Assessing fitness-to-practice of overseas-trained health practitioners by Australian registration & accreditation bodies (BMC Medical Education)
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Background: Assessment of fitness-to-practice of health professionals trained overseas and who wish to practice in Australia is undertaken by a range of organisations. These organisations conduct assessments using a range of methods. However there is very little published about how these organisations conduct their assessments. The purpose of the current paper is to investigate the methods of assessment used by these organisations and the issues associated with conducting these assessments. Methods: A series of semi-structured interviews was undertaken with a variety of organisations who undertake assessments of overseas-trained health professionals who wish to practice in Australia. Content analysis of the interviews was used to identify themes and patterns. Results: Four themes were generated from the content analysis of the interviews: (1) assessing; (2) process; (3) examiners; and (4) cost-efficiency. The themes were interconnected and each theme also had a number of sub-themes. Conclusions: The organisations who participated in the present study used a range of assessment methods to assess overseas trained health professionals. These organisations also highlighted a number of issues, particularly related to examiners and process issues, pre- and post-assessment. Organisations demonstrated an appreciation for ongoing review of their assessment processes and incorporating evidence from the literature to inform their processes and assessment development.
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Angiogenic factors and their soluble receptors predict organ dysfunction and mortality in post-cardiac arrest syndrome (Critical Care) Understanding and benchmarking health service achievement of policy goals for chronic disease (BMC Health Services Research)
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We heard confirmation yesterday that Terry Francona is indeed a candidate for the Indians manager job and is expected interview in the near future. Nick Camino of WTAM 1100 in Cleveland has the latest update on the situation.
There?s some question about whether the Indians will offer Francona enough money to leave his broadcasting job at ESPN and there?s also the matter of managing a rebuilding team without the big budget of the Red Sox. However, Francona spent the 2001 season as a special assistant to team president Mark Shapiro, who was the GM at the time, so there?s some history here. There?s also only 30 of these jobs to go around and fortunes in the American League Central can change pretty quickly.
Interim manager Sandy Alomar, Jr. is the only other confirmed candidate for the permanent gig. Many consider him the favorite for the job and he?d certainly come cheaper as a first-time skipper.
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) ? A group of Muslims suspected of ransacking a Hindu temple in southern Pakistan may be charged with blasphemy, police said Sunday. The case is a rare twist on the use of the country's harsh blasphemy laws, which are more often invoked against supposed offenses to Islam as opposed to minority faiths.
The laws, sections of which carry the death penalty or life imprisonment, have drawn renewed international scrutiny this year after a young Christian girl in Islamabad was alleged to have desecrated the Muslim holy book, the Quran. A Muslim cleric now stands accused of fabricating evidence against the girl, who has been freed on bail and whose mental capacity has been questioned.
Police officer Mohammad Hanif said the anti-Hindu attack took place Sept. 21. The government had declared that day a national holiday ? a "Day of Love for the Prophet" ? and called on people to demonstrate peacefully against a U.S.-made anti-Islam film that has sparked protests throughout the Muslim world. Those rallies took a violent turn in Pakistan, and more than 20 people were killed.
Hanif said dozens of Muslims led by a cleric converged on the outskirts of Karachi in a Hindu neighborhood commonly known as Hindu Goth. The protesters attacked the Sri Krishna Ram temple, broke religious statues, tore up a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu scripture, and beat up the temple's caretaker, Sindha Maharaj.
"The attackers broke the statues of (Hindu deities) Radha, Hanuman, Parwati and Krishna, and took away the decorative gold ornaments," Maharaj said. "They also stormed my home and snatched the gold jewelry of my family, my daughters."
Maharaj and other Hindu leaders turned to the police, who registered a case against the cleric and eight other Muslims. But none of the suspects had been found as of Sunday, Hanif said.
The police officer said the case against the attackers was registered under Section 295-A of the blasphemy laws, which covers the "outraging of religious feelings." That section of the law can carry a fine or up to 10 years imprisonment, but, if the case were to proceed, it's unclear exactly what punishment would be imposed.
Court decisions in the past have often confused what penalties should be applied in blasphemy cases in Pakistan. And although many blasphemous acts are said to require the death penalty, Pakistan is not known to have executed anyone under the law. Still, many of the accused have been killed by extremists outside the courts.
Human rights activists say the blasphemy laws are too broad and vague, and that they often are used by people seeking to settle scores with rivals, or as a means of targeting Christians, Hindus and other members of minority religions. Pakistan has some 180 million people and is 95 percent Muslim.
Islamic conservatism, as well as extremism, is on the rise here, and even speaking out against the blasphemy laws can put people in danger. Two prominent politicians, including the sole Christian member of the federal Cabinet, were assassinated in 2011 for urging reform of the law.
Become a fan of thePolitical Gabfest on Facebook. We post to the Facebook page throughout the week, so keep the conversation going by joining us there.Or follow us @SlateGabFest!
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On this week?s Slate Political Gabfest, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss Mitt Romney?s challenges heading into the debates, alleged liberal bias in the media and polling, and important senate races. ?
Here are some of the links and references mentioned during this week's show:
Can Romney win without Ohio? Nate Silver summarizes some alternative paths to victory.
