NFL: An Analysis of the 3-Horse Race for the AFC Championship

The Ravens are reminiscent of two modern-era NFL teams?the 1970s Rams and 1990s Steelers?in that they showed remarkable consistency over a period of years, finishing with records among the best in the league during the regular season.??

However, come playoff time, the shortcomings of the two teams (most specifically lacking a franchise QB) led to playoff disappointments. However, both the Rams and Steelers of the era finally did break through and win a conference championship, although they lost the Super Bowl (albeit to dynasty-level teams in competitive games).??

The Ravens have been knocking on the door for years and seem well positioned to finally follow in the steps of the 1979 Rams and 1995 Steelers to win the conference championship.

?

Why the Ravens Should Win the AFC

The 2011 Ravens finally overcame the hump of the Steelers, sweeping them in the season series for the first time since 2006. The inability to overcome Pittsburgh has forced the Ravens into Wild Card games and playing on the road in the playoffs.??

With the tie-breaker in hand and a schedule almost as (statistically) easy as the Patriots, the Ravens are in control of their destiny to finally earn a top seed and a bye week. The Ravens have a great mix of playoff experience, veteran leadership (the only team in the league featuring two ?sure-fire? first ballot Hall of Fame players? Ed Reed and Ray Lewis), overall talent and a genuine hunger. There is something to be said for a team that has tasted postseason success over several years but has fallen short and has extra desire to win a championship.

?

Why the Ravens Will Not Win the AFC

The Ravens' most potent offensive weapon is running back Ray Rice. They have a team that would be more ideally designed if it were 2001-2005, the pre-Goodell era league. In particular, since 2007 only two Super Bowl participants have featured a running back with over 1,000 yards and only one (2009 Saints?No. 6) finished with a Top 10-ranked rushing game.?

While the Ravens' statistical offensive balance at a glance would seem to indicate they are not as reliant on the running game as they are the passing game (No. 15 in passing, No. 27 in rushing), a closer look at their games reveals that in games where Ray Rice is prolific, the Ravens do well, and in games in which he has been held in check, the Ravens have been vulnerable and needed late defensive breakdowns by their opponents to win.?

Joe Flacco is a solid QB, but unremarkable and inconsistent. He does not do anything particularly ?special? and that is a problem in a league that is pass-heavy?Flacco is going to have to raise the level of his game and do so in the extreme pressure of the NFL playoffs. ?

Despite his 4-3 playoff record, Flacco?s actual playoff performance has been far from stellar?where by comparison the Ravens' top AFC competition features QBs who by the same points early in their careers, turned in some spectacular playoff performances and won a Super Bowl, but have repeated the experience to the tune of seven total appearances and five Super Bowl wins among them.?

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/966877-a-3-horse-race-for-the-afc-championship-an-analysis

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nfl: Jump in the DeLorean, take it up to 88mph and ride into next week with Dave @Dameshek to find out who wins in Week 13: http://t.co/eykdRpfJ

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Chavez: New regional group revives Bolivar's dream (AP)

CARACAS, Venezuela ? South American independence hero Simon Bolivar once dreamed of unifying several nations as a counterweight to their powerful hemispheric neighbor, the United States.

Two centuries later, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez tapped into that legacy Friday as he hosted leaders from across the Americas at a two-day summit. Chavez described the new regional bloc that excludes the U.S. as a tribute to his idol Bolivar, saying the time has come to put an end to U.S. hegemony.

"Only unity will make us free," Chavez said to applause at the opening ceremony. "This is the path: Unity, unity, unity!"

He called it an achievement that Latin America has been seeking for 200 years, and shouted: "Viva Bolivar!"

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega echoed Chavez's sentiments, saying Latin American and Caribbean countries should ensure that the policy of U.S. intervention to protect the region's nations, declared by President James Monroe in 1823, is never revived.

"We are sentencing the Monroe Doctrine to death," Ortega said.

The 33-nation Community of Latin American and Caribbean States includes every country in Latin America and the Caribbean. Unlike the Washington-based Organization of American States, or OAS, it will have Cuba as a full member and exclude the U.S. and Canada.

Cuban President Raul Castro said that if it's successful, the creation of the new bloc known by its Spanish initials CELAC will be "the biggest event in 200 years."

"I'm sorry it isn't Fidel who is occupying the place that I am, because he is the one who deserves it," Castro said of his elder brother, who permanently stepped down from Cuba's presidency in 2008.

Castro condemned this year's NATO airstrikes in Libya as a crime and said Latin American and Caribbean nations should declare themselves a "territory of peace and free of foreign militaries."

