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Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Democrats Call Mitch McConnell 'Washington's Top Roadblock'

ABC News' Michael Falcone reports:

A pro-Democratic super PAC unveiled an online campaign on Tuesday that aims to draw attention to what the group says is Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's "record of putting Washington's interests above Kentucky's."

The Senate Majority PAC has created a microsite, "Beltway Mitch," that calls the Kentucky senator, who is up for re-election in 2014, "Washington's top road block" and accuses him of being "deep in hock to extreme special interests."

"As a top Washington insider, Mitch McConnell has left Kentuckians' interest behind and voters need to know his true record," Rebecca Lambe, co-chair of the Senate Majority PAC said in a statement. "By acting as a roadblock for job creation, investment in education, and giving law enforcement the tools they need, McConnell has proven he has forgotten the people of the Commonwealth."

In addition to the website, officials with the group said its anti-McConnell push would also include paid content on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

So far, no top Kentucky Democrats have launched a bid to challenge McConnell, leaving it to organizations like the Senate Majority PAC and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee to start chipping away at McConnell's record as they try to damage his hopes of winning a sixth term.

Last month, one day after actress Ashley Judd announced her intention not to run against McConnell, the DSCC began running radio ads against him.

Since Judd made her decision public on March 27, speculation has focused on Kentucky Secretary of State Allison Lundergan Grimes as a viable opponent to McConnell. But as recently as this weekend, Grimes said she was undecided.

"I don't know what the next step is for me," Grimes told a crowd at a Democratic fundraising dinner in Bardstown, Ky.

According to a local news report, Grimes did not mention McConnell by name in her remarks, but did fit in a few thinly-veiled digs.

"It makes a difference as to who you send, for instance, if you send someone to Frankfort or to D.C. that votes against the Violence Against Women Act," she said.

McConnell opposed the Violence Against Women Act, a vote that the Senate Majority PAC highlighted on its "Beltway Mitch" site.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

ACMG releases statement on noninvasive prenatal screening

Apr. 8, 2013 ? The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) has just released an important new Policy Statement on "Noninvasive Prenatal Screening for Fetal Aneuploidy."?

As background, in recent decades there have been many changes and improvements in prenatal genetic screening and diagnosis. The risk, however, of testing with specimens obtained by invasive procedures such as amniocentesis and chorionic villus sampling (CVS) has led to the search for new methods using mother's blood specimens obtained noninvasively. The most recent advances in genomics and genomic technologies have resulted in such noninvasive prenatal screenings (NIPS). The acronym NIPS is used to emphasize the screening nature (false positives and false negatives do occur) of tests currently on the market.

The new ACMG Statement on Noninvasive Prenatal Screening addresses:

The current limitations of NIPS
The advantages of NIPS compared with current screening approaches
Pretest and posttest genetic counseling
The reporting of results by laboratories performing NIPS
Oversight of analytical and bioinformatic components by testing of the laboratories performing NIPS

The Statement says that while studies are promising and demonstrate high sensitivity with low false-positive rates, there are limitations to NIPS, "NIPS for fetal aneuploidy has arrived; however, as with most new technologies, there is room for refinement." The report strongly states that positive results should be followed-up with an invasive diagnostic test before any decision is made regarding pregnancy termination.

Lead author of the ACMG Statement Anthony R. Gregg, MD, FACOG, FACMG and high- risk pregnancy physician said, "Obstetric care providers must become familiar with the advantages and disadvantages of the use of this approach. Clinicians should provide patients with both pretest and posttest counseling with the goal of avoiding patient harm or confusion -- I can't stress this enough."

Gregg added, "Most of the companies that are developing these tests have referred to it as NIPDiagnosis or NIPTest. In our view, it is NOT a diagnostic test such as chorionic villus sampling [CVS] or amniocentesis; hence, we coined the term Noninvasive Prenatal SCREENING (NIPS)."

NIPS was initially validated for Down syndrome screening and has been applied to other trisomies including 13 and 18 with sex chromosomes being added now.