Emily speculates about the cause of Obama?s stronger Ohio polling; one of several explanations, says the New Republic?s Alec MacGillis, is an overemphasis of Obama?s problems with white working-class voters, which seem greater in the South than in the Midwest.
James Fallows plays debate coach in his technique and skill-focused preview.
But John reminds us: Debates usually don?t matter. For a review of the academic research, read John Sides in the Washington Monthly.
David says a new polling site purports to correct a liberal bias in polling. Chris Cillizza has a fact-check on the main argument?that party identification is skewing polls.?
Slate?s Will Saletan observes that the GOP?s national leadership?and money?is making a slow creep back toward Todd Akin.
John chatters about the first photo ever taken of humans, circa1838.
Emily chatters about John?s ?Fresca? project, a look at what criteria we might use if we conducted job interviews for the presidency.
David chatters about the Washington Post?s panda coverage.
Topic ideas for next week? You can tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @SlateGabfest
The e-mail address for the Political Gabfest is gabfest@slate.com. (E-mail may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)
Holdings are expanding to record levels on bets it will outperform gold
Hedge funds are the most bullish on silver in seven months and investors' holdings are expanding toward a record on speculation the metal will outperform gold as central banks seek to boost growth.
Wagers on rising prices jumped 10-fold since June, U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data show. ...
If history is any guide, silver will beat gold after the Federal Reserve announced a third round of debt-buying and central banks from Europe to Japan pledged more action. Silver rose about 53 percent in the Fed's first quantitative easing from December 2008 through March 2010, twice as much as gold, and 24 percent during the second phase ending in June 2011, three times as much. Silver will probably keep beating gold in the next several quarters, Morgan Stanley predicts.
"The recent announcements on the part of central banks really sparked the rally," said Peter Sorrentino, who helps manage $14.6 billion of assets at Huntington Asset Advisors in Cincinnati. "Silver has now become a two-way play, getting bids both on industrial demand as well as a monetary hedge."?
In a separate interview on Yahoo! Finance's "Breakout" show, ETF Trends editor Tom Lydon also sounded bullish on silver:
"There's been a huge increase in emerging market demand as more people move up to the middle class, and silver is an easier acquisition for them," Lydon says in the attached video. "Although somewhat of a speculative investment ten years ago, gold and silver are now becoming a foundation investment." ...
While silver is unarguably more volatile, Lydon points out that it is still almost 40% below its highs of two years ago, while gold is just 15% beneath its $2,000 peak a year ago.
ABC news set up a sting at various main stream airports by leaving behind a total of ten iPads to see what happens to them when they get into the hands of TSA officers. The sting was setup after reports of 100?s of thefts by TSA officers from airports around the country. Thankfully nine of the iPads were returned to their owners as the TSA officers followed agency guidelines and immediately contacted the owners and returned them. Unfortunately one of the iPads was not returned and the TSA officer from Orlando airport decided to take it home.
The iPad was last seen on video in the hands of TSA officer Andy Ramirez and then it went on a thirty mile journey which was tracked using the iPads location services. ABC news waited for two weeks before turning up at the home of Ramirez who denied having the iPad at first. ABC news activated the audible tone to assist in finding a lost iPhone and iPad using the Find my iPad app and then he produced the iPad in question and turned it over claiming that his wife had picked it up at the airport.
"I'm so embarrassed," he told ABC News. "My wife says she got the iPad and brought it home," he said. Moments later, his wife appeared at the door to say she had found it and "no told my husband." Asked how that was possible given that ABC News tape showed him handling the iPad at the security checkpoint, Ramirez shut the door and has not responded to questions since.
The TSA has since parted company with Ramirez claiming it has a zero-tolerance policy for theft from passengers. It has already terminated the employment of 381 officers over the last nine years and eleven so far this year too.
The background ? the theme ? will change. The current is based on the name of my company - Mountain Wind ? but since it is not a name often mentioned and is something more for my self-esteem than have much of practical function in my interface towards the world, I think there is room for something more catching.
The new background will consists of images from my stories. I?ve done several sketches of characters figuring in my portfolio. When painted, scanned and merged into a unit, I?ll think it will be more attractive and say more about my work than the current.
Then I?ll have the situation that I have more to write about than screenwriting. The title ?Me, a writer of movie scripts? will be changed. The url will remain to keep things practical. I have a few ideas for new title: ?Me, writing stories? ?Me, a storyteller? ?Me, telling stories?
I think I like the middle best: ?Me, a storyteller?.
It is important that there is a ?Me? first, because this blog is about me. It is not a general-good-advice-site, nor a blog by someone who by her name alone can build an audience. This is me talking, telling, writing, what I like and think. I don?t think I should pretend something else.
And I am a storyteller.
Do I write stories ? the first idea for a title? Most times, but not always. Do I tell stories ? the third idea for a title? Yes, but the stories are not told here on the blog; here I tell you how I tell them.
If you have any suggestions I?m interested.
Then I?ve been thinking about tagging my blog entries with an image, like I do with ?A word?. A ?post-it? in the corner with an image quickly telling what kind of project the blog entry is about. After all there will be movie scripts, a novel and a graphic novel to begin with. I will probably need some kind of flag to differ the posts visually. As far as I know, Blogger does not support the entries to have different templates for different blog entries, but I?ll check into that.