Other Latin American leaders said they see CELAC as a forum to build closer economic and political relations across the region, but not as a platform for challenging U.S. policies.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon said it will be a group "to work in favor of unity and prosperity." Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, who is a U.S. ally but also has friendly relations with Chavez, said that "CELAC isn't being born to be against anyone."

Daniel Restrepo, President Barack Obama's senior adviser on Latin America, told reporters in Miami that the U.S. government would watch to see what direction CELAC takes.

"There's one sector that wants an anti-American project, and that isn't sustainable. There are others who want to use it to face the challenges they have," Restrepo said.

At the summit, Chavez embraced leaders one-by-one, and later launched into a wide-ranging speech discussing poverty-reduction efforts as well as reading excerpts of Bolivar's letters and a passage from Gabriel Garcia Marquez's novel "One Hundred Years of Solitude."

The summit was Chavez's international debut after months of cancer treatment that forced him to postpone the meeting originally scheduled for July.

Talking about his struggle with cancer, Chavez credited Fidel Castro with saving his life by insisting he undergo thorough medical tests that turned up a tumor during a June visit to Cuba.

Chavez said he had wanted to go ahead with the summit in July, but Castro had advised him: "You choose: the summit or your life. ... The summit can wait."

Following surgery to remove the tumor in his pelvic region, Chavez finished chemotherapy in September and declared himself to be cancer-free. He drew a standing ovation from the leaders when he referred to the recent cancer diagnosis of former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, saying: "Lula will win that battle, too."

After initial speeches, the Venezuelan government treated the leaders to a concert by conductor Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Youth Symphony Orchestra.

Outside the summit, small groups of Chavez opponents including university students put up protest signs on Caracas overpasses. Denouncing the country's high crime rate, some signs read: "Presidents, welcome to the crime capital." Police swiftly removed the signs.

Many leaders referred to Bolivar's legacy, including Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who focused on calling for a coordinated response to safeguard the region's growing economies from the global financial crisis.

"Together we can be stronger, together we can grow, and that should be beneficial for everyone," Rousseff said. "The economic, financial crisis should be at the center of our concerns."

Plans for the new organization, which grew out of the 24-nation Rio Group, have been in the works since a 2008 summit hosted by Silva.

Chavez has long sought inspiration in the legacy of Bolivar, who in the early 1800s served as president of Gran Colombia, a republic made up of much of northern South America and modern-day Panama until it broke up into individual states following years of dissent and political upheaval.

Chavez calls his political movement the Bolivarian Revolution and in 1999 promoted the approval of a new constitution that changed the country's name to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Last year, Chavez even oversaw the opening of Bolivar's coffin to re-examine the cause of his death, and the Venezuelan government is building a new mausoleum to house Bolivar's remains.

Bolivar was an admirer of the American Revolution, although he warned that the unrivaled power of the United States could eventually pose a threat to the young nations of Latin America that had won independence from Spain.

___

Associated Press writers Ian James and Jorge Rueda in Caracas and Gisela Salomon in Miami contributed to this report.

___

Christopher Toothaker on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ctoothaker

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111203/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_venezuela_summit

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NYC recommends AIDS drugs for any person with HIV (AP)

NEW YORK ? Health officials said Thursday they are recommending that any person living with HIV be offered AIDS drugs as soon as they are diagnosed with the virus, an aggressive move that has been shown to prolong life and stem the spread of the disease.

Standard practice has been to have patients put off the expensive pill regimen ? which can cost up to $15,000 a year in the United States ? until the immune system weakens.

But Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said recent studies have shown that the benefits of early treatment, combined with education and testing, appears to be a promising strategy for countering the epidemic.

"I'm more optimistic now than I've ever been about this epidemic that we can drive our new rates down to zero or close to it ? eventually. I don't know how soon. But I'm very optimistic of the direction that it's going to take the epidemic to," Farley said in an interview Wednesday.

More than 110,000 people in New York City are infected with HIV, more than in any other U.S. city and about 75 percent of all cases in the state. San Francisco, which had more than 18,000 people living with HIV, is believed to be the only other major city to have made a similar recommendation in 2010.

City health officials said the new recommendation could initially help about 3,000 people get on medications. About 66,000 New Yorkers living with HIV that the Health Department tracks are being effectively treated with AIDS drugs, they said. But they said it was difficult to estimate how many people would eventually need the medications.

Some doctors agree with the Department of Health that it is time to update the guidelines for initiating AIDS drug treatment.

