel's aim is to "keep advanced weapons from Hezbollah as soon as intentions are exposed and refrain from tension with Syria."

"So if there is activity, then it is only against Hezbollah and not against the Syrian regime," Hanegbi told Israel Radio. "In that context you must see the fact that Israel doesn't officially admit to its operations, and that the prime minister left yesterday for China and (there is) the feeling of business as usual."

Hezbollah fired some 4,000 rockets into Israel during the 2006 war, and Israel believes the group now has tens of thousands of rockets and missiles.

The attacks pose a dilemma for the embattled Assad regime.

If it fails to respond, it looks weak and opens the door to more airstrikes. But any military retaliation against Israel would risk dragging the Jewish state and its powerful army into a broader conflict. With few exceptions, Israel and Syria have not engaged in direct fighting in roughly 40 years.

The airstrikes come as Washington considers how to respond to indications the Syrian regime may have used chemical weapons in its civil war. President Barack Obama has described the use of such weapons as a "red line," and the administration is weighing its options.

The White House declined for a second day to comment directly on Israel's air strikes in Syria, but said Obama believes Israel, as a sovereign nation, has the right to defend itself.

The uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011, quickly turning into an armed insurgency and then a civil war. More than 70,000 people have been killed and millions displaced, while Assad and those trying to topple him remain deadlocked on the battlefield.

___

Federman reported from Jerusalem. AP writer Ian Deitch in Jerusalem contributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/activists-israeli-strike-kills-42-syrian-soldiers-131512807.html

obama birth certificate nick cannon lindsay lohan saturday night live snl lindsay lohan valley fever project x the lorax

REVIEW!! Leading the way: tourism company uses ATVs to explore ...

Leading the way: tourism company uses ATVs to explore the desert southwest.(Sedona ATV Adventures, Fat Cat ATV Tours )(Interview): An article from: ATV Magazine

Product Details

• Published on: 2006-03-01
• Released on: 2006-02-10
• Format: HTML
• Binding: Digital
• 5 pages

Product Description

This digital document is an article from ATV Magazine, published by Thomson Gale on March 1, 2006. The length of the article is 1441 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Leading the way: tourism company uses ATVs to explore the desert southwest.(Sedona ATV Adventures, Fat Cat ATV Tours )(Interview)
Author: Jerrod Kelley
Publication:ATV Magazine (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 11 Issue: 1 Page: 58(3)

Article Type: Interview

Distributed by Thomson Gale

For sale now at affordable price, promo discounts and super shipping. I am quite satisfied with the features and recommend it to everyone hunting for a excellent product with the newest specifications at an reasonable. You can read testimony from customers to find out more from their experience. Leading the way: tourism company uses ATVs to explore the desert southwest.(Sedona ATV Adventures, Fat Cat ATV Tours )(Interview): An article from: ATV Magazine has worked wonders for me and I hope it would do wonders on you too. Why then spend any more time? Enjoy yourself, you understand where you can buy the best ones.

Most people reviews speak that the Leading the way: tourism company uses ATVs to explore the desert southwest.(Sedona ATV Adventures, Fat Cat ATV Tours )(Interview): An article from: ATV Magazine are splendid luggage. Also, It Is a pretty well product for the price. It?s great for colony on a tight budget. We?ve found pros and cons on this type of product. But overall, It?s a supreme product and we are well recommend it! When you however want to know more details on this product, so read the reports of those who have already used it.

Leading the way: tourism company uses ATVs to explore the desert southwest.(Sedona ATV Adventures, Fat Cat ATV Tours )(Interview): An article from: ATV Magazine. Reviewed by Robert E. Rating: 4.5

This Page is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com
CERTAIN CONTENT THAT APPEARS ON THIS SITE COMES FROM AMAZON SERVICES LLC. THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE OR REMOVAL AT ANY TIME.

Source: http://automotivemagaz.blogspot.com/2013/05/review-leading-way-tourism-company-uses.html

face transplant fab melo google glasses kim kardashian and kanye west henrik stenson jobs act greg mortenson

Ronda Rousey named one of 50 women changing the world

UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey has already changed the UFC. As the first woman to sign with MMA's biggest promotion and its first champion, Rousey made history when she beat Liz Carmouche at UFC 157. According to one magazine, Rousey isn't just changing MMA. She is one of Business Insider's "50 Women Changing the World."

