Scientists confirm first 2-headed bull shark

Public release date: 25-Mar-2013
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Contact: Layne Cameron
layne.cameron@cabs.msu.edu
517-353-8819
Michigan State University

Scientists have confirmed the discovery of the first-ever, two-headed bull shark.

The study, led by Michigan State University and appearing in the Journal of Fish Biology, confirmed the specimen, found in the Gulf of Mexico April 7, 2011, was a single shark with two heads, rather than conjoined twins.

There have been other species of sharks, such as blue sharks and tope sharks, born with two heads. This is the first record of dicephalia in a bull shark, said Michael Wagner, MSU assistant professor of fisheries and wildlife, who confirmed the discovery with colleagues at the Florida Keys Community College.

"This is certainly one of those interesting and rarely detected phenomena," Wagner said. "It's good that we have this documented as part of the world's natural history, but we'd certainly have to find many more before we could draw any conclusions about what caused this."

The difficulty of finding such oddities is due, in part, to creatures with abnormalities dying shortly after birth. In this instance, a fisherman found the two-headed shark when he opened the uterus of an adult shark. The two-headed shark died shortly thereafter and had little, if any, chance to survive in the wild, Wagner added.

"You'll see many more cases of two-headed lizards and snakes," he said. "That's because those organisms are often bred in captivity, and the breeders are more likely to observe the anomalies."

The shark was brought to the marine science department at Florida Keys Community College. From there, it was transported to Michigan State's campus for further examination.

Wagner and his team were able to detail the discovery with magnetic resonance imaging. Without damaging the unique specimen, the MRIs revealed two distinct heads, hearts and stomachs with the remainder of the body joining together in back half of the animal to form a single tail.

As part of the published brief, Wagner noted that some may want to attribute the deformed shark to exposure to pollutants.

"Given the timing of the shark's discovery with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, I could see how some people may want to jump to conclusions," Wagner said. "Making that leap is unwarranted. We simply have no evidence to support that cause or any other."

###

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 25-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Layne Cameron
layne.cameron@cabs.msu.edu
517-353-8819
Michigan State University

Scientists have confirmed the discovery of the first-ever, two-headed bull shark.

The study, led by Michigan State University and appearing in the Journal of Fish Biology, confirmed the specimen, found in the Gulf of Mexico April 7, 2011, was a single shark with two heads, rather than conjoined twins.

There have been other species of sharks, such as blue sharks and tope sharks, born with two heads. This is the first record of dicephalia in a bull shark, said Michael Wagner, MSU assistant professor of fisheries and wildlife, who confirmed the discovery with colleagues at the Florida Keys Community College.

"This is certainly one of those interesting and rarely detected phenomena," Wagner said. "It's good that we have this documented as part of the world's natural history, but we'd certainly have to find many more before we could draw any conclusions about what caused this."

The difficulty of finding such oddities is due, in part, to creatures with abnormalities dying shortly after birth. In this instance, a fisherman found the two-headed shark when he opened the uterus of an adult shark. The two-headed shark died shortly thereafter and had little, if any, chance to survive in the wild, Wagner added.

"You'll see many more cases of two-headed lizards and snakes," he said. "That's because those organisms are often bred in captivity, and the breeders are more likely to observe the anomalies."

The shark was brought to the marine science department at Florida Keys Community College. From there, it was transported to Michigan State's campus for further examination.

Wagner and his team were able to detail the discovery with magnetic resonance imaging. Without damaging the unique specimen, the MRIs revealed two distinct heads, hearts and stomachs with the remainder of the body joining together in back half of the animal to form a single tail.

As part of the published brief, Wagner noted that some may want to attribute the deformed shark to exposure to pollutants.

"Given the timing of the shark's discovery with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, I could see how some people may want to jump to conclusions," Wagner said. "Making that leap is unwarranted. We simply have no evidence to support that cause or any other."

