Counting down the top 11 personalities of 2011 in Southern California soccer ...
Those familiar with Robin Fraser -- from his time as a U.S. national-teamer and one of the best defenders ever to play in Major League Soccer to his stint assisting Jason Kreis' rebuild of Real Salt Lake into a powerhouse -- knew what Chivas USA was getting when the club decided last January who would lead its team into the future.
The future looks good.
Fraser represented a do-over for L.A.'s second Major League Soccer club, which had been forced to remake once before, under Bob Bradley, after horrendous missteps in its formation and during the inaugural season.
11 FROM '11
ESPNLA soccer blogger Scott French recounts the top 11 stories and personalities in 2011 from the world of Southern California soccer. Football Futbol Soccer ?
The Goats were one of the best teams in the league in four seasons under Bradley and Preki, his successor, but Martin Vasquez was left with a virtually empty cupboard -- and none of the team's previous leaders -- when he was put in charge for 2010.
Vasquez, now Jurgen Klinsmann's top assistant with the U.S. national team, was chased off following that season to start a front-office makeover that has evolved into a cultural shift, still progressing (and not entirely painless), within the institution. The appointment of Fraser and of chief assistant coach Greg Vanney gave this new culture definition and identity, and the work they put forth -- no matter the team's on-field struggles -- ought to bring rewards shortly.
Fraser, a former Galaxy star and two-time MLS Defender of the Year who turned 45 earlier this month, is a serious and diligent man, a realist whose cerebral approach guided his season-long (and continuing), piece-by-piece roster upgrade. The team hovered around .500, in the mix for a playoff berth, until a seven-game winless stretch (featuring four straight losses) in August and September took them out of it.
The work isn't finished.
?This is going to be a process,? Fraser acknowledged last spring. ?I think you want the process over yesterday, and the truth is that the process takes a long time. ...
?It's a never-ending process. You're never satisfied. If you think the process is over, then you may as well retire and be done, because you've stopped being open-minded and you've stopped looking for answers, and I think you can never get to that point, because there's always somewhere someone else can be doing it better. Unless you're Pep Guardiola and you're Barcelona, maybe.?
What does it take to build a team the right way?
?It's interesting, because I think the right mix of players is so much more than a talented group. It's the personalities, it's the leadership, it's attacking- vs. defensive-minded players and how they mesh and how many you have on the field of each. There's so many different things.
?And when you're close to being completely satisfied -- and maybe you never actually get to that point -- you've got that good balance of all those things.?
It seems that Verizon (or Motorola) got the message: The Droid Xyboards are too damn expensive when tied to a 2-year commitment. Until today, Verizon was selling the 10.1 Xoom 2 for $529 and required a 2-year contract. Ludicrous. Well, after today's price cuts, the prices are less absurd, but just slightly.
This is a discussion on Mombasa Port plans Sh100m repairs to attract cruise ships - Business Daily Africa within the Current Cruise Travel News forums, part of the category; Cruise News Reporter Has Just Posted the Following:
Business Daily Africa Mombasa Port plans Sh100m repairs to attract cruise ships ...
HELENA, Mont. ? An Indian reservation in the heart of Montana's farm country may seem an unlikely place to borrow a quick $600, but the Chippewa Cree tribe says it has already given out more than 121,000 loans this year at interest rates that can reach a whopping 360 percent.
As more states pass laws to rein in lenders who deal in high-interest, short-term loans, Indian tribes like the Chippewa Cree and their new online lending venture, Plain Green Loans, are stepping in to fill the void. The Internet lets them reach beyond the isolated Rocky Boy's Indian Reservation to borrowers across the nation, while tribal immunity has allowed them to avoid bans and interest-rate caps several states have set.
To Neal Rosette, Plain Green Loans CEO and the Chippewa Cree's former executive administrative officer, it's a win-win. The online lending venture is a resource for people who can't or won't borrow from banks, while it gives the tribe a steady revenue stream and jobs with unemployment on the reservation at nearly 40 percent.
Rosette said this model could be the successor to gambling for tribes looking for an economic boost. Some tribes have owned online lending businesses for several years, and Rosette said the Chippewa Cree and three other tribes have started the Native American Lenders Alliance to encourage more.
"I believe this is the new outlook for Indian Country, not just Rocky Boy," Rosette said. "We are sovereign nations and we have the ability to create our own laws that regulate our businesses such as this."
That's a problem for consumer groups and the states that have tried to bring such lending under control. The issue with these loans, consumer advocates say, is that their high interest rates make it too easy for a borrower to become trapped in a cycle of debt as they have to borrow more to repay their original loans.
Forty-two states and the District of Columbia have taken different regulatory approaches, from outright bans to interest-rate caps. Montana voters last year passed a ballot initiative that capped such loans at a 36 percent annualized interest rate, which has led to a nearly 83 percent drop in so-called deferred deposit lenders, according to Montana banking and financial institutions director Melanie Griggs.
But as the cap drives lenders out of the state, more people are turning to the Internet, which adds the danger of passing along personal bank account information that can be distributed to other lenders and brokers and can lead to overdrafts.
"When they were getting it from brick-and-mortar businesses it was easy to monitor how many people were getting payday loans. Now that it's all on the Internet, it's harder to monitor," Griggs said.
