Outwitting holiday weight woes

(CNN) -- Does holiday feasting leave you feeling like a stuffed turkey? It doesn't have to be that way, say experts, as long as a few simple guidelines are followed.

"Focus on maintaining your weight," advises Lisa Drayer, a registered dietician and director of nutrition services with Dietwatch.com. "It's not realistic to think that you're going to lose weight. But if you can maintain your weight, then that's pretty good."

Despite the popular notion that most Americans gain five to 10 pounds over the holidays, research reveals these numbers may be overblown. A National Institutes of Health study found that most people only gain about a pound during the six-week interval between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. The problem is that the small amount of weight is not taken off the rest of the year, and over decades, can add up to an unhealthy number on the bathroom scales.

"And the real trouble comes when

posted by Frodgie at 6:51 AM

 

Muslim Groups Urge Substantive Talks With Bush

"We need to see regular, productive, policy-based meetings," Ibrahim Hooper, communications director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (search), told Foxnews.com.

Last month, Bush hosted an Iftaar dinner (search) at the White House to honor the start of the holy month of Ramadan.

The event was attended by much of the Muslim diplomatic community and some Muslim-American leaders, but some critics say notably absent were many of the nation's top Muslim leaders. They say Bush excluded those representatives from the dinner to avoid being broached about lamb-and-potato policies ranging from the Patriot Act to aid for Israel.


posted by Frodgie at 6:49 AM

 

Rumsfeld: Arab TV Stations Had Notice of Attacks

Rumsfeld said the effort fit a pattern of psychological warfare used by remnants of the Baathist government, who want to create the impression that no amount of U.S. firepower can end the insurgency.

"They've called Al-Jazeera to come and watch them do it [attack American troops], and Al-Arabiya," he told a Pentagon news conference. "'Come and see us, watch us; here is what we're going to do.'"

Pressed for details, Rumsfeld and Gen. Richard Myers (search), chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, both indicated that U.S. forces in Iraq had collected more than just circumstantial evidence that one or both of the Arab news organizations might have cooperated with the attackers.

"Yes, I've seen scraps of information over a sustained period of time," Rumsfeld said. "I'm not in a position to make a final judgment on it," but it needs to be examined in an "orderly way," he added.

Neither Rumsfeld nor Myers provided details of any evidence.


posted by Frodgie at 6:45 AM

 

Search On for Missing N. Dakota College Student

About 1,300 searchers combed the ground, some of it snow-covered, for rubbish, clothes and other items in hopes of handing Grand Forks police a clue into what happened to 22-year-old Dru Sjodin (search).

Police believe Sjodin may have been abducted Saturday. They said Tuesday that they were working on the assumption she was still alive.

"We have nothing to indicate otherwise," Sgt. Michael Hedlund said.

Police said searchers turned up a number of discarded items, ranging from clothing to paper towels, in ditches and fields southeast of Grand Forks (search), near Fisher, Minn., where a call had been traced to Sjodin's cell phone Saturday night. Grand Forks and Fisher are about a dozen miles apart.

The response to the search for the missing woman was so overwhelming police asked some to stay home late in the day.


posted by Frodgie at 6:44 AM

 

Senate passes Medicare bill

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- After days of impassioned debate, the U.S. Senate Tuesday approved a $400 billion plan to overhaul Medicare. Supporters say it will give prescription drug coverage to 40 million older Americans, while critics warn that it could destroy the system.

The 54 to 44 vote was not along party lines -- 11 Democrats voted in favor and nine Republicans voted no.

The bill now goes to the White House, for President Bush's signature.

At a speech Tuesday at a hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada, Bush called the vote a "major victory" and thanked members of Congress for their hard work.


posted by Frodgie at 6:42 AM

 

Spahn dead at 82
Hall of Famer won 363 games, most among left-handers

BROKEN ARROW, Okla. (AP) -- Warren Spahn, the winningest left-hander in baseball history and a leader of the dominant Milwaukee Braves teams of the late 1950s, died at his home Monday. He was 82.

