By Elaine Donnelly
Extending sexual misconduct to combat units
Independent voices from the TWT Communities

Republican lawmakers say the costs of implementing President Obama's health care law represent a ripe target for money-saving cuts, as Congress fights over the best way to avert an automatic and indiscriminate budget ax set to come down Friday.
Baltimore Orioles outfielder Nick Markakis had surgery Friday for a broken right wrist and is expected to be for three to four weeks.

A team-by-team look at the American League entering spring training, including key players each club acquired and lost, and dates of the first workout for pitchers and catchers, and the full squad:
The Houston Astros traded second baseman Jeff Keppinger to the San Francisco Giants for two Double-A pitchers on Tuesday. Houston also purchased the contract of infielder Jose Altuve from Double-A Corpus Christi, and Astros manager Brad Mills said he will get significant playing time at second base.
Bill Hall was home in Arizona playing video games with his cousin when his agent called to tell him Freddy Sanchez got injured and the San Francisco Giants might need an infielder.
Hanley Ramirez left in the seventh inning of Friday night's game in Houston with an apparent left leg injury after the Florida Marlins' shortstop was barreled into on a take-out slide at second base.
Capsules of American League teams, listed in order of finish last year:

With two weeks remaining until opening day, Bill Hall doesn't think it's too early to light a spark under his new Houston Astros teammates.
Bill Hall doesn't like to be called a utility player.
A person familiar with the deal tells The Associated Press that the Houston Astros have agreed to a one-year contract with free agent Bill Hall that guarantees $3.25 million.

Derek Jeter passed Babe Ruth on the career hits list and drove in three runs and Dustin Moseley filled in admirably for an injured A.J. Burnett, leading the New York Yankees to a 7-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday night.

About a quarter of the swine flu vaccine produced for the U.S. public has expired — meaning that a whopping 40 million doses worth about $260 million is being written off as trash.
Washington's offense came from some unlikely sources but not enough to mute a few mistakes from starter John Lannan. The end result was a 5-2 victory by the Brewers, evening the four-game series after two games.
BEIJING (AP) — Beijing and Washington have wrapped up their first meeting aimed at resolving safety problems with Chinese products, a step one specialist said yesterday was crucial if China wanted to protect its image abroad and preserve stability at home.
"These large and arbitrary cuts will have severe impacts across the government," HHS spokesman Bill Hall said. "The sequestration law impacts all affected discretionary programs, so any such programs under [Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services] or the ACA would be impacted."
Looking for budget cuts? GOP suggests checking out Obamacare →
"The most important lesson learned from this experience is the critical need for new influenza manufacturing processes," said HHS spokesman Bill Hall.