ACMG Medical Director Barry Thompson, MD, FACMG, another author of the Statement added, "NIPS is now one of many approaches available to women who desire Down syndrome screening. Unlike other methods, it is minimally invasive in that it only requires a blood sample from the pregnant mother rather than the more invasive amniocentesis or CVS that have associated risks of miscarriage."

"NIPS is a very accurate screening test, " said Michael S. Watson, PhD, Executive Director of the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics. However, it is well known that the cells originate from 'extraembryonic tissues' around the fetus so aneuploidy status may not always be identical to the genetics of the fetus. The advantages include that the detection rate is higher, the negative predictive value is greater, and the false positive rate is lower, than any other current screening approaches for Down syndrome. It must be followed up, however, by a diagnostic test since NIPS is a screening test."

"Finally, NIPS does not replace a first trimester ultrasound (12-14 weeks); rather, it complements it," Watson added.

The Statement can be found in the Publications section of the ACMG website at http://www.acmg.net and will soon be published in the peer-reviewed medical journal, Genetics in Medicine.

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/OL916zUx7fk/130408133754.htm

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Google target of Microsoft-led antitrust complaint

BRUSSELS (AP) ? A group of companies led by Microsoft have called on European authorities to launch an antitrust investigation into Google and its hold over mobile internet usage on smartphones.

The "FairSearch" initiative of 17 companies ? which includes Microsoft, Nokia, and Oracle ?claims Google is acting unfairly by giving away its Android operating system to mobile device companies on the condition that the U.S. online giant's own software applications like YouTube and Google Maps are installed and prominently displayed.

"Google is using its Android mobile operating system as a Trojan horse to deceive partners, monopolize the mobile marketplace, and control consumer data," said Thomas Vinje, the group's Brussels-based lawyer.

Android operating systems have the largest share of the smartphone market worldwide, followed by Apple's iOS platform with systems from Blackberry, Microsoft and others far behind.

"Google's predatory distribution of Android at below-cost makes it difficult for other providers of operating systems to recoup investments in competing with Google's dominant mobile platform," FairSearch said in a statement.

The European Commission, the 27-nation bloc's executive arm and antitrust authority, is not obliged to take any action other than reply to the group's complaint.

Google Inc. did not address the complaint's charges in detail. "We continue to work cooperatively with the European Commission," said Google spokesman Al Verney.

The U.S. company is already under investigation by Brussels for practices related to its dominance of online search and advertising markets.

That complaint, launched in 2010, alleges Google unfairly favors its own services in its Internet search results, which enjoy a near-monopoly in Europe. Google has proposed a list of remedies to address the Commission's concerns to achieve a settlement. The Commission is currently examining the proposed changes.

In China, Google has already come under official scrutiny because of Android's dominance of the mobile smartphone market there.

Several European data privacy regulators have also launched an investigation into Google's practices, alleging the company is creating a data goldmine at the expense of unwitting users.

Last year, the company merged 60 separate privacy policies from around the world into one universal procedure. The European authorities complain that the new policy doesn't allow users to figure out which information is kept, how it is combined by Google services or how long the company retains it.

The policy allows Google to combine data collected from one person as they use Google's services, from Gmail to YouTube, giving it a powerful tool for targeting users with advertising based on their interests and search history. Advertising is the main way the company makes its money.

___

Toby Sterling in Amsterdam contributed reporting.

___

Follow Juergen Baetz on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/jbaetz

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/google-target-microsoft-led-antitrust-complaint-080949532--finance.html

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Many fouls, few points as season draws to a close

Louisville's Stephan Van Treese (44) vies for a loose ball against Wichita State's Fred Van Vleet (23) as Louisville's Peyton Siva (3) looks on during the second half of the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball semifinal game Saturday, April 6, 2013, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Syracuse's Michael Carter-Williams (1) falls to the court as Michigan's Tim Hardaway Jr. (10) vies for the ball during the second half of the NCAA Final Four tournament college basketball semifinal game Saturday, April 6, 2013, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)

ATLANTA (AP) ? Once the nets are down and the confetti stops flying, it will be safe to open your eyes again, basketball fans.

Yes, 2012-13 has been one ugly season.

Scoring hasn't been this low in decades and the same for shooting percentages. Foul calls also are way down, which turned much of this year's action into something more like wrestling with occasional breaks for free-throw shooting.