###

---

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?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/msu-scf032513.php

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Windy weather disappointing in New England?s home opener

Foxborough--Weather conditions were a big factor in a scoreless tie between Sporting Kansas City and the New England Revolution Saturday afternoon in Foxborough.

Chances were at a minimum in a game that only saw eight shots spread?among?both teams. With a strong wind gust at Gillette Stadium, moving the ball proved to be a difficult task for both sides, as there was no control of any ball played in the air.

Revolution head coach Jay Heaps found that tactics almost went out the window, given the conditions.

?I don?t want to make excuses but I will say this, the wind was definitely difficult to play in,? Heaps said. ?You can see the ball moving, you could feel it. I think if you go do heat maps, it?s going to be split down the middle and it?s going to be all away from where the benches were because the wind was just pulling everything over there.

"It was hard to switch fields when we needed to change the point of attack.?

Sporting Kansas City coach Peter Vermes had a gameplan heading into the weekend, but found out ahead of the game that his team would certainly be battling the elements.

?Coming in during the week we wanted to play,? Vermes said. ?When we saw the weather getting worse and yesterday having practiced here, it was pretty simple that it was going to be a difficult game based on which way the wind was going.?

The game was a homecoming of sorts for Sporting Kansas City midfielder Benny Feilhaber, who played two seasons with the Revolution before being traded. Feilhaber held possession positively for spells in the first half but still found that the weather made play difficult for both teams.

?The wind really made the game impossible to play,? Feilhaber said. ?I think both teams realized that, so it was more like a field possession game.

"You just booted it down to one end and kind of pressed them. It wasn?t a pretty game by any means, but I think 0-0 is a fair result?

The lack of ball movement was further compounded by the high physical play all over the field, with 30 total fouls committed. Heaps singled out the resilant play of the Revolution back four was a big positive on an otherwise negative day.

?I think that, for me, Kansas City is one of the best teams at grinding out a game like that and I think that it showed a lot of our guys coming out and fighting them and making it a difficult battle,? Heaps exclaimed. ?I think our back four played well, but not just our back four, our entire midfield defended well. It?s one of those games where you want the three points.?

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/sports/rss/sow/SIG=12t5r52ib/*http%3A//sports.yahoo.com/news/windy-weather-disappointing-england-home-024400105--mls.html

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An animal to feed your eco-car

Public release date: 25-Mar-2013
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Contact: Prof. Eric Thompson
Eric.Thompson@bio.uib.no
47-404-80441
The University of Bergen

The marine animal tunicate can be used both as biofuel and fish food, according to prize-winning Norwegian research

The marine animal tunicate can be used both as biofuel and fish food, according to prize-winning Norwegian research.

On the ocean floor, under the pier, and on ship ropes that's where the tunicates live. Tunicates are marine filter feeders that serve as bacteria eaters and as a foodstuff in Korea and Japan. But in the future they may become more prevalent.

Five researchers at the University of Bergen (UiB) and Uni Research have found that a certain type of tunicate ascidiacea can be used as a renewable source of biofuel and fish food. This is particularly good news for the growing aquaculture industry, which for years has struggled to find enough quality feed for its fish. There also is the prospect of reducing emissions from traffic.

Usable as fuel

It is the cellulose, the protein, and the Omega-3 fatty acids in the ascidiacea that is the cause for its many uses.

Its mantle consists of cellulose, which is a collection of sugars. When cellulose is cleaved, one can obtain ethanol. And ethanol can be used for biofuel in cars. The animal's body consists of large amounts of protein and Omega-3. This can be used for fish feed, says Professor Eric Thompson at UiB's Department of Biology.

Thompson and his colleagues have spent years looking into the many possible uses of the ascidiacea.

Commercial potential

At the innovation conference GROW in March 2013, arranged by Business Region Bergen, the researchers received a prize for innovative research and were awarded NOK 300,000 for their discoveries. Regional bank Sparebanken Vest and Bergen Teknologioverfring (BTO) sponsor the prize.

The researchers plan to use the prize money to create commercially viable products based on their research. They have already acquired a patent for biofuel and have a patent application pending for the cultivation of ascidiacea as fish feed.