"The New York City health department is a little bit ahead of the curve. In my opinion, the rest of the country will follow and I think it will be pretty quick," said Dr. Michael Saag of the University of Alabama at Birmingham and past chairman of the HIV Medicine Association.

The standard measure of the CD4 count ? a way to measure the strength of the immune system ? is an outdated trigger for therapy, a relic from research on early antiretroviral drugs, Saag said.

"It's anachronism. It's old school. It's yesterday," Saag said. "I agree completely with the New York City health department."

Dr. Joel Gallant of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and vice chair of the HIV Medicine Association also agrees with the New York recommendation for offering early treatment. He recommends early treatment for his own patients.

"Nobody I know who is an HIV expert feels that it's a bad idea to treat HIV at high CD4 counts from a medical or scientific standpoint," Gallant said. "If there are objections, they'd usually be based on cost or feasibility."

Saag said the cost questions are very important because a brand-name drug can retail for $1,200 to $1,600 per month.

"For sure, they're very expensive drugs and we should be careful about that," he said, though he added that the medications are going generic so costs should come down.

City health officials said they anticipated that the cost for expanding the use of AIDS drugs would be covered by private insurance or by the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, a $270 million program for the uninsured or underinsured that is partially funded through federal dollars. The health officials said they expect the benefits over the long term would far outweigh the initial costs because there would be fewer hospitalizations and new HIV cases.

"There will be some increasing costs over the short term," said Farley. "But over the long term, it's absolutely the right thing for the epidemic."

HIV experts are split about whether early therapy should be recommended or optional. Besides the high costs, the pills have side effects from nausea to liver damage. Patients unwilling to take them religiously for life could develop drug resistance.

A panel that recently updated U.S. guidelines was divided evenly, with half favoring starting therapy early for everyone and half regarding an early start as elective.

But there's growing evidence that untreated HIV can lead to cancers and heart disease. What's more, antiretroviral drugs are safer, have fewer side effects and work better than they did in the past. New research also indicates that people live better, healthier lives and their partners do as well when they get early treatment.

The new research cited by the city's Health Department in making its recommendations includes a nine-nation study whose preliminary results were announced earlier this year and showed that earlier treatment meant patients were 96 percent less likely to spread the virus to their uninfected partners.

Dr. Moupali Das, the director of research at the San Francisco Department of Health HIV/AIDS Epidemiology Section, said its surveillance data indicated that physicians were treating their HIV patients early even before the city recommended doing so. She said the average amount of time from diagnosis to having no virus in the blood went from 32 months in 2004 to eight months in 2008.

"That reflects that the newer medications are more potent and efficacious, and the doctors were likely initiating them earlier," she said.

She said they are currently analyzing what has happened since the recommendations went into effect. But, anecdotally, she said that there has been a change among patients seeking treatment. "It's changed the dialogue and empowered our patient population," she said.

Public health experts predict the guidelines for starting AIDS drugs treatment will shift toward a clear recommendation for early treatment.

But New York City's health commissioner said officials there could not wait to respond.

"What we're doing here is we're making a really clear and unequivocal statement that we think this is good for the health of the patient, good for the health of the entire population, good for the response to the epidemic," Farley said.

___

AP Medical Writer Carla K. Johnson contributed from Chicago.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111201/ap_on_he_me/us_aids_prevention

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Suicide bomber kills 1 near Afghan-NATO outpost (AP)

KABUL, Afghanistan ? A suicide bomber blew up a truck full of explosives outside a joint Afghan-NATO combat outpost in eastern Afghanistan on Friday, killing one Afghan civilian and wounding dozens of other people, officials said.

The bomber tried to enter Combat Outpost McClain in Mohammad Agha district of Logar province, said Gen. Ghulam Saki Rooghlawanay, the provincial police chief.

When the bomber was not allowed onto the base, he drove his vehicle toward a group of buildings that included government offices, a clinic and a youth center and detonated it, Rooghlawanay said.

"It was a very powerful explosion," he said. "It was a semitrailer with explosives."

An Afghan carpenter who was working at the base was killed, said Dr. Mohammad Zaref Nayebkhail, health director in the province.

Eighty-four people were wounded, but most of them were nearby residents who were lightly hurt by shards of glass and other debris, he said. Twelve people were wounded closer to the explosion, including six who were transferred to Kabul for treatment of serious injuries.

Three Afghan soldiers and two Afghan intelligence employees were among those wounded.

The explosion damaged a wall of the base, destroyed four houses and nearly demolished a health clinic, youth center and building housing the humanitarian organization CARE International, Nayebkhail said.