The Chippewa Cree tribe says its loans are not payday loans, those two-week loans with annualized interest rates of more than 600 percent or more. Instead, the tribe says, its highest annualized interest rate is 360 percent. Payments are made over a period of months, usually in monthly or biweekly installments.
By any account, those rates are still very high. By the company's own example, a first-time borrower who takes out a $600 loan would end up paying $1,261.32 over 12 bi-weekly payments.
Less than a year old, Plain Green Loans already has an F rating by the Better Business Bureau after the agency received 20 complaints mainly dealing with billing and collection issues. Eleven of the complaints were resolved, but the company didn't respond or failed to resolve the other nine, according to the BBB.
Rosette said those complaints are relatively few when compared to the thousands of loans the company has administered.
"We've got a process in place that we believe is very quick at handling any type of complaint that we get. That's part of this industry, complaints, regardless of who you are," Rosette said.
As long as it doesn't make any loans to Montana residents, state prosecutors plan to let Plain Green Loans and the Chippewa Cree tribe be.
"We haven't looked specifically at the tribe," said assistant attorney general Jim Molloy. "We've not pursued it based on the understanding with the tribe that they're not lending to Montanans."
Rosette confirmed that the tribe is not lending to Montana residents, but he bristled at the idea that the state could enforce its rate cap even if the tribe were lending in the state.
"If we wanted to defend our position in Montana, we could. But why? It's a small market. It wasn't worth the fight if there was one," Rosette said.
Other states have entered legal battles with lending businesses owned by tribes. A closely watched case is playing out now in Colorado, where the state is attempting to sue Western Sky Financial, an online lender owned by North Dakota's Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.
Colorado is trying to prevent Western Sky from making loans within its borders, while the tribe counters that the state is attempting "to reach into the reservation and regulate commercial activity."
Other legal battles are being fought or have been fought in California, West Virginia, Missouri, New Mexico and Maryland, creating an unsettled regulatory environment, said Jean Anne Fox, director of financial services at Consumer Federation of America, a consumer advocacy group in Washington, D.C.
"It's a real threat to the ability of state regulators to enforce the loan market to police caps and other consumer protection measures," Fox said.
Some non-tribal businesses have seen tribal immunity as a shield that they can use to make high-interest loans outside of the regulatory spotlight and a way to avoid state law enforcement, Fox said. So they affiliate themselves with the tribe and conduct business under that shield, she said.
It can be difficult to obtain records that define the relationship between a tribe and non-tribal entity. That's the case with Plain Green Loan's relationship to a Fort Worth, Texas-based company called Think Finance Inc.
Think Finance says on its website that Plain Green Loans is one of its "products," along with online lenders owned by two other tribes.
"Our latest product, Plain Green, launched in April. Customers in need of emergency cash can apply online in minutes, get an answer in seconds, and get cash as soon as the next day," a Think Finance press release from September reads.
Neither the tribe nor Think Finance returned calls and emails for comment on the relationship between the companies. Better Business Bureau spokeswoman Chelsea Dannen said her agency also tried to contact Think Finance to clarify the relationship but received no response.
Rosette said Plain Green Loans is wholly owned by the tribe, though he acknowledged that his staff of 25 isn't equipped to handle the volume. It employs a Las Vegas call center and uses brokers to provide it with databases of potential borrowers. It borrows just enough money each day to cover its loans.
There are a lot of things the tribe won't disclose. Rosette says the default rate is on Plain Green loans is proprietary information. He won't name the companies the tribe is involved with or say where company borrows its money or at what rate.
If it turns out that Plain Green Loans is not a bona fide tribal lender, that could change state prosecutors' laissez-faire approach to the company, Molloy said.
But just the obscurity and the uncertain relationship between the tribe and the Texas company exemplify the underlying problem with tribal online lending businesses, Fox said.
Duracell CopperTop alkaline batteries are lauded for their longevity.
By Kara Reinhardt, Cheapism.com
For months, holiday toys and gadgets have been flashing, spinning, and flying all over TV. The commercials often end with fine print, read at our-lawyers-told-us-to-say-this speed: batteries not included. Perhaps gift tags should come with the same sort of disclaimer. Without the right batteries, even the most marvelous electronic toy is reduced to an inert hunk of plastic.
Before you dash out to pick up any old double-As, know that cheap, no-name batteries made from carbon zinc or zinc chloride cost the least but don?t represent the best value. You?re better off stepping up to a more powerful, longer lasting alkaline or nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) battery from a brand such as Duracell, Sanyo, or Sony.
Alkaline batteries are by far the most common. They power ?low-drain? devices such as clocks and TV remotes. NiMH batteries are rechargeable and designed to run digital cameras, power tools, and other ?high-drain? devices. A charger costs an extra $15 to $20 up front but saves money in the long run; it can juice up spent batteries hundreds of times, keeping you from having to buy new ones. One drawback to NiMH batteries is that they lose their charge relatively quickly when not in use. Within a month they can creep down to 60 percent capacity?? or even less than that if stored at temperatures higher than 70 degrees, according to Green Batteries. The exception is low self-discharge batteries, which employ new technology and come pre-charged.
NiMH and alkaline batteries can be interchangeable, but it?s best to use whichever is recommended for your device. Alkaline units produce 1.5 volts of electric charge and NiMH batteries produce 1.2 volts. The higher the capacity ? as measured in milliampere hours, or mAh ? the longer the battery should last. Both alkaline and NiMH batteries come in AAA, AA, C, and D. Alkaline batteries can be tossed in the garbage two at a time, while NiMH batteries must be recycled.