Long delays for video reviews, confusion over the charge-block call, hand-checking, arm-blocking and always, always, an endless string of TV timeouts added to a feeling among even basketball lovers that many nights were hard to sit through.

"It doesn't take long, if you're really watching, to see what's happening and say, 'Oh my God, this is awful,'" said ESPN analyst Jay Bilas, who has been one of the most outspoken critics of the state of the game.

The season capped off by the Michigan-Louisville NCAA title game Monday night has been one marked by amazing parity ? something the leaders of most sports strive for, but one that may have played into the muddle that has become college hoops.

At one point, the top spot in The Associated Press poll changed for five straight weeks. Only one top-seeded team, Louisville, made it to the Final Four and there were two No. 4s and a No. 9; overall, this was only the fourth time since seeding began in 1979 that only one top-3 seed made it to the sport's biggest stage.

Better coaching, better preparation, more good players and the willingness of many of the best ones to enroll at less-heralded schools all played into the evenness. As early as junior high, players in the same age bracket go against each other on traveling AAU and All-Star teams. When college rolls around, the intimidation factor is gone. If today's dynamic were in place in the 1970s, almost every player at the Final Four would've played against Bill Walton at least once.

"Some of these guys couldn't score, so is that ugly?" said Bill Raftery, one of the sport's most effervescent color commentators. "Some would prefer high scoring and free-wheeling but preparation is such that it's not going to be that way. And the kids all know one another, so they're not in the least bit in awe of an opponent. You get Wichita State playing Louisville and they don't really give a damn. It's just another team to them."

It can make for unexpectedly close games and exciting finishes ? see No. 1 Louisville's come-from-behind 72-68 win over that plucky underdog, No. 9 Wichita State, in the national semifinals.

Still, the overall product suffered this year and the statistics back that up:

? Teams averaged 67.49 points, lowest since 1951-52, decades before either the 3-point line or the shot clock were introduced to college basketball.

? Field goal percentage was 43.3 percent, lowest since 1964-65.

? Shooting from the 3-point line was a tad over 34 percent, the worst it's been since 1996-97.

? The average team's 17.66 fouls per game were the lowest since the stats started being recorded in 1947.

? March Madness did not provide a reprieve. This has been the lowest scoring version of the NCAA tournament since the 3-point line came into effect in 1987, at 131.2 points per game.

Given those numbers, it seems almost fitting that the tournament's most enduring moment was cringe-worthy: the compound leg fracture suffered by Louisville guard Kevin Ware. And then, in the run-up to the Final Four, there was the unsavory story of Mike Rice, coach of a losing program at Rutgers who got fired for his brutish tactics during practices.

"A failure of process," school president Robert Barchi called the Rice fiasco, which also led to the resignation of the athletic director, who failed to fire the coach when first presented with video evidence of his abuse.

While that story keeps unfolding over the offseason, the leaders in college basketball will spend the time off trying to clean things up on the court.

Raftery predicts the sport's powers will take a long look at the "arc" ? that befuddling semicircle drawn underneath the basket that a defensive player cannot be standing in if he hopes to draw a charge call.

"They're going to do some things with the rules," Raftery said. "But I enjoy the game, so it doesn't really offend me the way it does a lot of my pals."

But he, too, thinks the number of video reviews needs to be pared.

Officials stop action to parse through college's very specific rules on flagrant fouls, which call for checking the video any time one player's elbow makes contact with another's head, whether it's obviously intentional or not. Refs also stop play to determine whether shooters are behind the 3-point line and to put tenths of seconds back on the clock late in games. Those stoppages often deprive fans of a bang-bang, sometimes fantastic finish so officials can huddle around video monitors to study the clock while coaches huddle with their teams to draw up a play.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino said he remembers the same sort of troubles bogging down play in the NBA when he coached there in the 1980s and '90s. The commissioner, David Stern, called some of the sport's best minds into a room and they started figuring out how to make things better.

Pitino said it all comes down to "freedom of movement," which can only be assured if the officials start calling the games more tightly, doing away with all the grabbing, hand-checking and arm-barring that clogs up the flow of these games.