The Hall of Famer baffled batters with his high leg kick and teamed with Johnny Sain in the famous "Spahn and Sain and pray for rain" tandem.

Spahn helped pitch the Braves to National League pennants in 1948, 1957 and 1958. The Braves played seven-game World Series against the New York Yankees in the latter two years, winning the first one and losing the second.

A workhorse who pitched until he was 46, Spahn won 20 games 13 times, matching Christy Mathewson for the most in NL history. Spahn was a 14-time All-Star who pitched 21 seasons in a career interrupted by World War II.

He began pitching in the majors in 1942, when the Braves were in Boston, and stayed with the team through its move to Milwaukee in 1953. He left the Braves after the 1964 season, ending his career the following year with San Francisco and the New York Mets.


posted by Frodgie at 11:40 AM

 

Jurors Recommend Death Penalty for Muhammad...Go see Allah

The jury had been considering the sentence for Muhammad, the mastermind of the sniper killings, since Friday. Because it was a capital murder case, the only other option was life in prison.

"Certainly the death verdict is an extremely difficult verdict to make," said jury foreman Jerry Haggerty in a news conference after the sentencing. "It was the collective nature of the crimes. The violence was there across the board, and the lack of remorse."

As the decision was read, Muhammad was stoic — just as he had been through most of his trial.

Jonathan Shapiro, one of Muhammad's attorneys, said the defense team had no problem with the jurors, "who applied the law as it was given to them." But he added: "We have deep disagreement with any system that sanctions killing."


posted by Frodgie at 6:44 AM

 

Magazine accuses Eminem of racism
Rapper admits song was 'foolishness'...antithesis of every 'normal' rap song. So What?

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Source magazine has Eminem on the defensive over a decade-old song that calls black girls "dumb" and depicts them as gold diggers.

In the latest chapter of the Source's campaign against Eminem, Source principals David Mays and Raymond Scott held a press conference to play the recording. It features Eminem, who is white, saying things like: "Black girls are dumb, and white girls are good chicks."

There also is another brief song in which a rapper, who the Source says is Eminem, uses the n-word.

The tape was provided to the magazine by "three white hip-hop fans from Detroit who were peers of Eminem in the early '90s, at the time of the recording," the Source said in a press release Tuesday.


posted by Frodgie at 6:43 AM

 

Gay marriage decision penned by anti-apartheid veteran
Massachusetts chief justice emigrated to U.S. from South Africa

BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- The author of the landmark Massachusetts decision that gave the American gay rights movement a historic victory last week was born in a different land in the midst of another long battle for equality.

Chief Justice Margaret Marshall, the first immigrant and first woman to lead the state's 313-year-old Supreme Judicial Court, began her journey to the Massachusetts bench in South Africa. She was a white student leader of the anti-apartheid movement in the 1960s -- a time when defiance led to bloodshed.

"Justice is not hypothetical to me," Marshall, 59, said earlier this year.

Marshall was first appointed to the bench in 1996, after four years as general counsel and vice president of Harvard University.

She became chief justice three years later.


posted by Frodgie at 6:39 AM

 

Girl lying in street run over
Was she already dead?

Police were trying to piece together how a 16-year-old girl wound up dead yesterday in the middle of a busy Queens street.
Shadaf Khanu was run over by at least one car, but witnesses said she was already lying facedown on Eliot Ave. near Wetherole St. in Rego Park when the car hit her around 5 p.m.

"The young lady was lying in the street and somebody stopped to help her," said John McCabe, 53, a retired cop who lives nearby. "Another car came around the corner and actually rolled over her."

Police were investigating whether Shadaf fell, was pushed or was hit by a car before landing on the ground. Area residents said cops canvassed the neighborhood asking whether anyone heard sounds of a struggle or fight before the woman was found in the street, but neighbors told the Daily News they heard nothing unusual.


posted by Frodgie at 6:21 AM

 

Bremer: Insurgent attacks shifting toward Iraqis

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraqi insurgents have shifted from attacking U.S. and other coalition forces to attacks on Iraqis who are working with the U.S.-led occupation, the chief administrator said Tuesday.
"The security situation has changed," L. Paul Bremer III told reporters at a press conference with Gen. John Abizaid, the chief of the U.S. Central Command. "In the past attacks against the coalition were predominant. Now terrorist attacks against Iraqis are regular."