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) ? Sen. Patrick Leahy is hailing legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama that is expected to be key to a series of big economic investments in northern Vermont.
Leahy has been a key backer of the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Regional Center program, and Obama on Friday signed a three-year extension of the program.
Leahy and other officials say it will enable foreign investors to bring some $500 million in capital to help expansions at the Jay Peak and Burk Mountain ski areas, new manufacturing and commercial development in downtown Newport and improvements to the state airport in Coventry.
Leahy says the program doesn't cost taxpayers anything, but promotes economic development by making it much easier for foreign investors to bring their money to Vermont.
EVEN as the ANU is shunting its teaching staff at the School of Music out the door, it?s busy replacing them?but at a much lower level.?
Image of happy drumming hands
A curious advertisement, featuring an image of happy drumming hands, has appeared online at http://music.anu.edu.au/node/4401, calling for music tutors to service the new Bachelor of Music Performance courses commencing in February next year.
?Are you interested in becoming a tertiary instrumental tutor at the ANU School of Music?? the advertisement asks. ?The ANU School of Music invites expressions of interest from qualified people interested in contract tutoring at undergraduate level for courses in (Semester 1) or July 2013 (Semester 2).?
Academic staff accustomed to having their long years of high-level performance and training recognised and honoured with professorial status have already been sidelined with a planned curriculum that will place musicology and doctoral theses ahead of practice, though the ad is careful to tick the box that says, ?a key element of music instruction is the individual one-to-one mentoring of the student by the tutor.?
According to a group of staff members who preferred to remained unnamed, the new Head of School, Peter Tregear, has counselled students to bargain with tutors to get their fees down so that the proposed Professional Development Allowance (PDA) for students can go further.
It can easily cost between $100-$170 an hour for a top level instrumental teacher and under the old model that was incorporated into the main course. But this advertisement makes it clear that the actual teaching of an instrument is a service provided to the course, not a central element of it.
The ad goes on, ?Your contract as an Instrumental Tutor will be for a specified number of one-hour-long one-to-one lessons per week over the teaching semester specified (usually 13 lessons, or one per week). For each contact hour, the rate of pay includes an expectation that the tutor will provide a lesson schedule for each student, and at the end of each teaching period, submit a Student Progress Report to the School of Music on each student?s performance development over the semester.?
Although the repeated assertion has been that the old School of Music model was too costly, it is well-known that the ANU?s planners have long nurtured an ideological antipathy to conservatorium-based music studies, seeing itself as a centre of loftier investigations into theory, musicology and composition. There are parallels in other disciplines which involve practice.
Though the university believes competition for places at the School will still be still keen, the word around the traps is that elite musicians will go anywhere but Canberra for their higher education, with the Queensland Conservatorium at Griffith University looking likes the big winner.
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ANU advertises for music tutors, School of Music calls for service providers
Demonstrators take part in a march to the Spanish Parliament against the austerity measures announced by the Spanish government in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. Spain's government was hit hard by the country's financial crisis on multiple fronts Tuesday as protestors enraged with austerity cutbacks and tax hikes clashed with police near Parliament, a separatist-minded region set elections seen as an independence referendum and the nation's high borrowing costs rose again. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa De Olza)
Demonstrators take part in a march to the Spanish Parliament against the austerity measures announced by the Spanish government in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. Spain's government was hit hard by the country's financial crisis on multiple fronts Tuesday as protestors enraged with austerity cutbacks and tax hikes clashed with police near Parliament, a separatist-minded region set elections seen as an independence referendum and the nation's high borrowing costs rose again. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa De Olza)
A demonstrator sprays "Police kills" during a march to the Spanish Parliament against the austerity measures announced by the Spanish government in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. Spain's government was hit hard by the country's financial crisis on multiple fronts Tuesday as protestors enraged with austerity cutbacks and tax hikes clashed with police near Parliament, a separatist-minded region set elections seen as an independence referendum and the nation's high borrowing costs rose again. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa De Olza)
Demonstrators throw fences during riots after a march to the Spanish Parliament against the austerity measures announced by the Spanish government in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. Spain's government was hit hard by the country's financial crisis on multiple fronts Tuesday as protestors enraged with austerity cutbacks and tax hikes clashed with police near Parliament, a separatist-minded region set elections seen as an independence referendum and the nation's high borrowing costs rose again. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa De Olza)
Demonstrators shout to a Spanish riot policeman after a march to the Spanish Parliament against the austerity measures announced by the Spanish government in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. Spain's government was hit hard by the country's financial crisis on multiple fronts Tuesday as protestors enraged with austerity cutbacks and tax hikes clashed with police near Parliament, a separatist-minded region set elections seen as an independence referendum and the nation's high borrowing costs rose again. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa De Olza)
Spanish Police shoot rubber balls during riots after demonstrators marched to the Spanish Parliament against the austerity measures announced by the Spanish government in Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012. Spain's government was hit hard by the country's financial crisis on multiple fronts Tuesday as protestors enraged with austerity cutbacks and tax hikes clashed with police near Parliament, a separatist-minded region set elections seen as an independence referendum and the nation's high borrowing costs rose again. (AP Photo/Daniel Ochoa De Olza)
MADRID (AP) ? The Bank of Spain warned Wednesday that the country is in a deep recession, a day after clashes in Madrid between protesters and the police led to 38 people arrested and 64 injured.
