June 27, 2014

FDA grapples with oversight of fecal transplants

WASHINGTON (AP) — Imagine a low-cost treatment for a life-threatening infection that could cure up to 90 percent of patients with minimal side effects, often in a few days.

It may sound like a miracle drug, but this cutting-edge treatment is profoundly simple — though somewhat icky: take the stool of healthy patients to cure those with hard-to-treat intestinal infections. A small but growing number of physicians have begun using these so-called fecal transplants to treat Clostridium difficile, commonly referred to as C-diff, a bacterial infection that causes nausea, cramping and diarrhea. The germ afflicts a half-million Americans annually and kills about 15,000 of them.

But fecal transplants pose a challenge for the Food and Drug Administration, which has decided to regulate the treatment as an experimental drug. Stool transplants don't fit neatly into the agency's standard framework. And while regulators have shown flexibility in their approach, some critics say the mere presence of government oversight is discouraging many doctors from offering transplants. That's led some patients to seek out questionable "do-it-yourself" websites, forums and videos.

Most researchers agree that the FDA's concerns are warranted. Patients can contract HIV, hepatitis and other viruses and parasites from fecal matter that is not properly screened. Additionally, there are no long-term studies on potential side effects of stool transplantation.

FDA officials declined to be interviewed for this story, but said in a written response that the fecal transplantation "shows promise in treating C. difficile infection that has not been responsive to other therapies."

More at http://www.theeagle.com/news/health_fitness/fda-grapples-with-oversight-of-fecal-transplants/article_54320a25-3646-5ff0-9328-0e79d436d7a3.html .

[font color=green]Yes, that's correct--none of the FDA officials wanted to give a shitty interview.[/font]

June 27, 2014

On Her Meowjesty's Secret Purrvice

So who do you prefur--Sean Pawnery, Roger Meow or Timothy Pawlton?

June 27, 2014

How New Transmission Lines Are Bringing More Wind Power to Texas Cities

From StateImpact Texas:

We’re all going to be paying for it, so you might be glad to know that a new set of transmission lines to bring wind power from the Panhandle and West Texas to folks in North and Central Texas appear to be off to a good start. According to a new federal analysis this week, the Competitive Renewable Energy Zones power transmission project, also known as CREZ, is already resulting in fewer curtailments of wind power and more even prices in Texas’ energy market.

The project cost $7 billion, a price that will be paid for by tacking on a fee to Texans’ utility bills. On average, your power bill could go up several dollars a month.

Before the lines went into operation, Texas had an odd problem: the state was producing too much wind power. Wind power grew so rapidly in Texas that it was a victim of its own success. More than half of the state’s wind power was built in a very short period, from 2006-09, according to the analysis from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), and transmission couldn’t keep up.

“The Texas grid experienced major transmission congestion as the large volumes of electricity from these wind plants, which were concentrated in the rural western and northern areas of the state, were sometimes unable to reach the population centers in the eastern half of the state,” the EIA writes. There weren’t enough transmission lines to get the wind power to where it was needed, and at times the state’s grid had to curtail the wind power so they wouldn’t overload the transmission system.

More at http://kut.org/post/how-new-transmission-lines-are-bringing-more-wind-power-texas-cities .

June 27, 2014

Austin City Council Unanimously Backs Urban Rail Proposal

By a unanimous vote – Austin city council endorsed a package of proposed transportation projects Thursday night, including a $1.4 billion dollar urban rail line.

The Austin City Council limited public comment on urban rail to 30 minutes for each side, which angered some public transit advocates who support the concept of urban rail but reject the proposed route of the plan.

"This was the speech I was going to give," former Urban Transportation Commission member Mike Dahmus said to council, tearing up a sheet of paper and crumpling it in his hands. "You've chosen ... to eliminate all meaningful opportunities for public input, as has Project Connect before you. We will make sure the [Federal Transit Administration] is aware of this."

Mayor Lee Leffingwell responded that it "probably the most open and transparent process in the history of man" – which earned both laughs and jeers from the audience.

More at http://kut.org/post/austin-city-council-unanimously-backs-urban-rail-proposal .

June 27, 2014

Obama names three Texas judges in apparent deal with Cornyn and Cruz

WASHINGTON– Breaking a longstanding logjam, President Obama announced nominees for three vacant Texas federal court benches late Thursday.

If confirmed, U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman of San Antonio, Texarkana lawyer Robert Schroeder III, and Sherman Magistrate Judge Amos Mazzant III will all get lifetime jobs as U.S. district court judges.

