All Global News on One Page

Brought to you by Deepak Chopra, MD, Alexander Tsiaras, and TheVisualMD.com
After our recent post about the dangers of trans fats (Weekly Health Tip: Why Trans Fats Are the Bad Guys) , a reader named Merrymaven posed a very good question: How does one reverse the effects of trans fats? Those of us who ate margarine, commercial baked goods and other trans fat-laden foods before we knew how harmful they could be can certainly change our habits now. But what about the damage trans fats may have done already? There is some evidence that such damage can be improved. In a study in Italy, patients at high risk of heart attack or stroke followed the Mediterranean diet, which is high in olives and olive oil, fresh produce, healthy grains and fish, while another group followed a different diet. After two years, those on the Mediterranean diet had fewer signs of inflammation in their

Tea time is a sacred ritual for cultures around the world. As tea is accessible and easily cultivated in so many regions, distinct cultures from Europe to the Middle East adopted tea as an important cultural artifact centuries ago. With this ever-present consumption, these cultures have crafted their own rituals and ceremonies around the fragrant, elevating and conversational Camellia Sinensis leaf.
Grown mostly in India, China and Japan, tea is the infusion of this leaf in water — herbal, fruit and flower “teas” are in fact not teas at all, but infusions themselves — and there exist four distinct types of tea. White, green, oolong and black all come from the same leaf but the way the leaves are processed-steamed, fermented (oxidized), dried, or bruised-gives the tea the special characteristics of its category.
Most Westerners are familiar with British teatime, with its delicate treats and finger sandwiches, but other countries have celebrated teatimes as well: imperial Japan, China, the subcontinent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka) and of course places like Thailand and the Middle East.
Even if one has neither the means nor time to travel the world, the teas of the world can be sampled here in the sprawling cosmopolitan metropolis of Los Angeles, which I had the pleasure of documenting last week in the slideshow below.
My normal teatime follows the British tradition in the late afternoon, the time of day that the duchess of Devonshire faced the low blood sugar she introduced teatime to

The following is the fifth in a series of celebrity roots profiles from the first season of NBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? Though it’s not the part of her ancestry that was featured in the show, Ms. Shields is part Irish, so this seems to be an appropriate time to share her tale, given that March is Irish-American Heritage Month. Previous profiles can be found on Lisa Kudrow, Emmitt Smith, Matthew Broderick and Spike Lee.
Brooke Shields made her showbiz debut in Ivory Soap ads at the age of eleven months. By the time she entered Princeton at eighteen to study French literature, she could already look back on a celebrated career as a model and

The Language of Towns and Cities: A Visual Dictionary, by Dhiru A. Thadani (with help from about 50 contributors), is an oddly personal work. I say “oddly,” because the book’s title invokes that most characteristically objective of all books, the dictionary, and the book’s format resembles that of an encyclopedia, also typically objective. And the book has 781 10-inch by 10-inch pages and weighs more pounds than the postal scale in my office can measure — hardly a slim volume of personal

In what is clearly the most insurmountable public relations snafu on Earth, well, fashion Earth anyway, Christian Dior was challenged to stay the course and host their fashion show today in Paris in spite of the debacle that is John Galliano.
Those who took the final bow instead of John Galliano in full diva drag was the staff from the Dior atelier. This is the most fantastic, emotional, democratic, loving way to handle such an awkward moment and to thank those who attended the show. Yesterday The Huffington Post asked its zillions of readers whether or not the Dior and John Galliano shows should be

Libyan officials have been so angered by Arab media coverage of the revolution in their country they’ve resorted to jamming satellite TV channel transmissions from a location in Tripoli and have accused foreign reporters of fomenting unrest.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) this week said security forces loyal to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi continued to detain journalists and jam broadcast frequencies.
“It is beyond irony that the authorities in Tripoli are inviting in foreign reporters for guided tours of the capital while they round up Libyan journalists who dare talk to foreign broadcasters,” said CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney.
Libya’s shenanigans caused Lebanon on the eastern Mediterranean to lodge an official complaint with the Arab satellite regulatory body since several Lebanese channels were adversely affected by the jamming.
Earlier this week, official Libyan TV misled viewers by airing footage of crowds in different cities that it claimed eagerly awaited Gaddafi’s appearance.
But the deception was uncovered, according to Lebanon’s Assafir daily, when it became clear the video was of the Palestinian uprising, accompanied by a background track of a song entitled “We’re Steadfast Here” by Lebanese composer/vocalist Marcel Khalifa.
The camera later showed Tripoli’s Green Square when someone realized the mistake.
Gaddafi’s son Saif Al Islam, in a recent media appearance, called for “dialogue (with the rebels) before we resort to arms,” and urged the convening of a “masses conference” to pass legislation ensuring press freedom.
In an interview with pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat, Saif Al Islam blasted the Egyptian-controlled NileSat, which he said had unplugged, reconnected, then jammed Libya’s main TV channel.
He also ripped into Arab satellite channels for what he said were instigation to violence and spreading of