The demonstrations on Tuesday evening against the government's austerity drive at a time of mass unemployment put in sharp relief the scale of discontent that's brewing in a country suffering its second recession in three years and an unemployment rate of nearly 25 percent.
In the wake of the clashes and a warning from the central bank's that the country's economy continues to shrink "significantly," financial markets have grown increasingly nervous. The main IBEX index in Madrid was down a hefty 2.6 percent, while Spain's 10-year bond yield edged back up toward 6 percent.
On Tuesday, several thousand people ? 6,000 according to authorities ? converged on the national Parliament building in central Madrid. More than 1,000 riot police blocked off access to the building, forcing protesters to crowd nearby avenues. Police baton-charged protesters at the front of the march and some demonstrators broke down barricades and threw rocks and bottles.
Smaller demonstrations Tuesday attracted hundreds of protesters in Barcelona and Seville.
The protesters are calling for fresh elections, claiming the government's hard-hitting austerity measures are proof the ruling Popular Party misled voters when it won power last November.
Leaders of the protests said on their website that they would stage a fresh rally later Wednesday.
A National Police spokeswoman said Wednesday that 27 of the injured were police officers. She spoke on condition of anonymity because of police rules.
The government praised the police, saying the protest was an attack on democracy.
"I congratulate the police," said Interior Minister Jorge Fernandez Diaz. "They did their duty."
Opposition Socialist party spokesman Eduardo Madina said the government should take note of the popular discontent, adding that some images of the police charges displayed "pure brutality."
The government is expected to present a new batch of economically painful reforms on Thursday when it unveils a draft budget for 2013. Even before enacting the new measures, the government was predicting a 1.5 percent economic contraction this year. The Bank of Spain's warning Wednesday suggests it may be more.
On Friday, an auditor will release the results of stress tests on Spanish banks hit hard by the collapse of the country's real estate sector, which drove economic growth until the 2008 financial crisis hit. The government will then judge how much of a ?100 billion loan it will tap to help bail out the banks. Initial estimates say the banks will need some ?60 billion.
But Spain is also under pressure from investors to apply for European Central Bank assistance in order to keep its borrowing costs down. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has yet to say whether Madrid will apply for the aid, knowing that such assistance comes with conditions.
(Reuters) - A federal judge has again dismissed a lawsuit accusing Freddie Mac of misleading shareholders by understating its subprime mortgage exposure and overstating its capital strength ahead of the 2008 financial crisis.
U.S. District Judge John Keenan in Manhattan said the allegations made in an amended lawsuit failed to show that Freddie Mac officials, including former Chief Executive Richard Syron, intended to mislead shareholders, or withheld significant information from them.
He also said Freddie Mac had made a "bevy of truthful disclosures" about its credit and risk exposures during the period covered by the lawsuit, including over loans it guaranteed and its activities in nontraditional markets.
"It defies logic to conclude that executives who are seeking to perpetrate fraudulent information upon the market would make such fulsome disclosures," Keenan wrote.
Shareholders led by the Illinois-based Central States, Southeast and Southwest Areas Pension Fund had accused Freddie Mac of hiding its risks after revealing a $2 billion quarterly loss on November 20, 2007.
The lawsuit covers losses by investors in Freddie Mac common and preferred shares from that date until September 7, 2008, when U.S. regulators seized Freddie Mac and larger rival Fannie Mae and put them in a conservatorship under the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Lawyers for the plaintiffs did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Keenan had in March 2011 dismissed an earlier version of the lawsuit, which was first filed in August 2008, but given the plaintiffs a chance to amend their complaint. He refused on Wednesday to give them another chance.
The shareholder lawsuit is separate from a civil fraud lawsuit that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been pursuing against Syron and other former Freddie Mac officials. Defendants in that case have denied wrongdoing.
The case, whose title has a different named plaintiff, is Kuriakose v. Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 08-07281.
(Reporting By Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Chris Gallagher)
FILE -- A Sept. 6, 2012, file photo shows Sierra Harr, who helped the Castleford High School boy's golf team win Idaho's 2A championship in May, at the Clear Lakes Country Club near Buhl, Idaho. The board that oversees Idaho high school sports won't bar Harr from playing with the boys team if not enough girls turn out and form their own team. (AP Photo/John Miller,file)
FILE -- A Sept. 6, 2012, file photo shows Sierra Harr, who helped the Castleford High School boy's golf team win Idaho's 2A championship in May, at the Clear Lakes Country Club near Buhl, Idaho. The board that oversees Idaho high school sports won't bar Harr from playing with the boys team if not enough girls turn out and form their own team. (AP Photo/John Miller,file)
FILE -A Sept. 6, 2012, file photo shows Sierra Harr, who helped the Castleford High School boy's golf team win Idaho's 2A championship in May, putting at the Clear Lakes Country Club near Buhl, Idaho. The board that oversees Idaho high school sports won't bar Harr from playing with the boys team if not enough girls turn out and form their own team. (AP Photo/John Miller, file)
BOISE, Idaho (AP) ? The board that oversees Idaho high school sports won't bar a female golf champion from playing with the boys' team if not enough girls turn out to form a team of their own.