Why are tunicates particularly suited for use as biofuel?

The bioethanol used today is unsustainable as it comes from foods already used for human consumption. That is why there has been a move towards using cellulose from the timber industry to produce bioethanol, says Dr. Sc. Christofer Troedsson of Uni Research's Molecular Ecology Group and head of the research at UiB's Marine Development Biology and the tunicate research project.

However, it is quite complicated to break down the cellulose in trees and convert it into ethanol. This is because the wood contains a substance called lignin, which is hard to separate from the cellulose. Tunicates contain no lignin. Their cellulose is also low in crystals and is more efficiently converted into ethanol.

More environmentally friendly

Troedsson also points out that using ascidiacea rather than trees is more environmentally friendly, because this does not occupy large tracts of land which could otherwise be used for other purposes, such as growing food.

Another important point is that the ascidiacea are not in the food chain, probably because of their protective mantle. So there are no creatures dependent on the ascidiacea to survive. They also grow very quickly. 4-6 months after birth they are ready for harvesting. Tunicates are also found in all oceans, with an enormous growth potential that exceeds most land-based feedstock.

We have spent years to arrive at these findings, so the prize is a nice recognition. Now we look forward to working on commercialising the results, says Thompson.

###

Additional links:

BTO: http://bergento.no/

University of Bergen: http://www.uib.no/en

Uni Research: http://uni.no/?&lang=en

Business Region Bergen: http://en.brb.no/

Sparebanken Vest: https://www.spv.no/en/english/

---

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 25-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Prof. Eric Thompson
Eric.Thompson@bio.uib.no
47-404-80441
The University of Bergen

The marine animal tunicate can be used both as biofuel and fish food, according to prize-winning Norwegian research

The marine animal tunicate can be used both as biofuel and fish food, according to prize-winning Norwegian research.

On the ocean floor, under the pier, and on ship ropes that's where the tunicates live. Tunicates are marine filter feeders that serve as bacteria eaters and as a foodstuff in Korea and Japan. But in the future they may become more prevalent.

Five researchers at the University of Bergen (UiB) and Uni Research have found that a certain type of tunicate ascidiacea can be used as a renewable source of biofuel and fish food. This is particularly good news for the growing aquaculture industry, which for years has struggled to find enough quality feed for its fish. There also is the prospect of reducing emissions from traffic.

Usable as fuel

It is the cellulose, the protein, and the Omega-3 fatty acids in the ascidiacea that is the cause for its many uses.

Its mantle consists of cellulose, which is a collection of sugars. When cellulose is cleaved, one can obtain ethanol. And ethanol can be used for biofuel in cars. The animal's body consists of large amounts of protein and Omega-3. This can be used for fish feed, says Professor Eric Thompson at UiB's Department of Biology.

Thompson and his colleagues have spent years looking into the many possible uses of the ascidiacea.

Commercial potential

At the innovation conference GROW in March 2013, arranged by Business Region Bergen, the researchers received a prize for innovative research and were awarded NOK 300,000 for their discoveries. Regional bank Sparebanken Vest and Bergen Teknologioverfring (BTO) sponsor the prize.

The researchers plan to use the prize money to create commercially viable products based on their research. They have already acquired a patent for biofuel and have a patent application pending for the cultivation of ascidiacea as fish feed.

Why are tunicates particularly suited for use as biofuel?

The bioethanol used today is unsustainable as it comes from foods already used for human consumption. That is why there has been a move towards using cellulose from the timber industry to produce bioethanol, says Dr. Sc. Christofer Troedsson of Uni Research's Molecular Ecology Group and head of the research at UiB's Marine Development Biology and the tunicate research project.

However, it is quite complicated to break down the cellulose in trees and convert it into ethanol. This is because the wood contains a substance called lignin, which is hard to separate from the cellulose. Tunicates contain no lignin. Their cellulose is also low in crystals and is more efficiently converted into ethanol.

