Alaska’s Murkowski Becomes Third G.O.P. Senator to Support Gay Marriage

Senator Lisa Murkowski, the Alaska Republican who has emerged as one of her party’s more moderate members in the Senate, said Wednesday that she supports same-sex marriage.

She becomes only the third Republican in the Senate to do so.

In a lengthy op-ed posted on her Web site, Ms. Murkowski said that what helped change her mind on the issue was getting to know a lesbian couple from Alaska. They were a family in every sense but one, Ms. Murkowski wrote. They adopted four children. They stayed together after enduring a separation because one of them served abroad in the Alaska National Guard.

“Yet despite signing up and volunteering to give themselves fully to these four adorable children, our government does not meet this family halfway and allow them to be legally recognized as spouses,” Ms. Murkowski wrote. “This first-class Alaskan family still lives a scond-class existence.”

With the Supreme Court set to decide a pair of same-sex marriage cases as early as next week, Ms. Murkowski said, she felt compelled to speak up. She follows two fellow Republicans, Senators Mark Kirk of Illinois and Rob Portman of Ohio, in supporting same-sex marriage. Mr. Portman announced his support in March after his son revealed to him that he is gay.

As Mr. Portman did, Ms. Murkowski articulated a conservative case for same-sex marriage, noting that the government should stay out of the private lives of loving couples while promoting the societal benefits of couples wedded by law.

“I recently read an interview where Ronald Reagan’s daughter said that she believes he would have supported same-sex marriage, that he would think ‘What difference does it make to anybody else’s life?’ ” she wrote. “Like Reagan, Alaskans believe that gov! ernment works best when it gets out of the way.”

Alaska’s Democratic senator, Mark Begich, said in March that he supports same-sex marriage. Mr. Begich is up for re-election next year.

Skates, Squids And Dollies That Make Striking Video

The products from Cinetics might not be the first accessories a budding videographer should buy, but if you want to create some advanced dolly effects on a budget, they are worth a look.

Cinetics makes a series of products that turn a Joby Focus tripod into a dolly that can roll along the ground or a motorized track, or be mounted on a vehicle.

The most basic product is the CineSkates system ($350), which began as a KickStarter project. It puts urethane skateboard-type wheels at the base of the tripod so that you can roll smoothly for tracking shots. It’s really best for tabletop videography. For one thing, the rig only stands about waist high. For another, any uneven surface - even the slate floor in my test - causes a lot of camera vibration.

I imagine a wider range of uses for the CineVise ($300) and CineSquid ($270) systems, which can be used to attach a camera to a vehicle. With these, you could take the kind of action shots you usually take with a Hero camera, only in higher fidelity because it can support a DSLR or midweight video camera. The CineVise puts vice clamps on the feet of the tripod. The CineSquid adds suction cups.

There are also smaller versions, the MiniSkates ($150) and MiniSquid ($130), for taking videos with your phone.

But the really mesmerizing shots can be made with a motorized dolly on a track, the CineMoco ($850). In its most impressive effect, it produces a time-l! apse video in which the camera changes position during photography.

It’s not a cheap way to get specialty shots, but it is less expensive than professional gear. For those who just need the gear for a shot or two, however, there are shops that rent this kind of equipment.

Q&A: Reliving Your Twitter History

Q.

Is there a way to see the posts I made from my Twitter account years ago, without endless scrolling through my feed?

A.

Twitter can send you a file containing all your posts. To request a copy of your archive, log into your Twitter account on the Web, click the gear-shaped icon in the upper right corner and select Settings. On the main Settings page, scroll down to “Your Twitter archive” and click the “Request your archive” button. Twitter then sends you an e-mail message with a link to download your file when it is ready.

Once you download the archive, open it and click the index.html file to read through your Twitter history with your browser. The file includes a timeline you can click to see posts from specific years and months. Twitter’s site has full instructions.

Q&A: Reliving Your Twitter History

Q.

Is there a way to see the posts I made from my Twitter account years ago, without endless scrolling through my feed?

A.

Twitter can send you a file containing all your posts. To request a copy of your archive, log into your Twitter account on the Web, click the gear-shaped icon in the upper right corner and select Settings. On the main Settings page, scroll down to “Your Twitter archive” and click the “Request your archive” button. Twitter then sends you an e-mail message with a link to download your file when it is ready.

Once you download the archive, open it and click the index.html file to read through your Twitter history with your browser. The file includes a timeline you can click to see posts from specific years and months. Twitter’s site has full instructions.

The Early Word: Frenemies

Today’s Times

• Bruising encounters with Presidents Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir V. Putin of Russia may underscore a harsh reality for President Obama as he delves deeper into a term that may be dominated by foreign policy, Mark Landler and Peter Baker write. His main counterparts on the world stage are not his friends, and they make little attempt to display diplomatic niceties.

• Senator Claire McCaskill, Democrat of Missouri, made an unusual declaration on Tuesday when she endorsed a “super PAC” encouraging Hillary Rodham Clinton to run for president in 2016, Jonathan Weisman reports. “A lot of us are using every tool in our tool kit to try to convince her that she should step out and be the nominee of our party,” Ms. McCaskill said.

• A long-awaited analysis by the Congressional Budget Office found that the benefits of the immigration bill currently being debated in the Senate would outweigh the costs, Ashley Parker reports. The report was a clear win for immigration proponents, even though Speaker John A. Boehner said Tuesday that he would not bring any immigration measure to the floor unless it had the support of a majority of House Republicans.

• Though the bill has no chance in the Democratic-controlled Senate, the House approved the most restrictive ban on abortions considered by Congress in a decade, reflecting how little common ground the two parties share these days, Jeremy W. Peters writes.

• Two newly declassified examples of what was described as thwarted “potential terrorist events”  were revealed a! t a rare public oversight hearing by the House Intelligence Committee on Tuesday, Charlie Savage reports. The cases were made public as Congress and the White House stepped up a campaign to defend the government surveillance programs.

 Happenings in Washington

• Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. will deliver remarks at the dedication of the statue of Frederick Douglass at the United States Capitol.