A proposed rule change that would have blocked Sierra Harr's participation emerged over the summer at the Idaho High School Activities Association after she helped the Castleford High School boys win the 2012 championship for Idaho's smallest schools.
Harr, a 16-year-old junior, says the debate came up after rival coaches complained.
Association executive director John Billetz said Wednesday there was just a single vote in favor of the rule change at a meeting in Coeur d'Alene. Billetz says the 11 board members voting in the majority concluded Harr's situation happens so infrequently, it didn't merit a big change.
"Nothing has changed, everything is back to the way it was," he said.
If enough girls turn out to form a Castleford girls' team in 2013, Harr will play with them.
If not, she can still compete for a spot on the boys' team.
Taking a brief break in between classes Wednesday, Harr told The Associated Press that a potentially difficult situation has come to a satisfying conclusion ? not just for her, but for other girls in Idaho.
"If you believe in something ... you should stand up for it," she said.
Harr says the process has been a learning experience and that the resolution will allow her to focus on golf. Her next tournament is this weekend in Sun Valley.
Two years ago, in Harr's freshman season at Castleford, she easily won the individual girl's state title for schools with fewer than 160 students, taking the championship by 6 strokes.
In 2012, however, only three girls turned out for Castleford's girls' squad, one too few to field a formal team.
Rather than play as an individual in female competitions, Harr won the Idaho High School Activities Association's permission to play with Castleford's boys' team ? provided she qualified every week.
She finished in seventh at the boy's state tournament in May, helping her 2A school to the team title.
Harr said some opposing coaches then raised concerns, saying she should continue to play with the girls as an individual, rather than being allowed to play for the boys' team.
After the activities association board voted to consider the proposed change in July, Harr, who is the No. 3 ranked female golfer in Idaho with a 2.2 handicap, openly campaigned against it.
"The mental mind set a golfer gains from golfing for a team cannot be replaced," she wrote to the association.
Before the vote, lawyers who work on discrimination cases in sports also told the AP that federal Title IX provisions would likely make the proposed rule change illegal because barring Harr from the boys' team, in the absence of a girls' squad, would deny her access to equal educational opportunities.
Billetz, the association director, said there was no discussion among board members about Title IX before their decision.
"The bottom line was, this is something that was just like an anomaly," he said.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) ? If there's one thing that can unite political foes in Wisconsin, it just may be the Green Bay Packers.
Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who made a national name for himself by going after public employee unions last year, posted a message on Twitter calling for the return of the NFL's locked-out unionized officials after a disputed call led to a Seattle Seahawks 14-12 victory over the Packers on Monday night.
"After catching a few hours of sleep, the (hash)Packers game is still just as painful. (hash)Returntherealrefs," Walker tweeted early Tuesday.
Democratic state Sen. Jon Erpenbach, who was one of 14 Democrats who fled to Illinois for three weeks last year in opposition to Walker's union proposal, said he saw the irony in Walker's post but in Wisconsin "we're all fans, first and foremost."
"If you were born and raised in Wisconsin, you were raised on the Packers," Erpenbach said. "Every Sunday it's Packers and pancakes, not necessarily in that order."
The NFL locked out the officials in June after their contract expired. The league has been using replacement officials, and through three weeks of the regular season there has been much criticism over the way some games are being handled.
Walker's spokesman Cullen Werwie tried to spin the governor's post on Tuesday, saying it wasn't meant as a pro-union political statement. Walker's tweet was being widely mocked on Twitter in light of his push last year that effectively ended collective bargaining for teachers, nurses and most other public workers.
"I don't think this anything to do with unions, but has everything to do with refs making bad calls," Werwie said.
Erpenbach was so incensed over the game that around midnight Monday night he tweeted two different public phone numbers for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and urged people to call and voice their displeasure.
"I could never ref an NFL football game, ever," Erpenbach said. "The replacement refs are doing the best they can do out there, but the commissioner doesn't want this to sink to a World Wrestling Federation-type event on Sunday. They have to do something. It calls into question the integrity of the game."
While Erpenbach himself plans to leave a message for Goodell urging an end to the referee labor dispute, he won't be advising the Packers to employ the same tactics he and the other Democratic senators did last year.
"I would not recommend the Packers get on a bus and leave the state," he said.
FILE - In this Feb. 20, 2008, file photo, a shopper walks toward the pharmacy at a Little Rock, Ark., Wal-Mart store. A study says seniors in seven of the 10 most popular Medicare prescription drug plans will be hit with double-digit premium hikes next year if they don?t shop for a better deal. The report by Avalere Health is a reality check against the Obama?s administration?s upbeat pronouncements. Back in August 2012, officials had announced that the average premium for basic prescription drug coverage would stay the same in 2013, at $30 a month. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 20, 2008, file photo, a shopper walks toward the pharmacy at a Little Rock, Ark., Wal-Mart store. A study says seniors in seven of the 10 most popular Medicare prescription drug plans will be hit with double-digit premium hikes next year if they don?t shop for a better deal. The report by Avalere Health is a reality check against the Obama?s administration?s upbeat pronouncements. Back in August 2012, officials had announced that the average premium for basic prescription drug coverage would stay the same in 2013, at $30 a month. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Seniors enrolled in seven of the 10 most popular Medicare prescription drug plans will be hit with double-digit premium hikes next year if they don't shop for a better deal, says a private firm that analyzes the highly competitive market.