Ranked 42nd on the list, Business Insider points out that the trash-talking Rousey has changed the sports world. She shares the list with fellow athletes Brittney Griner and Serena Williams, as well as Sen. Gabrielle Giffords, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Rousey's mark on the sporting landscape is unquestionable, but BI is right to say she is having an effect beyond sports. Her popularity proves that her reach is far beyond MMA fans.

And her popularity is not slowing down. Rousey was on the cover of ESPN the Magazine's 15th anniversary magazine, and recently posed for Maxim magazine's Hot 100. She will coach against Cat Zingano in the next edition of "The Ultimate Fighter," slated to premiere in September.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ronda-rousey-named-one-50-women-changing-world-212214467.html

DMX spartacus spartacus Jonathan Winters Justin Bieber Anne Frank will ferrell coachella

Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR

By Jim Fisher

The Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR ($199.95 direct) is the standard kit lens for APS-C Nikon D-SLR cameras. Buying it along with a body halves your out of pocket costs to acquire the lens, but owners of older Nikon D-SLRs bundled with its non-stabilized predecessor may consider it as an upgrade. It produces a field of view that is roughly equivalent to 27-83mm in terms of full-frame photography.

The lens is light at 9.3 ounces and measures just 3.1 by 2.9 inches (HD). It accepts 52mm filters, but the front element does rotate when focus is adjusted, so using a rotating circular polarizing filter can be tricky. Nikon keeps the weight down by using a plastic mount, rather than the more common metal variety, which is more prone to wear and tear over the years. There's an internal focus motor, which is speeider than older screw-drive systems, but because the front element rotates during focus it can be a bit noisy. A bayonet lens hood is available to reduce flare and improve contrast, but is not included?you'll have to spend another $23.50 if you want it.

I used?Imatest?to check the sharpness of that lens when paired with the 24-megapixel D5200. The lens managed a very impressive 2,362 lines per picture height at 18mm f/3.5 using our center-weighted testing method, with edge sharpness hovering around 1,600 lines. We declare an image with an 1,800-line center-weighted score to be acceptably sharp. Stopping down to f/5.6 improves the overall score only marginally to 2,410 lines, but edges sharpen up to 1,850 lines. There is noticeable barrel distortion at 18mm, about 3.3 percent. This will make straight lines noticeably curve outward, and is typical for an 18-55mm design. It can be corrected with software if it distracts from your photos.

Zooming to 35mm narrows the maximum aperture to f/5 and reduces the distortion to a negligible 0.4 percent. The lens scores 2,410 lines here, again with edges around 1,600 lines. Stopping down to f/8 improves overall sharpness to 2,683 lines, with edge sharpness at 2,111 lines. Zoom all the way in to 55mm and the maximum aperture is f/5.6, with an irrelevant 0.2-percent distortion figure. You'll get sharp photos at that setting as well; the lens manages 2,474 lines overall, but is again a little soft at the edges. Stopping down to f/8 improves edge performance to just under 1,800 lines, so your photos will be acceptably sharp from edge to edge.

The Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR is one of the sharpest 18-55mm D-SLR lenses that we've tested, but it's not without its limitations. The narrow aperture limits your ability to shoot in lower light without a flash, and it won't blur the background like an f/2.8 zoom or an f/2 prime lens. It's a good starter lens, but it's one that you'll likely want to upgrade down the road. Nikon offers zoom lenses with longer telephoto reach, like the AF-S DX Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED ($399.95), and ones with faster apertures so that you can capture more light like the pro-grade AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED ($1,539.95), but neither are as affordable as this basic 18-55mm optic.

By Jim Fisher Senior Analyst, Digital Cameras

Jim Fisher is the digital camera analyst for the PCMag consumer electronics reviews team. He is a graduate of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he concentrated on documentary video production. Jim's interest in photography really...

Subscribing to a newsletter, constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. ');}} '); } }

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/BIyN324bIX8/0,2817,2418424,00.asp

anna paquin warren buffett 2012 nfl schedule dishonored april 18 delonte west vanessa williams