"The only way to do it is the first 10 games of the season, the games have to be ugly," Pitino said of the extra stoppages and free throws that could ensue while refs try to clean things up. "Then the players will adjust, then you'll see great offense again. Like the NBA now, you see all those great scoring teams. Now they have a great product, and we need to go the route of the NBA."

___

AP National Writer Paul Newberry in Atlanta contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-04-08-NCAA-Rough%20Season/id-5d281717fc7d4f87baebc0be7baec609

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Video: Schumer & McCain: Let's have debate on gun control (cbsnews)

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Obama budget takes heat from all quarters

Republicans reject any new taxes. Liberals say they'll fight any changes to Social Security and other entitlement programs. Does the Obama administration have any room to maneuver?

By Brad Knickerbocker,?Staff writer / April 7, 2013

President Barack Obama, and White House Senior Advisor Dan Pfeiffer react to a reporter's question as they leave the Treasury Department in January. Pfeiffer warned Republicans Sunday that a "my way or the highway" approach would spell the GOP's defeat in upcoming budget negotiations, and he told Democratic allies that they, too, will have to bend on Obama's delayed spending plan set to be released this week.

Charles Dharapak/AP

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Does President Obama?s budget have a snowball?s chance in Hades?

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He?ll submit his administration?s budget for the fiscal year beginning in October on Wednesday, and based on leaked details it?s getting largely negative reviews.

House Speaker John Boehner has rejected it because it includes new revenues, meaning some new taxes on the wealthy. Obama?s liberal base promises to block any cuts in entitlements ? in particular, a revised inflation adjustment for Social Security known as "chained CPI."?

"There are nuggets of his budget that I think are optimistic." Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday ? the only praise, however lukewarm, heard from a Republican.

"The president is showing a little bit of leg here, this is somewhat encouraging," said Sen. Graham. "He has sort of made a step forward in the entitlement-reform process."

"He showed some leadership," Graham added. "That puts the burden on us."

Which is exactly what Obama?s liberal base fears, a fact all too clear to the White House, which sought to clarify its position Sunday.

"This chained CPI that?s being referred to here, it is something the president will only accept on two conditions," senior advisor Dan Pfeiffer?said on ABC?s ?This Week.? "One, it?s part of a balanced package that includes closing tax loopholes that benefit the wealthiest, and two, that it has protections for the most vulnerable, including the oldest seniors."

On Wednesday ? the day he officially unveils his budget for FY 2014 ? Obama will dine with a dozen Republican senators.

"The president's focus, in addition to the regular order process that members of Congress say they want, is to try to find a caucus of common sense, folks who are willing to compromise, that don't think compromise is a dirty word, and try to get something done," White House senior advisor Dan Pfeiffer said Sunday on "This Week.?

But Obama might want to schedule a meal with liberal lawmakers and pundits as well.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/3sGxt_6XldM/Obama-budget-takes-heat-from-all-quarters

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Louisville women join men with shot at NCAA title

Louisville players including Cortnee Walton (13) celebrate after a national semifinal against California at the Women's Final Four of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, April 7, 2013, in New Orleans. Louisville won 64-57. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Connecticut players celebrate in the women's NCAA Final Four college basketball tournament semifinal against Notre Dame, Sunday, April 7, 2013, in New Orleans. UConn won 83-65. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

NEW ORLEANS (AP) ? Louisville's basketball teams have been pulling for each other during both NCAA tournaments, sweating through the nail biters, cheering the wins.

There hasn't been a loss yet. It sure is a joyous time to be a Cardinal.

The women got a pep talk from men's coach Rick Pitino after they lost to Notre Dame in the Big East tournament ? and they haven't lost since, beating Cal 64-57 on Sunday night to advance to the school's second NCAA championship game.

The women's players gathered at a New Orleans restaurant to watch the men beat Wichita State on Saturday and will be watching again Monday night when the men play Michigan for the title.

"The way I look at it, I think the men are trying to feed off of our success," women's coach Jeff Walz said with a smirk before adding on a serious note that he'd received word from Atlanta that the Louisville men "were in the hotel lobby, jumping up and down and cheering for us."