The report Monday by Avalere Health is a reality check on the Obama's administration's upbeat pronouncements. Back in August, officials had announced that the average premium for basic prescription drug coverage will stay the same in 2013, at $30 a month.
The administration's number is accurate as an overall indicator for the entire market, but not very helpful to consumers individually since it doesn't reflect price swings in the real world.
"The average senior is going to benefit by carefully scrutinizing their situation, because every year the market changes," Avalere President Dan Mendelson said. Avalere crunched the numbers based on bid documents that the plans submitted to Medicare.
The report found premium increases for all top 10 prescription drug plans, known as PDPs. However, the most popular plan ? AARP MedicareRx Preferred ? is only going up 57 cents per month nationally, to $40.42 from the current $39.85.
The seven plans with double-digit premium increases were: the Humana Walmart-Preferred Rx Plan (23 percent); First Health Part D Premier (18 percent); First Health Part D Value Plus (17 percent); Cigna Medicare Rx Plan One (15 percent); Express Scripts Medicare-Value (13 percent); the HealthSpring Prescription Drug Plan (12 percent); and Humana Enhanced (11 percent).
Another two plans in the top 10 also had single-digit increases. They were the SilverScript Basic (8 percent) and WellCare Classic (3 percent).
On the plus side for consumers, a new low-cost plan entered the market. Premiums for the AARP MedicareRx Saver Plus Plan will average $15 a month nationally, although it won't be available everywhere. That's $3.50 less than the current low-cost leader, the Humana Walmart plan, whose premiums are rising to $18.50.
The new AARP plan is run by UnitedHealth Group Inc., the nation's largest health insurance company. United pays AARP for the right to use its name on a range of Medicare insurance products, a successful business strategy that has proven lucrative for both partners. When Humana and Walmart teamed up to offer their low-cost plan in 2011, United felt the competition.
"There is a real focus on the premium in this market," Mendelson said. "If a plan fields an offering with a low premium, it knows it can capture a significant number of customers."
Medicare spokesman Brian Cook did not dispute the Avalere estimates. "We continue to encourage seniors to shop around and find the plan that works best for them," he said.
Medicare's open enrollment season starts Oct. 15, and beneficiaries have a wide variety of choices of taxpayer-subsidized private prescription plans. Seniors and family members can use the online Medicare Plan Finder to input individual prescription lists and find plans in their area that cover them.
About 90 percent of Medicare's nearly 50 million beneficiaries have some form of drug coverage, with more than 17 million enrolled in private plans through the prescription drug program.
President Barack Obama's 2010 health care law is improving prescription drug plans by gradually closing the coverage gap known as the doughnut hole for those with high prescription drug costs.
The Avalare numbers did have one silver lining for the Obama administration. When the projections are tweaked to account for seniors switching to lower-cost coverage, premiums for 2013 are likely to remain steady.
Separately, the administration recently announced that average premiums for Medicare Advantage insurance plans will barely inch up next year on average, while enrollment in the private medical plans will continue to rise. Many Medicare Advantage plans also combine prescription drug coverage in one package deal.
But the biggest premium announcement is yet to come. Virtually all seniors pay the Part B premium for outpatient care, including those with traditional Medicare as well as those in private plans. Currently $99.90 a month, the Part B premium it is expected to rise next year by less than $10.
An Irani brigadier general said they would not start a war, but could launch a pre-emptive strike against Israel, if they were sure Israel was planning an attack.
By Zahra Hosseinian and Rania El Gamal,?Reuters / September 23, 2012
This photo released Dec. 8, 2011, by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, claims to show the chief of the aerospace division of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, (l.), listening to an unidentified colonel as he points to US RQ-170 Sentinel drone which Tehran says its forces downed earlier this week. On Sunday Ali Hajizadeh said the Irani military could pre-emptively strike Israel if they were sure Israel was planning an attack.
AP Photo
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Iran could launch a pre-emptive strike on?Israel?if it was sure the Jewish state were preparing to attack it, a senior commander of its elite Revolutionary Guards was quoted as saying on Sunday.
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Amir Ali Hajizadeh, a brigadier general in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, made the comments to Iran's state-run Arabic language?Al-Alam?television, according to a report on the network's website.
"Iran will not start any war but it could launch a pre-emptive attack if it was sure that the enemies are putting the final touches to attack it,"?Al-Alam?said, paraphrasing the military commander.
Hajizadeh said any attack on Iranian soil could trigger "World War Three".
"We can not imagine the Zionist regime starting a war without?America's support. Therefore, in case of a war, we will get into a war with both of them and we will certainly get into a conflict with American bases," he said
"In that case, unpredictable and unmanageable things would happen and it could turn into a World War Three."