More environmentally friendly

Troedsson also points out that using ascidiacea rather than trees is more environmentally friendly, because this does not occupy large tracts of land which could otherwise be used for other purposes, such as growing food.

Another important point is that the ascidiacea are not in the food chain, probably because of their protective mantle. So there are no creatures dependent on the ascidiacea to survive. They also grow very quickly. 4-6 months after birth they are ready for harvesting. Tunicates are also found in all oceans, with an enormous growth potential that exceeds most land-based feedstock.

We have spent years to arrive at these findings, so the prize is a nice recognition. Now we look forward to working on commercialising the results, says Thompson.

###

Additional links:

BTO: http://bergento.no/

University of Bergen: http://www.uib.no/en

Uni Research: http://uni.no/?&lang=en

Business Region Bergen: http://en.brb.no/

Sparebanken Vest: https://www.spv.no/en/english/

---

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?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/tuob-aat032513.php

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British Beatles Fan Club: "The Beatles Show" returns to Dublin!

THE BEATLES SHOW

Written and Directed by Stephen Kennedy.

Odessa Club, 13 Dame Court, Dublin 2.

April 22nd ? 25th at 8pm.

Following its sold out run at the New Theatre last October, The Beatles Show returns to Dublin for six performances in April. This time the venue is the Odessa Club in Dame Court ? right in the heart of the city ? and tickets are expected to sell out quickly.

The Beatles Show consists of three Beatle-related plays ? Lennon v McCartney / Death and The Beatles Fan / John Lennon?s Last Day ? plus the music of The Beatles performed live by Vyvienne Long and The Newspaper Taxi Men.

LENNON v McCARTNEY

Since the dawn of Time human beings have gathered in pubs and argued about who is greater ? John Lennon or Paul McCartney. Now, finally, here at last, and not a moment too soon, is a short play that definitively sorts out the argument once and for all. Well? sort of?

LENNON v McCARTNEY was performed a number of times on the main stage at the Adelphi in Liverpool at the 2010 International Beatle Week. It has also been performed at the Scottish Beatles Weekend, the Black Box Theatre in Belfast, the Flat Lake Festival, the Donegal Beatles Festival, the Project Arts Centre, Whelan?s, the Village, the Workman?s Club, and many other places.

?Fabulously written and brilliantly acted. This is an acute observation of pub culture, pop culture and male friendship.? Reviewed by the Dublin Book Festival 2011.

DEATH AND THE BEATLES FAN

How much would you know about The Beatles if your life depended on it?

DEATH AND THE BEATLES FAN is a short play that takes a comic look at what happens when Death attempts to collect the soul of a hardcore Beatles? fan who has no interest in dying.

?This really is the great stage play that The Seventh Seal could have been... if only Ingmar Bergman had been aware of The Beatles in 1957!? (Quote kindly supplied by a non-existent theatre critic.)

JOHN LENNON?S LAST DAY

This piece is the most complete account of John Lennon?s last day that has ever been presented. It is not a play in the traditional sense ? and is probably best described as a work of ?documentary theatre?. Basically, with the use of a single actor, a simple stage set, some projected images and some very rare audio clips, this piece guides the audience through the strange and tragic events of John Lennon?s last day.

?My work won?t be finished till I?m dead and buried ? and I hope that?s a long long time.?

Words spoken by John Lennon in an interview on Monday, December 8th, 1980 ? just a few hours before his death.

VYVIENNE LONG

Vyvienne Long is a superb cellist and singer-songwriter who first came to prominence on the Irish music scene when she worked with Damien Rice on his albums O and 9. In 2006, Vyvienne released her debut EP, Birdtalk, which was a huge success and completely sold out within months. In 2010, Vyvienne reached a whole new audience when she released her excellent debut album, Caterpillar Sarabande, and appeared on television shows such as The Late Late Show, Other Voices and The View. Vyvienne has also built up an impressive reputation with her talent for covering other people?s songs ? and her interpretations of The Beatles? songs are nothing short of stunning. Check out her amazing cover version of ?And I Love Her? on YouTube.