Abizaid said there were some foreigners fighting with the insurgents but their numbers were small. He said the main threat facing U.S. and coalition forces came from supporters of ousted leader Saddam Hussein.


posted by Frodgie at 6:18 AM

 

Lawyer: Jackson Accuser Never Mentioned Abuse

Attorney Michael Manning said Monday he remembers the mother saying positive things about Jackson as recently as April or May.

"'He was really good to us' -- that's what she said at the time," Manning said.

Asked if she had said anything else about Jackson, Manning added, "Nothing bad. ... If it turned sour, I don't know how."

The mother filed for divorce in 2001 and has custody of the children. Manning said she and the alleged victim rarely mentioned their visits to Jackson's Neverland Ranch (search) in Santa Barbara County.

"They didn't brag about it," he said. "They weren't star crazy."

Manning said he still represents the mother in the divorce, although he hasn't spoken to her since May or June.


posted by Frodgie at 6:17 AM

 

Bucs keep playoff dreams alive, crush Giants' hopes

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- The Tampa Bay Buccaneers knew they were capable of winning without Keyshawn Johnson. Now they've got to prove they can keep doing it.

Playing with a sense of urgency lacking for much of the season, the defending Super Bowl champions revived their playoff hopes Monday night with a 19-13 victory over the New York Giants.

Brad Johnson threw for 269 yards and one touchdown, helping the Bucs (5-6) stop a three-game losing streak in their first outing since Keyshawn Johnson was deactivated for the remainder of the season because of differences with coach Jon Gruden.


posted by Frodgie at 6:14 AM

 

Senate set to approve Medicare overhaul

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Senate was expected to approve Tuesday a contentious $400 billion plan to overhaul Medicare, after opponents of the bill spent most of Monday afternoon and evening voicing their displeasure with the measure.

The vote is expected around 9:15 a.m.

Two last-minute efforts by Democratic senators to block passage of the bill failed Monday, clearing the way for Senate approval today.

A threatened filibuster was ruled out when the Senate voted 70-29 in favor of ending debate on the issue. Sixty votes were needed to avoid a filibuster.

The next effort nearly succeeded. Democrats opposed to the bill raised a budget point of order, saying the bill would require more spending next year than Congress had approved.


posted by Frodgie at 6:12 AM

 

Attacks Raise Fears of More Violence in N. Iraq

MOSUL, Iraq — U.S. troops opened fire after an explosion near a military convoy Monday in Mosul (search) a day after two American soldiers were savagely beaten and killed in the same city, raising fears that the anti-coalition insurgency was spreading north.

Near the northern city of Kirkuk (search), an oil pipeline was on fire Monday. Adel al-Qazzaz, manager of the Northern Oil Company, said he believed sabotage was to blame.

Insurgents have repeatedly targeted pipelines, and sabotage of oil infrastructure has become a major problem for the U.S.-run coalition.

In the Mosul attack, gunmen activated a roadside bomb and opened fire on the convoy, injuring a soldier, the military said.

Local residents said U.S. troops immediately cordoned the area in Hay al-Dobat neighborhood. "I heard a strong explosion saw the Americans randomly shooting in all directions," said Omar Hamed, a witness.

Also Monday, an Iraqi Sunni Muslim religious leader called on U.S. forces and resistance groups to observe a one-week cease-fire to allow the Iraqis to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan (search), media reports said.


posted by Frodgie at 10:31 AM

 

Building Up the Right
Don't lay down your ideological arms yet.

The 17th-century republican political thinker, James Harrington, conceived of a rule for dividing spoils fairly. Generally referred to as the "pie game" — andpopularized by the political philosopher John Rawls — the idea is fairly simple. If you're going to divide a pie between two people, one person should cut, but the other person should get first choice of which slice he wants. The wisdom behind such an arrangement is that self-interest is husbanded to the public good and fair play. Who knew that generations of little kids splitting candy bars had stumbled on a profound insight into the nature of a just society?