Prime Minister?Benjamin Netanyahu?has made increasing hints that?Israel?could strike Iran's nuclear sites and has criticised U.S. President?Barack Obama's position that sanctions and diplomacy should be given more time to stop Iran getting the atomic bomb.
Tehran?denied it is seeking weapons capability and says its atomic work is peaceful, aimed at generating electricity.
$(document).ready(function(){ weather = [{"SUMMARY":"...PATCHY FROST LATE TONIGHT...\nA DOME OF COLD HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE DIRECTLY OVER KENTUCKY\nTONIGHT. THE CLEAR SKIES AND LIGHT WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS AIR\nMASS WILL LEAD TO PATCHY FROST FORMATION LATE TONIGHT INTO EARLY\nMONDAY MORNING. PLANTS THAT ARE SENSITIVE TO FROST OR TEMPERATURES\nIN THE 30S WILL NEED PROTECTION.\nTHE COLD WEATHER WILL BE BRIEF AS TEMPERATURES RISE QUICKLY INTO\nTHE 40S AFTER THE SUN IS UP FOR AN HOUR OR TWO MONDAY MORNING.","ID":13836,"COUNTIES":["Adair, KY","Casey, KY","Lincoln, KY","Russell, KY","Taylor, KY"],"TITLE":"Special Weather Alert"},{"SUMMARY":"...AREAS OF VALLEY FROST POSSIBLE TONIGHT...\nTHE CORE OF A COLD AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE OVERHEAD TONIGHT.\nTHIS WILL ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO FALL INTO THE MID AND UPPER 30S\nACROSS MUCH OF THE CUMBERLAND VALLEY BY DAWN MONDAY. AS A RESULT...\nAREAS OF FROST WILL BE POSSIBLE TOWARDS DAWN MONDAY MORNING. WHILE\nTHE RIDGES WILL BE SPARED THE FROST...SHELTERED VALLEY LOCATIONS MAY\nSEE A COUPLE OF HOURS OF FROST. THOSE WITH SENSITIVE OUTDOOR PLANTS\nMAY WANT TO TAKE PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT THEM TONIGHT.","ID":13834,"COUNTIES":["Clay, KY","Jackson, KY","Knox, KY","Laurel, KY","McCreary, KY","Pulaski, KY","Rockcastle, KY","Wayne, KY","Whitley, KY"],"TITLE":"Special Weather Alert"},{"SUMMARY":"...FROST ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM TO 10 AM EDT\nMONDAY...\n* TEMPERATURES...OVERNIGHT LOWS IN THE MID 30S.\n* TIMING...LATE TONIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING.\n* LOCATIONS...EASTERN INDIANA...NORTHERN KENTUCKY...AND SOUTHWEST OHIO.\n* IMPACTS...SENSITIVE PLANTS LEFT OUTDOORS AND UNPROTECTED MAY\nBE DAMAGED.","ID":13837,"COUNTIES":["Mason, KY","Owen, KY","Robertson, KY"],"TITLE":"Frost Advisory"},{"SUMMARY":"...WIDESPREAD FROST IS ANTICIPATED FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL KENTUCKY\nAND SOUTH-CENTRAL INDIANA...\n.HIGH PRESSURE HAS BEGUN TO BUILD INTO THE OHIO VALLEY...BRINGING\nWITH IT UNSEASONABLY COLD TEMPERATURES AND MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES FOR\nTONIGHT. PATCHY FROST WAS REPORTED ACROSS THE AREA EARLY SUNDAY MORNING\nAND LOW TEMPERATURES TONIGHT ARE EXPECTED TO BE EVEN COLDER.\nTHEREFORE...A FROST ADVISORY HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR SOUTHERN INDIANA\nAND MUCH OF CENTRAL KENTUCKY. FROSTY CONDITIONS ARE ESPECIALLY A\nCONCERN FOR FROST PRONE AREAS SUCH AS VALLEYS...SHELTERED\nLOCATIONS...AND OTHER RURAL SPOTS. PLEASE ENSURE SENSITIVE\nVEGETATION AND OTHER SUSCEPTIBLE PLANTS ARE COVERED OR BROUGHT\nINDOORS THIS EVENING. IN ADDITION...IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT\nPETS ARE NOT LEFT OUTSIDE TONIGHT.\n...FROST ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM EDT \/1 AM CDT\/ TO 8 AM EDT\n\/7 AM CDT\/ MONDAY...\nTHE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LOUISVILLE HAS ISSUED A FROST\nADVISORY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM EDT \/1 AM CDT\/ TO 8 AM\nEDT \/7 AM CDT\/ MONDAY.\n* TEMPERATURES WILL DROP WELL INTO THE 30S FOR MOST LOCATIONS.\n* THE TIMING WILL BE LATE OVERNIGHT THROUGH EARLY MONDAY MORNING.\n* IMPACTS INCLUDE POSSIBLE DAMAGE TO SENSITIVE VEGETATION AND\nOTHER PLANTS SUSCEPTIBLE TO COLD TEMPERATURES.","ID":13835,"COUNTIES":["Anderson, KY","Bourbon, KY","Boyle, KY","Clark, KY","Fayette, KY","Franklin, KY","Garrard, KY","Harrison, KY","Jessamine, KY","Madison, KY","Marion, KY","Mercer, KY","Nicholas, KY","Scott, KY","Shelby, KY","Washington, KY","Woodford, KY"],"TITLE":"Frost Advisory"},{"SUMMARY":"...A FROSTY MORNING ON TAP FOR THE VALLEYS OF NORTH AND EAST\nKENTUCKY...\n.THE CORE OF A COLD AREA OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL MOVE OVERHEAD TONIGHT.