THE NEWSPAPER TAXI MEN

The Newspaper Taxi Men are one of the very best Beatle tribute bands in Ireland. They have recently played brilliant support slots for John Lennon?s Original Quarrymen at the Village and Scotland?s Revolver at the Workman?s Club, and we are thrilled to have them back as part of The Beatles Show at the Odessa Club. These guys are pure quality.

STEPHEN KENNEDY
Writer and Director of The Beatles Show

Stephen Kennedy?s poetry and short fiction have appeared in various publications ? including the Irish Times, the Stinging Fly and Books Ireland ? and his plays have been performed throughout Ireland and the UK. Stephen has been nominated for the Hennessy XO Literary Awards and the RTE PJ O?Connor Awards; and, in 2010, his short play, Should've Gone to Lourdes, was presented at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington DC by Fishamble Theatre Company.

Stephen also organises Nighthawks at the Cobalt ? a monthly arts club in Dublin that presents different kinds of music, comedy, performance poetry, short fiction, short film and short theatre. Nighthawks has been running for almost five years now and every show has sold out completely.

Not surprisingly, Stephen is also a Beatles fanatic. His short play, Lennon v McCartney, has been performed a number of times on the main stage at the Adelphi in Liverpool at International Beatle Week. It has also been performed at the Scottish Beatles Weekend, the Black Box Theatre in Belfast, the Flat Lake Festival, the Donegal Beatles Festival, the Project Arts Centre, Whelan?s, the Village, the Workman?s Club, and many other places.

Source: http://www.britishbeatlesfanclub.co.uk/2013/03/the-beatles-show-returns-to-dublin.html

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Canadians support interventions to reduce dietary salt

Public release date: 13-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Eileen Leahy
e.leahy@elsevier.com
732-238-3628
Elsevier Health Sciences

80 percent of survey respondents agree food industry should use less salt, according to new study published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology

Philadelphia, PA, March 13, 2013 Many Canadians are concerned about dietary sodium and welcome government intervention to reduce sodium intake through a variety of measures, including lowering sodium in food, and education and awareness, according to a national survey. The top barriers to limiting sodium intake are a lack of lower sodium packaged and processed foods and lower sodium restaurant menu options.

"Canadians are supportive of government intervention to lower salt intake," says lead investigator Mary R. L'Abbe, PhD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Nutritional Sciences at University of Toronto, noting that most Canadians eat more than the recommended amount of sodium, increasing their risk of developing high blood pressure and other cardiovascular conditions.

To combat high sodium in Canadian diets, a federal government-appointed multi-stakeholder Sodium Working Group developed, "A Sodium Reduction Strategy for Canada," a formal set of recommendations that focus on the food supply, education and awareness, and research in order to lower the amount of sodium Canadians eat from an average 3,400 mg per day to 2,300 mg per day by 2016. The group also called for voluntary sodium reductions in the food industry coupled with regular monitoring of progress, which may be enforced through regulation should industry fail to reach targets.

To assess Canadians' concern about sodium, actions, and barriers in limiting sodium consumption, researchers from the University of Toronto and University of Guelph conducted an online survey (http://consumermonitor.ca) with a representative sample of the Canadian population in terms of age, sex, province, and education.

In light of the proposed federal Bill C-460 legislating the group's recommendations investigators also sought to determine Canadians' level of support for a number of sodium reduction initiatives.

There was very high support for almost all types of public health interventions to lower sodium. Eighty percent of respondents would like the food industry to lower the amount of sodium in food. A large number supported setting maximum amounts of sodium in grocery and restaurant foods and for foods served in public settings like schools and hospitals. There was little support for taxation of high sodium foods or subsidizing lower sodium foods.

Among the 2,603 people surveyed, 67 percent were concerned about their sodium intake, especially older individuals and those with high blood pressure.