But I didn't think of the metaphorical pie (mmm meta-floor pie) to talk about Harrington's views on the separation of powers. Rather, it came to mind when reading Brian Anderson's much discussed — and deservedly so — essay in the current issue of City Journal, as well as the reaction to it.


posted by Frodgie at 10:30 AM

 

Dems Insist Republicans Pull Bush Ad

The 30-second ad, which aired in Iowa over the weekend, features clips of Bush during his State of the Union address (search) last January. It portrays Bush as a fighter of terrorism and says his opponents "are now attacking the president for attacking the terrorists."

"It's wrong. It's erroneous, and I think that they ought to pull the ad," Daschle told NBC's "Meet the Press" program on Sunday.

"We all want to defeat terrorism," the South Dakota senator said. But "to chastise and to question the patriotism of those who are in opposition to some of the president's plans I think is wrong."

The Republican National Committee (search) has no plans to honor Daschle's wishes.

"We have no doubt that Sen. Daschle and others in his party who oppose the president's policy of pre-emptive self-defense believe that their national security approach is in the best interests of the country," RNC spokeswoman Christine Iverson said. "But we also have no doubt that they are wrong about that, and we will continue to highlight this critical policy difference as well as others."

Other Democrats on the Sunday talk shows joined Daschle in his criticism.


posted by Frodgie at 10:29 AM

 

China plans SARS vaccine trial

BEIJING, China (AP) -- Chinese researchers expect to begin human trials next month on an experimental SARS vaccine that injects the dead virus into medical subjects so their immune systems can recognize it and hopefully attack it, a government drug official says.

"We cannot tell yet whether it will be successful in humans, but we can say it is effective in animals, especially monkeys," Yin Hongzhang, head of the biological product section of the State Food and Drug Administration, told The Associated Press.

The efforts come as cold weather returns to northern China and many people in Beijing, which along with Hong Kong was the hardest-hit area in the world, gird for its possible return.


posted by Frodgie at 10:25 AM

 

Frist promises Monday Medicare vote

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, has accused Democrats of playing partisan politics that will keep vital Medicare benefits from the nation's seniors.

Frist, who called a rare Sunday session on the issue, promised a vote Monday.

"When you look at what's in this bill ... it's going to be hard for them to filibuster," Frist, a physician, said on CNN's "Late Edition." "I don't see how any of them can go home and say, 'We're not going to give you benefits we promised five or six years ago.' "

Senators spent Sunday debating the sweeping Medicare bill, which for the first time would offer retirees prescription drug coverage.

The $400 billion Republican-promoted bill's full drug benefit would go into effect in 2006, when it would be available for a monthly premium of $35. Within about six months of passage, according to the White House, seniors would be eligible for a drug-discount card offering up to 25 percent off the retail price of prescriptions.


posted by Frodgie at 10:22 AM

 

Jackson's explicit letters seized

EXPLICIT letters and poems said to have been written by Michael Jackson to his alleged victim will form the centrepiece of the sex-abuse case against him.


Police seized at least a dozen letters during the raid on Jackson's Neverland ranch last week.

"The district attorney is convinced these letters will be crucial to the case against Jackson," a source close to the investigation said yesterday.


"The boy told investigators about letters and poems and their precise location inside Michael's home. These letters were among the evidence seized, along with videotapes.


"They are very explicit and intimate and show a degree of familiarity. Basically, they appear to be love letters from Michael to the boy."


The accuser, 12-year-old Los Angeles cancer victim Gavin Arvizo, also told police Jackson's pet name for him was Rubba.


"The boy first told this to his therapist, then repeated it to police," the source said.


"He said Jackson called him Rubba because one of the games they used to play was called rubba rubba. The boy said, 'Michael told me he was my rubba rubba friend."'


posted by Frodgie at 10:17 AM