There were no students in the youth center because Friday is part of the Afghan weekend.

"We were very lucky," said provincial Governor Atiqullah Ludin.

NATO confirmed that an explosion occurred near the entrance to the base and said the truck never penetrated security protecting the installation. No NATO service members were injured or killed in the attack.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack. The insurgent group posted a message on its website claiming that a bomb made with 14 tons of explosives leveled a U.S. military base and killed dozens of troops. The Taliban often exaggerate the death toll and damage caused by their attacks.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111202/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan

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Year-end investing moves, Dec. 2011 - Don't Mess With Taxes

It's been a challenging year for investors. In today's second installment of the 2011 edition of Year-end Money Moves, we look at some actions that you should consider before the end of the year. They also could help take some of the unnecessary year-round thrills out of investing.

As noted in first segment of this year's series, many investment moves also have tax considerations.

But don't let the tax components be the major determinant of your investment moves. Do what's best for you and your portfolio, both now and throughout the year, based on your personal financial situation and your long-term goals.

Reassess your risk: A volatile market is not for the weak. And 2011 saw a lot of folks jump off the crazy stock market train. That's OK.

Yes, great risk can produce great rewards. It also can produce ulcers. If you're more comfortable with safer investing options now, then you do what you've got to do.

But while you can't take the risk out of investing, you can manage it to a degree. Most investment risk falls into two categories, systematic risk or nonsystematic risk. Here's how the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) describes them:

• Systematic risk is also known as market risk and it affects all companies, regardless of the company's financial condition, management or capital structure. Inflation and interest rates are two common systematic risks.
• Nonsystematic risk is associated with investing in a particular product, company or industry sector.

FINRA has more on managing investment risks, but one of the best ways is our next tip.

Reallocate and diversify: Whether the economy and markets are good or bad, periodically taking stock (no pun intended) of your holdings is critical. If you haven't been keeping close watch on your investments this year, take time now to determine whether your holdings still meet your needs.

Generally, you should spread your assets among different investments and asset types to reduce risk, since different sectors perform well under different market conditions.

It's only human to want to invest more in holdings that do well. Congrats on picking a winning stock or sector. But that one investment might now represent a greater share of your portfolio than you originally intended. And that could mean it's time to reallocate your holdings so that they more appropriately meet your ultimate investment goals.

Cash out your winners: Your rebalancing probably will involve selling some assets that have done well. You can use those profits to treat yourself or, if you're a committed investor, buy other holdings that fit your long-term goals.

But cashing in on winning stocks has a downside. Uncle Sam will get a piece of your profit.

Long-term profits, however, are less tax costly. If you've owned the asset for more than a year, it's subject to capital gains rates which for most investors are substantially lower than ordinary income tax rates. Through 2012, the top capital gains rate is 15 percent; for those in the 10 percent and 15 percent tax brackets, there are no tax costs.

Harvest your losses: Some folks also had more than a few holdings that didn't do so well. There is some good tax news, though. You can sell these stock dogs and use the capital losses to offset your capital gains.

What, no or very few gains? I've been there. But when you have more losses than gains, you?can use up to $3,000 of your excess bad investment results to reduce your ordinary income.?

Got more than $3,000 in losses? You can carry those forward to future tax years.

The IRS has more on capital gains and losses in Publication 550, Investment Income and Expenses, and Publication 544, Sales and Other Dispositions of Assets.

Pay attention to distributions details: Most of us own mutual funds. Mutual fund ownership is easy and can be profitable.

If things go as planned, mutual funds pay capital gains distributions. These are the portion of money each fund owner made when the fund's manager sold assets throughout the year. And every shareholder has to pay taxes on those earnings, referred to as capital gains distributions.

Official word on the tax damage you could face will arrive early next year when you get your annual account statement. Instead of waiting until then, call?your broker or fund company now to?get an idea of what you might be facing.

If it's enough to produce a substantial tax bill, you can account for it in the estimated tax payment due in January.

You also need to be aware of mutual fund costs if part of your portfolio rebalancing includes adding?a fund or two. Don't buy?until after the fund makes its year-end payout. If you purchase just before the distribution date, you'll also be buying yourself a?tax bill on your new fund's payout.

Watch out for wash sales: You sold a losing stock and now you're having second thoughts. The asset is starting to show some life.

Hold on. If you buy it or another asset that's substantially the same within 30 days before or after you sold the losing stock, that's known as a wash sale.