\nTHIS WILL ALLOW TEMPERATURES TO FALL INTO THE LOW TO MID 30S ACROSS\nMUCH OF EASTERN KENTUCKY BY DAWN MONDAY. AS A RESULT...AREAS OF FROST\nARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AFTER MIDNIGHT AND LAST INTO THE FIRST FEW\nHOURS OF MONDAY MORNING. WHILE THE RIDGES WILL BE MOSTLY SPARED THE\nFROST...THE VALLEY LOCATIONS WILL LIKELY SEE SEVERAL HOURS OF FROST\nWITH THE MOST SHELTERED LOCATIONS ENDURING 6 TO 8 HOURS OF FROST. NOW\nIS THE TIME TO TAKE PRECAUTIONS TO PREVENT DAMAGE TO TENDER PLANTS.\n...FROST ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM TO 10 AM EDT MONDAY...\nTHE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON HAS ISSUED A FROST\nADVISORY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM TO 10 AM EDT MONDAY.\n* LATE TONIGHT THROUGH EARLY MONDAY MORNING.\n* TEMPERATURES WILL FALL INTO THE LOWER AND MIDDLE 30S IN THE\nVALLEYS RESULTING IN AREAS OF FROST.\n* VALLEY LOCATIONS CAN EXPECT SEVERAL HOURS OF FROST RESULTING IN\nPOTENTIAL DAMAGE TO UNPROTECTED PLANTS.\nPRECAUTIONARY\/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...\nA FROST ADVISORY MEANS THAT FROST IS POSSIBLE. SENSITIVE OUTDOOR\nPLANTS MAY BE KILLED IF LEFT UNCOVERED.","ID":13833,"COUNTIES":["Bath, KY","Breathitt, KY","Estill, KY","Fleming, KY","Knott, KY","Lee, KY","Leslie, KY","Magoffin, KY","Menifee, KY","Montgomery, KY","Morgan, KY","Owsley, KY","Perry, KY","Powell, KY","Rowan, KY","Wolfe, KY"],"TITLE":"Frost Advisory"}]; ul = $(''); if(weather.length > 0){ $.each(weather, function(i, item){ counties = ""; $.each(item.COUNTIES, function(j, county){ counties += ""+county+""; }); ul.append($.nano('
Hundreds of youths gather in Haren, northern Netherlands, on Friday. Dutch mass-market daily De Telegraaf reported that tens of thousands of people received a Facebook invitation to a schoolgirl's birthday party.
By NBC News staff and wire reports
AMSTERDAM -- Riot police broke up crowds of youths who turned violent in a tiny Dutch town late on Friday after several thousand people descended on the community after a schoolgirl's Facebook invitation to her sixteenth birthday party went viral.
Media reports said six people were hurt, including three seriously, after disturbances broke out in the quiet northern Dutch town of Haren. Reports said shops were vandalized and looted, a car set on fire and street signs and lampposts damaged before police broke up the crowds.
Catrinus Van Der Veen / AFP - Getty Images
Riot police officers stand next to a man lying on the ground as they went into action in the northern Dutch town of Haren late on Friday to contain thousands of party-goers who turned up after a teenager's birthday invite on Facebook went viral.
Up to 600 riot police were on the scene during the disturbances, according to one media report. There were at least 20 arrests, media said.
Pictures from the scene showed party-goers wearing T-shirts with "Project X" written on them -- apparently a reference to the movie "Project X", in which three high school seniors throw a party that gets out of control as word spreads.
Some 30,000 people received the invitation from a girl announcing her birthday party on Facebook, according to media reports. The party was intended to be a small-scale celebration, but the girl did not set her Facebook event to private and the invitation went viral.
Catrinus Van Der Veen / AFP - Getty Images
Chairs burn in the northern Dutch town of Haren late on Friday after thousands of party-goers showed up to a teenager's birthday party.
"She posted the invitation on Facebook and sent it to friends, who then sent it to other friends and soon it spread like wildfire across the Internet," Melanie Zwama, Groningen police spokeswoman told the AFP news agency according to the BBC.
A?Twitter account?was set up to promote the event, and the Dutch Daily News identified a video posted on YouTube that also promoted the party.
Dutch DJs Yellow Claw and Afrojack -- who each have thousands of Twitter followers -- posted messages about the party on their accounts (in Dutch).?
Reports said up to 3,000 people showed up in the town of 18,000.
Haren had been bracing for the event for most of the week.
NBC News' Nanette van der Laan and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Angiogenic factors and their soluble receptors predict organ dysfunction and mortality in post-cardiac arrest syndrome (Critical Care)