Approximately half of the respondents were actively limiting their sodium intake. However, many thought they consumed low amounts of sodium because they did not add salt to their food. Others were not limiting their sodium intake because they had low or normal blood pressure and overall good health, contradicting the literature demonstrating benefits of sodium reduction in individuals with normal blood pressure. Only 16 percent of people knew the recommended intake for sodium (1,500 mg per day), and 12 percent knew the maximum amount that should be consumed (2,300 mg per day).

###

The results are published in the May issue of the Canadian Journal of Cardiology.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 13-Mar-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Eileen Leahy
e.leahy@elsevier.com
732-238-3628
Elsevier Health Sciences

80 percent of survey respondents agree food industry should use less salt, according to new study published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology

Philadelphia, PA, March 13, 2013 Many Canadians are concerned about dietary sodium and welcome government intervention to reduce sodium intake through a variety of measures, including lowering sodium in food, and education and awareness, according to a national survey. The top barriers to limiting sodium intake are a lack of lower sodium packaged and processed foods and lower sodium restaurant menu options.

"Canadians are supportive of government intervention to lower salt intake," says lead investigator Mary R. L'Abbe, PhD, Professor and Chair of the Department of Nutritional Sciences at University of Toronto, noting that most Canadians eat more than the recommended amount of sodium, increasing their risk of developing high blood pressure and other cardiovascular conditions.

To combat high sodium in Canadian diets, a federal government-appointed multi-stakeholder Sodium Working Group developed, "A Sodium Reduction Strategy for Canada," a formal set of recommendations that focus on the food supply, education and awareness, and research in order to lower the amount of sodium Canadians eat from an average 3,400 mg per day to 2,300 mg per day by 2016. The group also called for voluntary sodium reductions in the food industry coupled with regular monitoring of progress, which may be enforced through regulation should industry fail to reach targets.

To assess Canadians' concern about sodium, actions, and barriers in limiting sodium consumption, researchers from the University of Toronto and University of Guelph conducted an online survey (http://consumermonitor.ca) with a representative sample of the Canadian population in terms of age, sex, province, and education.

In light of the proposed federal Bill C-460 legislating the group's recommendations investigators also sought to determine Canadians' level of support for a number of sodium reduction initiatives.

There was very high support for almost all types of public health interventions to lower sodium. Eighty percent of respondents would like the food industry to lower the amount of sodium in food. A large number supported setting maximum amounts of sodium in grocery and restaurant foods and for foods served in public settings like schools and hospitals. There was little support for taxation of high sodium foods or subsidizing lower sodium foods.

Among the 2,603 people surveyed, 67 percent were concerned about their sodium intake, especially older individuals and those with high blood pressure.

Approximately half of the respondents were actively limiting their sodium intake. However, many thought they consumed low amounts of sodium because they did not add salt to their food. Others were not limiting their sodium intake because they had low or normal blood pressure and overall good health, contradicting the literature demonstrating benefits of sodium reduction in individuals with normal blood pressure. Only 16 percent of people knew the recommended intake for sodium (1,500 mg per day), and 12 percent knew the maximum amount that should be consumed (2,300 mg per day).

###

The results are published in the May issue of the Canadian Journal of Cardiology.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/ehs-csi031113.php

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The Note's Must-Reads for Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Compiled by ABC News' Amanda VanAllen, Jayce Henderson and Jordan Mazza

BUDGET PLANS ABC News' John Parkinson: " Will Fractured House Republicans Unite on Budget?" Tomorrow morning, House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan will release the latest version of his budget blueprint, setting the federal government on a course to balance annual revenue and spending levels by the year 2023. LINK

The Wall Street Journal's Kristina Peterson: "Democrats Target Potential GOP Senate Candidates" Democratic operatives aren't waiting for House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) to release his latest budget blueprint Tuesday before pouncing on it. LINK

USA Today's Susan Davis and David Jackson: "Obama, Hill leaders knuckle down on budget talks" President Obama and a divided Congress kick off a week of jockeying over the federal budget as House Republicans and Senate Democrats unveil competing fiscal blueprints and the president heads to Capitol Hill to continue his personal campaign for compromise. LINK