In this instance, the IRS won't let you immediately deduct your original loss amount. You don't lose it, but the deduction of your loss is postponed to a later date.

Here's hoping that some of these moves can help you shape up your investments and lower your 2011 tax bill.

And remember to check back here tomorrow for part 3's look retirement moves to make by Dec. 31.

You also might find these items of interest:

Source: http://dontmesswithtaxes.typepad.com/dont_mess_with_taxes/2011/11/year-end-investing-moves-december-2011.html

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PFT: Tomlin 'confident' Polamalu will play

Reuters

1. Packers (No. 1; 11-0):? Any sounds you hear coming from South Florida won?t be coming from a cork leaving a bottle of champagne.

2. Ravens (No. 6; 8-3):? Given their history of stumbling against bad teams, the next four ?easy? games could be the hardest on the schedule.

3. Steelers (No. 3; 8-3):? The Steelers nearly experienced ?choke-like symptoms? on Sunday night.

4. Patriots (No. 4; 8-3):? The Pats are playing just well enough to fail to fulfill the expectations they?ll create in December.

5.? Saints (No. 5; 8-3):? They?ll be fine until they have to play on the road in the postseason.

6.? 49ers (No. 2; 9-2):? Unless and until the 49ers lose in January, Jim Harbaugh likely won?t be rooting for his brother in the playoffs

7. Texans (No. 9; 8-3):? Wins in the playoffs could be hard to come by without a quarterback who has some playoff experience.

8. Cowboys (No. 11; 7-4):? If the Cowboys keep it up, Tony Romo will have a chance to commit another game-altering turnover in January.

9. Raiders (No. 12; 7-4):? Forget Carson Palmer and Darren McFadden; Shane Lechler and Sebastian Janikowski could be the keys to a deep postseason run for the Raiders.

10. Bears (No. 7; 7-4):? Caleb Hanie?s hiney soon will be back on the bench.

11. Falcons (No. 13; 7-4):? They need to develop a killer instinct if they want to make it back to the playoffs.

12. Lions (No. 8; 7-4):? In fairness to Suh, no one ever specifically told him that stomping was frowned upon.

13. Bengals (No. 14; 7-4):? In the first NFL season since 1997 without T.O. and Randy Moss, the Bengals have a wideout who could be better than both of them.

14. Broncos (No. 15; 6-5):? Tebowmania will be very dangerous in a single-elimination tournament.

15. Jets (No. 16; 6-5):? Beating the Bills was, ultimately, the equivalent of delaying the inevitable.

16. Titans (No. 17; 6-5):? If Chris Johnson without his burst can rush for 190 yards, he could go for 400 yards once he can explode again.

17. Giants (No. 10; 6-5):? Bill Cowher?s plans are about to change.

18. Eagles (No. 18; 4-7):? DeSean Jackson dropped that pass because he prematurely launched into his ?hide under the bed? touchdown celebration.

19. Seahawks (No. 19; 4-7):? The 12th man apparently took a day off.

20. Buccaneers (No. 20; 4-7):? The ?toughest . . . schedule . . . ever? excuse went out the window in Nashville.

21. Bills (No. 21; 5-6):? So if Stevie Johnson had scored a touchdown against the Eagles, would he have gotten on all fours and barked like a dog?

22. Cardinals (No. 26; 4-7):? This team may not be as far away from contending as it appears.

23. Chiefs (No. 22; 4-7):? This team may not be as far away from contending as it appears.

24. Chargers (No. 23; 4-7):? This team may not be as far away from contending as it appears.

25. Dolphins (No. 24; 3-8):? This team may not be as far away from contending as it appears.

26. Browns (No. 25; 4-7):? And the streak ends at four.

27. Panthers (No. 29; 3-8):? Cam Newton had flashbacks to the national title game, given that his opponents in Indy were roughly as good as the 2010 Oregon team.

28. Redskins (No. 30; 4-7):? Back-to-back home games against the Jets and Patriots could make or break Mike Shanahan for 2012.

29. Jaguars (No. 27; 3-8):? Though it?s not clear who the next coach will be, it?s safe to say the next coach will have no offers to coach other NFL teams.

30. Vikings (No. 28; 2-9):? So if the Vikings have another 3-13 season, does Bud Grant come back again?

31. Rams (No. 31; 2-9):? Is it possible for the offensive rookie of the year to become a bust?

32. Colts (No. 32; 0-11):? ?If we fire the defensive coordinator, maybe people won?t think we?re trying to get the first pick in the draft.?

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/11/29/tomlin-confident-that-polamalu-will-play/related/

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