Below are Cheapism?s top picks for affordable batteries. We?ve recommended either AA or AAA for each one, but performance reviews of one size generally extend to the other as well. Note that batteries come in different size packages depending on the brand and the vendor, so consider the per-unit cost before making a purchase.
Sanyo Eneloop pre-charged rechargeable batteries (starting at $9.50 for a 4-pack) have a capacity of 800 mAh and can be revived up to 1,500 times. These AAAs win fans for their low rate of self-discharge, which gives them a longer shelf life than other NiMH batteries. (Where to buy)
Duracell CopperTop alkaline batteries (starting at $10 for a 20-pack) are cited in reviews for their longevity. Consumers and experts report successfully using these AA batteries in devices such as flashlights, smoke alarms, and radios. (Where to buy)
Sony rechargeable batteries (starting at $8.60 for a 4-pack) boast a capacity of 900 mAh, and for the most part reviewers are satisfied with how long they last. These AAA NiMH batteries can be recharged up to 300 times. (Where to buy)
Rayovac alkaline batteries (starting at $10 for a 30-pack) are another reliable AA option. Users posting reviews consider them an excellent value. (Where to buy)
More from Cheapism: Cheap Batteries Cheap Toys Cheap Scooters Cheap New Year?s
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Sky High India Social Organisation's Christmas Day celebration
Blankets chocolate and gifts were also presented to the resident girls and boys of the visiting institute for sightless by the Chief Guest Father Santosh Thomas & Special Guest Superintendent of Govt. School for Blind Boys Smt. Khalida Begum along with teacher Bindu Bhagat teacher of Louis Memorial School for Sightless Girls Jammu, Director of the Sky High India Social Organization Mr. Aman Kalsotra.
When it comes to borrowing, the United States government gets a pretty sweet deal. The country has an elephantine national debt, which will only get bigger without serious spending cuts and tax hikes. We've had our credit rating downgraded, since nobody really trusts our Congress to act rationally. And yet, investors are so desperate for Treasuries that some would actually pay the government to take their money.
There's a simple reason. When it comes to rock-solid safe investments, Uncle Sam is pretty much the only game in town.
This chart from Credit Suisse illustrates the situation nicely. It looks at the decline of safe haven assets, which borrowers can post as collateral for loans, since the beginning of the recession. These are the sure bets. They're absolutely necessary for a functioning credit market. And they're disappearing.
Before the recession, investors looking to park their money somewhere safe could choose from mortgage-back securities (in red), debt issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (in light blue), all kinds of European of sovereign debt, and of course, the Treasury note.
Today, mortgage investments are toxic. European debt is radioactive. Not only has the variety of safe haven assets been whittled down, but the their total value has shrunk. The United States has pumped out more Treasuries, but many are bought up by the Federal Reserve, and the overall increase has not been large enough to make up for the disappearance of other assets. Investors have turned to other safe investments, such gold and the Japanese yen, but there's no real replacement for assets denominated in the major reserve currencies. That consistently rising blue line on the chart is the amount of euro and dollar reserves held by emerging market economies. Right now, there's too much money chasing too few assets.
For the time being, that shortage is great for U.S. taxpayers, who get to keep borrowing at absurdly low rates. But it's not good for the health of the global financial markets. Without collateral to back up loans, credit dries up. And as we all know by now, the world runs on credit. We're the beneficiaries of a very bad situation.
CAMP SCORPION, Afghanistan ? "Attention! Attention! You are surrounded by Afghan forces. Come out with your hands up."
The order barked by an Afghan soldier launched a training exercise last week that pitted members of the nation's growing elite force against actors posing as Taliban fighters.
Afghanistan and the U.S.-led coalition have stepped up training of the Afghan special forces unit to fill the vacuum that will be left by foreign troops slated to end their combat mission in 2014. In the future, it will be Afghan special forces countering insurgents in villages across the country.
As the force expands, they will also lead more of the controversial house searches ? something that could mitigate Afghan President Hamid Karzai's intense opposition to the nighttime raids by international troops that Afghans have found culturally offensive.
Even though Afghan troops have been along for the more than 2,800 raids during the past year, Karzai has argued that the teams often treat innocent Afghans as if they were insurgents and violate citizens' privacy in the conservative Afghan society.
Karzai wants all raids halted. He wants foreign troops to stop entering Afghan homes. The thorny issue is being negotiated by U.S. and Afghan officials crafting a strategic agreement that will govern how remaining American forces operate in Afghanistan after 2014.
A recent national assembly of elders advised the Karzai government to allow the raids to continue as long as they are conducted solely by Afghans. If so, many more Afghan special forces soldiers need to be trained.
Neither NATO nor the Afghan Ministry of Defense would disclose how many Afghan special forces had been trained or how large the force will become. Jalaluddin Yaftali, a special forces team leader at the training site, said the force currently numbered 1,000 to 1,500.
"It takes time. It's like nation-building ? an endless task. It will take years, but the will is there and right now the force is growing," said Afghan army Col. Mohammad Farid Ahmadi.
"The program started two years ago, but now we are jointly working with the coalition forces to Afghanize as soon as possible. We have already started. It's growing."