Pitino texted Walz after their victory "congratulating us and telling me to tell the players what an unbelievable job they did."

And so they have.

Connecticut women's coach Geno Auriemma is well aware of what Louisville is going through right now.

Back in 2004, the men's and women's teams at UConn were playing for the national title and both came away victorious, the only time one school won both titles in the same season.

Now Louisville can do it again.

"If it were easy, it would have been done a lot of times, but the fact it's only been done once shows you how difficult it is to do," said Auriemma after his team routed Notre Dame 83-65 to reach the final. "At the same time, this has been a magical year for Louisville. ... It's just amazing what they've been able to do, so I think we're playing against Louisville and we're playing against a certain karma, maybe."

Auriemma's Huskies were finally able to shake off the Fighting Irish, thanks to an incredible effort by star freshman Breanna Stewart. She scored a career-high 29 points to go with four blocks and was seemingly everywhere.

"Given the stage, and what was at stake, I don't know that I've seen any bigger performance," said Auriemma. "I know there's been NCAA tournament games that we've had certain individuals play great, but I don't remember a player having a better game in this environment."

UConn will be going for its eighth championship Tuesday night, which would match Tennessee for the most in the women's college game.

No team has dominated the Huskies under Auriemma the way the Irish had over the past few seasons. UConn (34-4) had lost the previous two national semifinals to Notre Dame and dropped three thrilling games this season to their conference rival.

Stewart and her teammates wouldn't let it happen again, ending the brilliant career of Notre Dame guard Skylar Diggins with a thud. Diggins finished with 10 points, going a dismal 3 for 15 from the field.

"Once you get here you're only going to beat great teams. And the reason Notre Dame has beaten us seven of the last eight times is because they're really, really good," Auriemma said. "For one night, that's what's great about the NCAA tournament, for one night, for just this night, we just needed to be better than them, and we were."

The Huskies built a 10-point halftime lead and Notre Dame (35-2) could only get within six in the second half as its school-record winning streak came to an end at 30 games.

UConn and Notre Dame have developed the best rivalry in women's basketball over the past few seasons, and this game might have been the final chapter between the two with the Irish heading to the Atlantic Coast Conference next season.

Two years ago, the Huskies won the first three meetings before Notre Dame shocked them in the national semifinals. The Irish had won seven of the previous eight meetings before Sunday night and this one, for once, started slowly. Notre Dame went nearly 7? minutes without a field goal, missing 14 consecutive shots, and neither team led by more than four over the first 16 minutes.

But trailing 26-25 with 3:44 left in the half, UConn started to take over. Bria Hartley, who has struggled all season while recovering from an ankle injury she suffered over the summer, was the spark. The junior guard started the spurt with a 3-pointer and added a nifty pull-up moments later to make it 32-26.

Diggins was 0 for 6 from the field in the first half as the Huskies harassed her all over the court. She scored the Irish's first two points on free throws and didn't have another point until getting a steal early in the second half and converting it for the easy layup to make it 42-35.

The two-time All-American tried to do everything she could to rally her team, twice chasing down Hartley on the break for a block, but her shots weren't falling and her team was falling behind.

UConn led 50-43 with 12:22 left before Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Stewart hit back-to-back 3s to give the Huskies their biggest lead. Notre Dame wasn't done, with star freshman Jewell Loyd scoring five points during a 9-2 run to get the Irish within 61-55.

But that was as close as they could get.

Stewart was the most heralded freshman coming into the season, but struggled through the middle part of the year. But ever since the Big East tournament she's been on a roll.

"Every player, especially young players, deal with things differently," Auriemma said. "And I think when the season ended, it just let the air out of the balloon and she said, 'Now I just want to play basketball.' My God, she was amazing tonight."

Now Stewart and the rest of the Huskies will get ready for the Cardinals, who have beaten Baylor, Tennessee and Cal their last three games to make it to the championship.

But that can wait until after Monday night ? when the Cardinals will watch the men's team try to win their own title.

___

Follow Doug on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougfeinberg

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-04-08-BKW-NCAA-Championship-Lookahead/id-aefcda008964477996e8cba49882ad92

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