“Any nominations are critically important, as Texas desperately needs to have as many of its nine district and two circuit vacancies filled,” said Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor who tracks nominations. “The judges are overwhelmed by crushing case loads and too few judicial resources.”

Pitman’s appointment would be “historic,” Tobias added, because he would be the first openly gay federal judge in the state.

More at http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2014/06/obama-names-three-texas-judges-in-apparent-deal-with-cornyn-and-cruz.html/ .

June 27, 2014

White House nominates U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman to be federal judge

President Barack Obama has nominated U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman to fill a judicial post in the Western District of Texas, the longest-running judicial vacancy in the state.

Pitman, who took office as the top prosecutor for the district in October 2011, must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate before he can be sworn into the position. He is one of four nominees to U.S. District Courts whose names were released by the White House Thursday.

Three, including Pitman, have been nominated to serve on federal courts in Texas.

The Western District is one of four federal judicial districts in Texas, covering 68 counties and about 93,000 square miles in the central, western and southern parts of the state. Pitman, who lives in Austin, oversees about 250 employees at offices in the city, San Antonio, El Paso, Midland, Waco, Del Rio, Alpine and Waco.

More at http://www.statesman.com/news/news/crime-law/white-house-nominates-us-attorney-robert-pitman-to/ngTCk/ .

June 26, 2014

It's down to Dallas and Cleveland for 2016 Republican convention

Source: Dallas Morning News

Either Dallas or Cleveland will host the 2016 Republican convention, party leaders decided Wednesday, cutting Denver and Kansas City from contention.

Cleveland is a lakefront city that has invested billions in recent years to shake off its Rust Belt roots, a Democratic stronghold in a key battleground. Dallas is at the center of the modern GOP, home to the party’s last president and an unusually long list of its top donors.

“Cleveland is a tough competitor,” said Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings.

Said Cleveland’s bid committee chairman, Terry Egger: “There are those that would say we were the underdog all along, yet here we stand.”

Read more: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20140625-it-s-down-to-dallas-and-cleveland-for-2016-republican-convention.ece

June 25, 2014

Mewsday Afternoon Special: Haute Cature

Plz put ur paw down!


Too sexy fur teh catwalk?


Teh mael meowdel.


Why iz dis in teh catlection?

June 25, 2014

Next Frontier in Common Core Fight: Cut Budgets, Jail Teachers?

Can you think of a single more pernicious and insidious organization in American life than the National Parent Teacher Association? If you can, it’s probably a good thing you missed the “#CANiSEE the Solution” conference in Austin this weekend.

The PTA’s national convention—a gathering of the evil empire—was just a block away. In a Marriott meeting room, a small group of activists, convened by conservative activists and supported by groups like the Heritage Foundation and Phyllis Schlafly’s Eagle Forum, gathered to remind each other and the world about their core message: They really, really, really do not like the Common Core State Standards Initiative.

If you haven’t heard much about Common Core, that might be because it’s never been implemented in Texas. In fact, it’s against state law to implement it.

But don’t try telling the concerned parents and grandparents who gathered at the Marriott for two full days of meetings and panels on the subject. For them, the Common Core is just one part of a larger problem. Barack Obama’s federal education shock troops are coming for Texas children. And there’s pretty much nothing anyone can do to reassure them that it’s going to be OK.

More at http://www.texasobserver.org/next-frontier-in-common-core-fight-cut-budgets-jail-teachers/ .

June 25, 2014

Austin Cap Metro Endorses Rail Proposal, Considers Airport Extension

As expected, yesterday the Cap Metro Board of Directors endorsed Project Connect’s recommendation for an urban rail transit system running from Highland Mall to East Riverside. However, approval of the rail proposal did not come without late-in-the-game modifications. Board chairman Mike Martinez led the board to approve future consideration of extending the line to the airport.

Project Connect’s original rail proposal was for a 9.5-mile line that would run from Highland Mall in the north to the East Riverside and Grove Blvd. intersection in the southeast. Martinez would like to see the route run from UT in the north out to the airport in the south.

According to Project Connect project lead Kyle Keahey, the Dean Keeton-to-Highland Mall stretch is projected to serve 6,000 riders more per day than the airport extension would. But Martinez pointed out that because the airport-to-UT plan would eliminate the need for a tunnel or bridge to cross the existing MetroRail line near Hancock Center, the cost for the total project would be reduced by millions of dollars.

Other board members felt that abruptly changing the plan would not leave time for measuring public opinion.

- See more at: http://www.austinpost.org/article/cap-metro-endorses-rail-proposal-considers-airport-extension#sthash.VbBnj2rg.dpuf