So far, most have been recruited from the Afghan National Army Commandos, a quick reaction force regarded as the most professional unit in the Afghan army. Commandos receive 10 weeks of training on top of the roughly 10 weeks they completed to become an Afghan soldier. Moreover, Afghan soldiers usually serve about four years as commandos before being selected for special forces training.
Their training is further refined while partnered with American forces. Eventually, they will be tasked with a variety of operational missions, including night raids, throughout the country.
"It not only takes a long time to select the right people for the job, but also to bring them through a training program so they are capable of operating with other special forces or on their own," German Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, a NATO spokesman, said at the training site on the outskirts of Kabul, the Afghan capital.
While some are already conducting solo operations, the Afghan special forces will continue to need coalition air power, intelligence and other support for years to come, he said.
Seth Jones, a RAND Corp. political scientist who advised the commander of U.S. Special Operations forces in Afghanistan, said it's hard to rush special forces training.
"The Afghan program, which was first conceptualized in 2009 and established in 2010, is relatively new. I remember participating in the brainstorming sessions as we helped build the Afghan special forces," Jones said.
"Focusing on numbers, rather than quality, and trying to mass produce Afghan special forces would be a serious mistake. I'm not suggesting anyone is doing this yet, but it should be monitored very closely."
The Afghan soldiers conducting the training exercise crouched in shadows at the foot of man-made hills surrounding the practice compound. The residential compound resembled a western cowboy movie set.
"Drop your weapons!" the Afghan soldier barked into a bullhorn. "Keep your hands raised and come out."
Trying to give the occupants time to cooperate, the more than 20-man Afghan special forces team waited patiently, their guns drawn. When nobody came out, they tossed two harmless grenades that made loud bangs when they landed in front of the house.
A few minutes later, an actress covered in a red shawl slowly emerged with her hands raised. The soldier with the bullhorn asked her to reveal her face so the troops could be sure she was a woman and not a man. When it was clear that she was female, she was led away to be searched by a female Afghan soldier.
Having male troops search females is taboo in Afghanistan. So is touching a family's Quran, the Muslim holy book, or entering a home without being invited ? things that foreign forces have learned in the decade-long war.
Soon after the woman left, two men walked from the house with their hands held high. Making sure they weren't armed, the troops ordered them to lift their shirts and pant legs. The would-be Afghan suspects then were cuffed and taken away.
"We are asking the Defense Ministry to make one special forces platoon of just female soldiers so they can go talk to the families, the children, the women," Yaftali said. "If you are a female, you can talk openly with the family."
It was clear to onlookers that the more than 20 Afghan special forces soldiers who conducted the house search and did a live ammunition training exercise with M4 rifles and 9mm pistols were the best of the elite force. With their dark glasses, night vision headsets, microphones and radios, they looked just like their U.S. Special Operations forces counterparts.
Jones said the first Afghan special forces soldiers trained were very competent because they were recruited directly from the Afghan National Army Commandos.
"In practical terms, this suggests that there will be some variation in the competence of Afghan special forces by 2014," Jones said. "Some will be fully capable ... but others may struggle."
Sony Ericsson had previously confirmed that its Xperia smartphones would be getting the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update, but now we have a definitive time table for several of their models. According to?a post on Sony?s official product blog, Ice Cream Sandwich updates will start rolling out beginning March 2012.
The Arc S, Neo V, and Ray are up first, getting doused with Ice Cream flavoring beginning late March or early April.
The Active, Arc, Mini, Mini Pro, Neo, Play and Xperia Pro handsets are on track to follow shortly afterward, receiving the update in late April to early May. Even the Sony Live Walkman hasn?t been neglected, as Sony Ericsson plans to upgrade it in the same time period.
For the full rundown on the Ice Cream Sandwich update for Xperia smartphones, head over to Sony Ericsson?s blog.
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HONOLULU ? President Barack Obama is starting his delayed Christmas vacation in Hawaii after securing an agreement to extend payroll tax cuts into 2012.
Air Force One touched down in Honolulu Friday evening. The president had planned to start his vacation Dec. 17, but delayed his departure amid a congressional stalemate over the tax cuts.
The president is joining wife Michelle Obama and daughters Malia and Sasha, who have been in Hawaii for about a week. The Obamas are expected to stay in Hawaii, the state where the president was born and mostly raised, until early January.
The White House says Obama has no public events scheduled during his trip. A small team of White House advisers is traveling with the president to brief him on domestic and international developments.
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Having a cow can be a heart healthy choicePublic release date: 21-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Victoria M. Indivero vmi1@psu.edu 814-865-9481 Penn State
Lean beef can contribute to a heart-healthy diet in the same way lean white meats can, according to nutritional scientists.
The DASH diet -- Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension -- is currently recommended by the American Heart Association to lower cholesterol and reduce risk of heart disease. People following the DASH diet are encouraged to eat fish and poultry, but not much beef.
According to the Centers for Disease Control about 26 percent of American deaths are caused by heart disease.
"The DASH diet is currently the gold standard for contemporary diet recommendations," said Michael Roussell, nutrition consultant and recent Penn State Ph.D. graduate. "The DASH diet emphasizes plant protein foods, poultry, fish and small amounts of lean beef. Consumers often interpret this to mean that red meat is restricted on a healthy diet. Our research is showing that if you can keep your saturated fat levels controlled and lean beef portions in check, you can incorporate lean beef into a heart healthy diet and still see equal reductions as with white meat and fish."