The Hills' Russell Berman and Erik Wasson: " Ryan to rally GOP on 10-year plan" Rep. Paul Ryan on Tuesday will seek to unify the Republican Conference with a rallying cry to balance the budget in 10 years. The target set by Ryan (R-Wis.), the chairman of the House Budget Committee, is more aggressive than the one Democrats rejected last year that took until nearly 2040 to balance. LINK

The New York Times' Jeremy Peters: " House and Senate Work Simultaneously to Create Budgets, a Rarity" Congress this week will begin taking the first steps toward a more structured and orderly budget process, beginning what both parties hope is a move away from the vicious cycle of deadline-driven quick fixes. In the Senate, Democrats were putting the finishing touches on a budget they plan to introduce on Wednesday, their first in four years, while House Republicans were preparing to introduce a spending plan of their own on Tuesday morning. LINK

The Washington Post's Lori Montgomery: " Senate Democrats prepare to roll out budget blueprint" Senate Democrats are drafting a federal budget blueprint that would raise nearly $1 trillion in new taxes over the next decade and slice roughly $1 trillion more from projected spending, according to Democratic aides familiar with the document. But the framework would never bring the budget into balance, potentially putting Democrats on the defensive as Washington enters a new phase in the ongoing battle over the swollen national debt. LINK

PRESIDENT OBAMA Bloomberg's Margaret Talev: " Obama Meets With Arab-American Leaders Before Mideast Visit" President Barack Obama met with Arab-American leaders today to seek their views ahead of his trip next week to Israel, the West Bank and Jordan. Obama met last week with Jewish-American leaders. Today's meeting was the first time Obama met at the White House with Arab-American leaders as a group, said James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, a policy center in Washington. LINK

MMIGRATION REFORM The Los Angeles Times' Brian Bennett: " Senators agree on path to legal status for illegal immigrants" Eight senators who have spent weeks trying to write a bipartisan bill to overhaul immigration laws have privately agreed on the most contentious part of the draft - how to offer legal status to the nation's 11 million illegal immigrants. According to aides familiar with the closed-door negotiations, the bill would require illegal immigrants to register with Homeland Security Department authorities, file federal income taxes for their time in America and pay a still-to-be-determined fine. LINK

The Washington Times' Stephen Dinan: " Backlash grows over release of illegal immigrants" The Obama administration's decision to release some immigrants awaiting deportation back into the community has spawned a furious backlash from Congress, where stunned lawmakers have besieged the Homeland Security Department with questions. Department officials have described the move as a cost-savings measure required by the budget sequesters, but two years ago one top official testified to Congress that detaining immigrants is usually cheaper than releasing them. LINK

GOP Politico's Alexander Burns: " Evangelical group invites 2016 GOP hopefuls" More than half-a-dozen potential Republican presidential candidates will be invited to court the party's evangelical base at a conference hosted by the conservative Faith & Freedom Coalition this spring, the event's chief organizer told POLITICO. The social conservative group intends to invite the biggest names in the 2016 field, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell. LINK

OTHER The New York Daily News' David Knowles: " U.S. Senate seat now costs $10.5 million to win, on average, while US House seat costs, $1.7 million, new analysis of FEC data shows" They're definitely not the cheap seats, that's for sure. The cost of winning a seat in Congress rose to a new all time high in the 2012 election cycle, according to a new analysis by MapLight.org of data from the Federal Elections Commission. LINK BOOKMARKS The Note: LINK The Must-Reads Online: LINK Top Line Webcast (12noon EST M-F): LINK ABC News Politics: LINK George's Bottom Line (George Stephanopoulos): LINK Follow ABC News on Twitter: LINK ABC News Mobile: LINK ABC News app on your iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad: LINK

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/notes-must-reads-tuesday-march-12-2013-073606551--abc-news-politics.html

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Video: Wallace headed to South Beach

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/21134540/vp/51154400#51154400

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