Roussell worked with Penny Kris-Etherton, Distinguished Professor of Nutrition, Penn State, and colleagues to test three diets that were equally low in saturated fat to see if there were differences in cholesterol levels at the end of each testing period. They report their results in the current issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
They tested the DASH diet, as well as the BOLD diet -- Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet -- and BOLD+ -- Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet plus additional protein. The additional protein in the BOLD+ diet included more beef, as well as other sources of protein like hummus, edamame beans and cottage cheese.
The control diet, called the healthy American diet, consisted of 12 percent saturated fat per day -- twice the saturated fat included in the three test diets -- and 0.7 ounces of beef. The DASH diet included 1.0 ounce of beef, while the BOLD diet had 4.0 ounces of beef per day and the BOLD+ diet included 5.4 ounces of beef.
The study began with 42 subjects who all had elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or bad cholesterol. Thirty-six completed the study and all subjects maintained their body weight within almost five pounds throughout the study periods. Each participant consumed each of the four diets for five weeks. They were given a week or two in between each diet to eat as they wished. Blood samples were taken at the beginning and end of each study period. Subjects were randomly assigned the order in which they received each diet.
On average, participants experienced a decrease in both total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol while on the three different diets. Total cholesterol decreased about 4 percent for subjects on the BOLD and DASH diets, while subjects on the BOLD+ diet experienced around a 5 percent decrease of total cholesterol. LDL cholesterol went down around 5 percent for those on the BOLD diet, about 4.5 percent while on the BOLD+ diet, and almost 6 percent while on the DASH diet.
"To our knowledge, this was the first controlled-consumption study that showed an increase in lean-beef consumption while controlling saturated fat in the context of a heart-healthy diet associated with significant decreases in LDL cholesterol," the researchers wrote.
###
Working with Roussell and Kris-Etherton were Alison M. Hill, former post-doctoral fellow in nutritional sciences, Penn State, now a lecturer in nutrition at the University of Australia; Trent L. Gaugler, former instructor of statistics, Penn State, now a visiting assistant professor of statistics, Carnegie Mellon University; Sheila G. West, associate professor of biobehavioral health, Penn State; John P. Vanden Heuvel, professor of veterinary science, Penn State; Petar Alaupovic, Lipid and Lipoprotein Laboratory, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation; and Peter J. Gillies, professor and director of the Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey.
The Beef Checkoff Program of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the National Institutes of Healthsupported Penn State General Clinical Research Center funded this research.
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Having a cow can be a heart healthy choicePublic release date: 21-Dec-2011 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Victoria M. Indivero vmi1@psu.edu 814-865-9481 Penn State
Lean beef can contribute to a heart-healthy diet in the same way lean white meats can, according to nutritional scientists.
The DASH diet -- Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension -- is currently recommended by the American Heart Association to lower cholesterol and reduce risk of heart disease. People following the DASH diet are encouraged to eat fish and poultry, but not much beef.
According to the Centers for Disease Control about 26 percent of American deaths are caused by heart disease.
"The DASH diet is currently the gold standard for contemporary diet recommendations," said Michael Roussell, nutrition consultant and recent Penn State Ph.D. graduate. "The DASH diet emphasizes plant protein foods, poultry, fish and small amounts of lean beef. Consumers often interpret this to mean that red meat is restricted on a healthy diet. Our research is showing that if you can keep your saturated fat levels controlled and lean beef portions in check, you can incorporate lean beef into a heart healthy diet and still see equal reductions as with white meat and fish."
Roussell worked with Penny Kris-Etherton, Distinguished Professor of Nutrition, Penn State, and colleagues to test three diets that were equally low in saturated fat to see if there were differences in cholesterol levels at the end of each testing period. They report their results in the current issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
They tested the DASH diet, as well as the BOLD diet -- Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet -- and BOLD+ -- Beef in an Optimal Lean Diet plus additional protein. The additional protein in the BOLD+ diet included more beef, as well as other sources of protein like hummus, edamame beans and cottage cheese.
The control diet, called the healthy American diet, consisted of 12 percent saturated fat per day -- twice the saturated fat included in the three test diets -- and 0.7 ounces of beef. The DASH diet included 1.0 ounce of beef, while the BOLD diet had 4.0 ounces of beef per day and the BOLD+ diet included 5.4 ounces of beef.
The study began with 42 subjects who all had elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL), or bad cholesterol. Thirty-six completed the study and all subjects maintained their body weight within almost five pounds throughout the study periods. Each participant consumed each of the four diets for five weeks. They were given a week or two in between each diet to eat as they wished. Blood samples were taken at the beginning and end of each study period. Subjects were randomly assigned the order in which they received each diet.
On average, participants experienced a decrease in both total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol while on the three different diets. Total cholesterol decreased about 4 percent for subjects on the BOLD and DASH diets, while subjects on the BOLD+ diet experienced around a 5 percent decrease of total cholesterol. LDL cholesterol went down around 5 percent for those on the BOLD diet, about 4.5 percent while on the BOLD+ diet, and almost 6 percent while on the DASH diet.
"To our knowledge, this was the first controlled-consumption study that showed an increase in lean-beef consumption while controlling saturated fat in the context of a heart-healthy diet associated with significant decreases in LDL cholesterol," the researchers wrote.
###
Working with Roussell and Kris-Etherton were Alison M. Hill, former post-doctoral fellow in nutritional sciences, Penn State, now a lecturer in nutrition at the University of Australia; Trent L. Gaugler, former instructor of statistics, Penn State, now a visiting assistant professor of statistics, Carnegie Mellon University; Sheila G. West, associate professor of biobehavioral health, Penn State; John P. Vanden Heuvel, professor of veterinary science, Penn State; Petar Alaupovic, Lipid and Lipoprotein Laboratory, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation; and Peter J. Gillies, professor and director of the Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey.
The Beef Checkoff Program of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association and the National Institutes of Healthsupported Penn State General Clinical Research Center funded this research.
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FRIDAY, Dec. 16 (HealthDay News) -- HIV-infected drug users are 74 percent more likely to have an overdose than those without HIV, a new evidence review finds.
Behavioral and biological factors may be among the reasons for this increased risk, according to the Rhode Island Hospital researchers. Drug overdose is a frequent cause of non-AIDS death among people with HIV.
The link between HIV infection and drug use is well documented, but the association between HIV and overdose has received less attention and was the focus of this study, which involved a review of 24 previous studies.
"Over the past 30 years, we have made impressive strides in caring for and prolonging the lives of people with HIV. Our study found that premature death by overdose is an issue that affects people with HIV disproportionately," study leader Traci Green, a researcher with Rhode Island Hospital and the Lifespan/Tufts/Brown Center for AIDS Research, said in a hospital news release.
"It is not entirely clear why the risk is greater, and few studies have endeavored to figure out why this might be happening," she added.
Biological factors may include clinical status, weakened immune systems, opportunistic infections and poorer physical health among HIV-infected drug users. Some research has suggested that hepatitis C infection and other conditions that affect metabolic ability may also increase the risk of overdose, according to the release.
Behavioral factors -- such as high-risk lifestyles and an increased rate of psychiatric conditions -- may also contribute to the higher risk of overdose among HIV-infected drug users, Green said.
Other possible factors could include homelessness and poverty, and poor access to medications and therapy used to treat opioid dependence, she suggested. Many HIV patients take opioid painkiller drugs as part of their treatment, while others use illegal opioids.
The study appears online in advance of print in the journal AIDS.
"Bringing overdose awareness and prevention into the HIV care setting is critical to reducing overdose deaths," Green said.
"Health care providers who treat HIV-infected patients with a history of substance abuse or who are taking opioid medications should consider counseling patients on how to reduce their risk of overdose. They may also consider prescribing naloxone (Narcan) to patients, or offering a referral to MAT (medication-assisted therapy) to reduce the risk of overdose," she advised.
Naloxone is a prescription medication that reverses an opioid overdose and has no abuse potential.
More information
The New Mexico AIDS Education and Training Center has more about recreational drugs and HIV.
" Scamp"sits with his owner, Reta McKinley of Yelm, Wash. during a visit to the Lacey Animal Clinic on Friday, Dec. 9, 2011 in Lacey,Wash.. (AP Photo/The Olympian, Tony Overman)
" Scamp"sits with his owner, Reta McKinley of Yelm, Wash. during a visit to the Lacey Animal Clinic on Friday, Dec. 9, 2011 in Lacey,Wash.. (AP Photo/The Olympian, Tony Overman)
YELM, Wash. (AP) ? If Scamp the dog was living up to his name by playing a trick on his owners, a grandmother in Washington isn't laughing.
Reta McKinlay thought her grandchildren's puppy died after it escaped through a fence at her Yelm home and was hit by a car. The terrier-Shih Tzu mix was bleeding, his eyes fixed. He wasn't breathing.
McKinlay told The Olympian (http://is.gd/oSZowB) her husband wrapped him in a blanket on Dec. 3 and left him under a wheelbarrow to keep animals away. They prepared to bury him the next morning.
She told her 6-year-old twin grandchildren that Scamp had gone to heaven.
But when her husband returned, Scamp was sitting up.
The family has spent $3,000 on veterinary bills since. McKinlay says Scamp's return is the family's Christmas present.
SANTIAGO (Reuters) ? Chile's government wants men in the South American country to take off their ties to help fight global warming, hoping the campaign will save on air conditioning as summer starts in the southern hemisphere.
"Let's all take our ties off this summer to save energy," Economy Minister Pablo Longueira says in television spots airing around the country.
In the commercial, he undoes the knot of his pink and white tie and whips it off with gusto, unbuttoning the top of his shirt and smiling. A tie-less energy minister and other senior government officials also appear in the TV spot.
Mornings and evenings are still cool in Chile's capital Santiago but the midday sun has already become quite strong and will remain so until fall begins in March.
While many men welcome the idea of a tie-less summer, others are put off, saying that serious people need to dress the part.
"There are things that really go along with being formal and well-structured," said Santiago resident Gonzalo Castro. "The president can't go around without a tie. Nor should a government minister, an engineer, a doctor or a journalist."
We all know being a National Geographic photographer dangerous work, but it's not all snake bites and panther maulings. Nat Geo's new Field Test feature series shows off some of the high tech gadgets—from camera traps to sexcopters—the photographers employ to get their spectacular shots. [Field Test - Image: National Geographic/Michael Nichols] More »
JERUSALEM (Reuters) ? People thought to be Jewish settlers set fire to a mosque, damaging its interior, in the West Bank on Thursday after Israeli forces tore down structures in a settler-outpost built without government approval.
The vandalism appeared to be the latest act of defiance by militant settlers whom Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to rein in after similar attacks on mosques and vandalism at an Israeli military base.
In the village of Burqa, near Ramallah, the interior of the local mosque was doused with petrol and set alight. Its carpet, walls, chairs and electrical wiring were damaged.
"Thankfully, the torching occurred shortly before dawn prayers, and the villagers who arrived at the mosque put out the fire," said Mahmoud al-Habash, the Palestinian minister of religious affairs.
The mosque was defaced with Hebrew graffiti that said "war" and "Mitzpe Yitzhar," the name of the outpost where the demolitions had taken place hours earlier.
On Wednesday, radical Jews burnt the exterior of an unused Jerusalem mosque and scrawled "Death to the Arabs" on its walls.
A day earlier, young Jewish settlers rampaged through a military base in the occupied West Bank. The attack against the armed forces, an institution revered by many Israelis, sent shock waves through Israel.
"HATE CRIMES"
In a statement on Thursday, Israeli President Shimon Peres condemned the settler attacks and said they were "pouring oil on the flames" of hostility towards Israel in a tense Middle East already in political turmoil.
The Palestinian Authority described the mosque burnings as "hate crimes" and in a statement called on the international community to hold the Israeli government responsible for settler violence.
Attempts to demolish unauthorized outposts have been resisted by radicals who scuffle with troops or carry out night-time sabotage to inflict what they call the "price tag" for "selling out" the settlements.
Most countries regard as illegal all of the settlements that Israel has built in territory it captured in a 1967 war and which Palestinians seek for a future state. Israel cites historical and biblical links to the land it refers to as Judea and Samaria.
Although Israel continues to expand larger official settlements, it has been evacuating smaller, unauthorized outposts, in line with court orders to move against them.
After consulting with security chiefs, Netanyahu said on Wednesday he would take the rare step of ordering so-called administrative arrests -- detention without trial -- of Israelis suspected of vigilante attacks.
The measure, widely seen as having been sparked mainly by the attack on the army base, has been more commonly used against Palestinians suspected of involvement with militant groups.
Israel has long been accused of failing to arrest or investigate settlers for acts of violence against Palestinians.
Police said they had entered Burqa to investigate the arson attack on the mosque.
(Reporting By Jihan Abdalla; Editing by Michael Roddy)
WASHINGTON ? Sensing a political opening, congressional Republicans are moving toward a high-stakes showdown with President Barack Obama over a plan to link fast-tracked approval of an oil pipeline to a measure renewing a payroll tax cut.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said the proposed Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to Texas will help the president achieve his top priority ? creating jobs ? without costing a dime of taxpayer money.
"There is no reason this legislation shouldn't have the president's enthusiastic support," McConnell said Monday on the Senate floor. "The only reason for Democrats to oppose this job-creating bill would be to gain some political advantage at a time when every one of them says job creation is a top priority."
The State Department said last month it was postponing a decision on the pipeline until after next year's election. Officials said the delay is needed to study routes that avoid environmentally sensitive areas of Nebraska.
The GOP language would require approval of the pipeline within two months unless Obama declares it is not in the national interest.
The State Department warned Monday the congressional interference in the approval process would likely lead to a rejection of the pipeline. The State Department has authority over the project because it crosses an international border.
"Should Congress impose an arbitrary deadline for the permit decision, its actions would not only compromise the process, it would prohibit the department from acting consistently with National Environmental Policy Act requirements by not allowing sufficient time" for the project to be considered, the State Department said in a statement.
In that case, "the department would be unable to make a determination to issue a permit for this project," the statement added.
McConnell and other Republicans dismiss such procedural objections.
"The only thing arbitrary about this decision is the decision by the president to say, `Well, let's wait until after the next election,'" said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
Boehner and other Republicans say many Democrats support the pipeline, noting that 47 House Democrats voted in a favor a bill this summer to speed up the permitting process. GOP lawmakers say the White House opposes the pipeline provision in the tax bill so Democrats can gain political advantage by blaming Republicans for defeating the popular payroll tax cut. The tax bill is expected on the House floor Tuesday.
The two parties generally agree on the bill's fundamentals: preventing the Jan. 1 expiration of payroll tax cuts and extending coverage for the long-term unemployed. Obama has said he will reject the overall bill if it includes language speeding up approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry oil from western Canada to refineries in Texas.
Obama's threat has increased conservative support for the overall measure, with Republicans hoping to use Obama's opposition to portray him as favoring environmentalists over jobs.
Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., called the Keystone XL project crucial to getting thousands of people back to work.
"This is an important jobs and energy security bill which just makes plain sense," said Terry, author of the pipeline provision. "The American people want us to stop buying Venezuelan oil. The Keystone pipeline is a key component to making that happen."
Environmental groups, who celebrated the administration's announcement of a delay in the Keystone project last month, accused Republicans of forcing a premature judgment on the pipeline in order to curry favor with the oil industry.
"To get their way, House Republicans ? with some support in the Senate ? are even willing to block the much-needed extension of the middle-class tax cut," said Suzanne Struglinski of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental group.
Struglinski called the pipeline push a "fool's errand" because of Obama's threat to reject the measure, and said its likely inclusion in the House bill showed that House leaders have embraced the "extreme agenda" pushed by the tea party.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said last week that House leaders were wasting time, because the Keystone provision will not pass the Democratic-controlled Senate.
The State Department decided last month to delay the project until 2013, to allow the project's developer to figure out a way around Nebraska's Sandhills, an ecologically sensitive region that includes an aquifer that supplies water to eight states.
___
Follow Matthew Daly's energy coverage at http://twitter.com/MatthewDalyWDC
SALT LAKE CITY ? Microsoft's Bill Gates was set to testify Monday in a $1 billion antitrust lawsuit accusing the software maker of duping a competitor prior to its rollout of Windows 95.
The case against Microsoft has been ongoing in federal court in Salt Lake City for about a month.
Utah-based Novell Inc. sued Microsoft in 2004, claiming the Redmond, Wash., company violated U.S. antitrust laws through its arrangements with other computer makers when it launched Windows 95. Novell says it was later forced to sell WordPerfect for a $1.2 billion loss.
The company argues that Microsoft co-founder Gates ordered company engineers to reject WordPerfect as a Windows 95 application because he feared it was too good. WordPerfect's share of the market then plummeted from nearly 50 percent to less than 10 percent as Microsoft's own office programs took hold.
Novell attorney Jeff Johnson has conceded that Microsoft was under no legal obligation to provide advance access to the Windows 95 operating system so Novell could prepare a compatible WordPerfect version. Microsoft, however, enticed Novell to work on a version, only to withdraw support months before Windows 95 hit the market, he said.
Microsoft lawyer David Tulchin said Gates decided against installing WordPerfect because it threatened to crash Windows and couldn't be fixed in time for the rollout. He argued that Novell's missed opportunity was its own fault, and that Microsoft had no obligation to give a competitor a leg up.
"Novell never complained to Microsoft," Tulchin said during arguments Friday. "There's nothing in the evidence, no documents."
Johnson maintains Novell was tricked in violation of federal antitrust laws so Microsoft could monopolize the market.
"We got stabbed in the back," he said.
Microsoft is seeking a dismissal, calling the claims groundless.
Throughout arguments Friday, U.S. District Judge Frederick Motz openly expressed doubts that Novell's claims had merit.
"I don't see why I have to give a product to a competitor so he can beat me," Motz told Novell attorneys.
CAIRO -- Egyptian police clashed with anti-government protesters for a fifth day in central Cairo Wednesday as a rights group raised the overall death toll from the ongoing unrest to 38.
The clashes came one day after tens of thousands of protesters in Tahrir Square rejected a promise by Egypt's military ruler to speed up a presidential election to the first half of next year. The military previously has floated late next year or early 2013 as the likely date for the vote, the last step in the process of transferring power to a civilian government after Hosni Mubarak's ouster.
In a televised address late Tuesday, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi did not set a date for handing authority to a civilian government, but instead offered a referendum on the immediate return of the armed forces to their barracks.
The Tahrir crowd, along with protesters in a string of other cities across the nation, want Tantawi to step down immediately in favor of an interim civilian council to run the nation's affairs until elections for a new parliament and president are held.
Wednesday's street battles centered around the heavily fortified Interior Ministry, near the iconic square, with police and army troops using tear gas and rubber bullets to keep the protesters from storming the ministry, a sprawling complex that has for long been associated with the hated police and Mubarak's former regime.
The protesters say they have no wish to storm the ministry but were preventing the police and army from evicting them from Tahrir by pinning them down a safe distance away from the massive plaza.
Elnadeem Center, an Egyptian rights group known for its careful research of victims of police violence, said late Tuesday that the number of protesters killed in clashes nationwide since Saturday is 38, nine more than the Health Ministry's death toll. The clashes also have left at least 2,000 protesters wounded, mostly from gas inhalation or injuries caused by rubber bullets fired by the army and the police. The police deny using live ammunition.
Shady el-Nagar, a doctor in one of Tahrir's field hospitals, said three bodies arrived in the facility on Wednesday. All three had bullet wounds. "We don't know if these were caused by live ammunition or pellets because pellets can be deadly when fired from a short distance," he said.
The five days of clashes are the longest spate of uninterrupted violence since the 18-day uprising that toppled the former regime in February, deepening the country's economic and security woes. the unrest also threatens to cloud the country's first post-Mubarak parliamentary elections since Mubarak's February ouster, which are scheduled to begin on Nov. 28.
In his address, Tantawi rejected all criticism of the military's handling of the transitional period and sought to cast himself and the generals on the military council he heads as the nation's foremost patriots. Significantly, he made no mention of the protesters gathered in Tahrir Square or elsewhere in the country.
"Our demands are clear," said Khaled El-Sayed, a protester from the Youth Revolution Coalition and a candidate in the Nov. 28 parliamentary election. "We want the military council to step down and hand over authority to a national salvation government with full authority."
ESPNLA soccer blogger Scott French recounts the top 11 stories and personalities in 2011 from the world of Southern California soccer.
It seems that Verizon (or Motorola) got the message: The Droid Xyboards 
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