As an unregenerate liberal interventionist, I believe America should aid Libyan rebels fighting to rid their country of Muammar Gaddafi. But for all the attention a no fly zone has received, there are better ways to even the odds in this so far unequal contest.
The impulse to “do something” as Gaddafi’s planes and foreign mercenaries attack rebel-held towns is understandable. But at this point, imposing a no fly zone would entail high political costs while yielding uncertain military returns.
A key question, of course, is who would impose it? Given the likely opposition of Russia and China, the U.S. Security Council won’t authorize a no fly

The drama that was the MLB off-season and Winter Meetings led to some huge moves across the league. If you haven’t been following, here is a quick breakdown of the top moves of the 2011 MLB off-season:
The Boston Red Sox spent a ton of money on acquiring Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez
Cliff Lee ditched the New York Yankees, surprising fans and analysts alike and signed with the Philadelphia Phillies to fill out potentially one of the best starting rotations baseball has ever seen
The Milwaukee Brewers picked up Zack Greinke
The Chicago Cubs added Matt Garza to their rotation
Each of these teams have improved significantly in the off-season so it would be expected that their ticket prices would have the highest relative increases in comparison to their 2010 ticket prices. Well, it is a little surprising, but none of these teams even crack the top 5.
The Milwaukee Brewers come in at #6 on the list with a 77 percent increase in ticket prices from 2010 to 2011.
Boston Red Sox tickets still maintain the top spot in baseball at $115 per ticket in 2011 compared to $82 in 2010.

read full news from www.huffingtonpost.com

I haven’t read a fashion magazine in ages. Even when I see one in the doctor’s office, a brief perusal reaffirms that there’s not much to hold my attention. However, when the New York Times was delivered on Sunday bearing an extra heft that turned out to be the “Spring Fashion” issue, I decided it to bring it down to the laundry room with me.
Scanning the Table of Contents revealed that it would be more of a look through than a read. There was an essay by Gloria Steinem about women politicians who were “actually minding the store,” accompanied by pictures of Barbara Lee and Barbara

An elderly child molester has been surgically castrated as a condition of his release from prison, police say.
Francis Tullier, 78, pleaded guilty in 1999 to three counts of molesting young girls over the previous two decades.
He underwent the procedure at his own expense, and is expected to be released from a Louisiana prison next week.
“We wish they would use it more often,” West Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office Maj Richie Johnson said, adding he thought it would be an effective deterrent.
Tullier was arrested in 1997 and charged with more than 500 counts of molesting six girls aged six to 12 in the 1970s and

1:30 am…
It’s what my heart would sound like if it stepped out of my body and sang… hearing my boy singing, hearing traces of his dad’s voice in his, and probably mine, and hearing/feeling/sensing that in his voice is life experience that has been his alone, unwitnessed by me, coming through the tone and timber and expression that is all his.
I close my eyes and drink it in, the miracle of it all… how from a tiny, microscopic seed a life begins and grows and becomes visible — if barely — and grows a spine and a heart and foot and an eyelash, and then this being makes its way out into the world, onto this spinning

Let’s begin with a multiple choice test. The United States of America is:
a) a for-profit corporation;
b) a family, like the typical American family in a 1960′s sitcom;
c) a nation — with a national economy and nation-sized problems.
If you answered “c,” there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that you answered the question correctly. The bad news is that you probably have no future as a pundit, where recycling bad metaphors is an essential job

Our country needs the federal government to invest in innovative science — support that may be seriously cut in budgetary wrangling. It’s not simply that other nations may make competitive gains; the greater concern is that young scientists may lose confidence in the United States as the best place to establish their careers. The country cannot afford such a “brain drain.”
Indeed, key trend lines are moving our country in the wrong direction. For example, the continuing resolution bill passed by the House of Representatives to fund the federal government for the remainder of fiscal year 2011 includes a rollback of federal science spending to 2008

The recent murders of four Americans sailing off the coast of Somalia have led to calls for a tougher action against Somali pirates. Many argue that paying ransom only encourages more piracy, and that stronger action against the pirates is needed. Unfortunately, however, effective alternative options to stop piracy are limited, and tougher action will likely make the situation worse.
Until a few months ago, the Somali pirates treated their hostages well. The chances for a successful, if expensive, resolution were high, and violence against hostages was

GOOD PEOPLE ** out of ****
Manhattan Theatre Club at Samuel J. Friedman Theatre
Playwright David Lindsay-Abaire tackles the haves and the have-nots in his unfortunately thin followup to the Pulitzer Prize-winning dram Rabbit Hole. Who are the good people in this story? You can’t help rooting for Margaret (Frances McDormand, in fine form). She’s a single mom in the poor neighborhood of South Boston with a special needs kid, struggling to get by when she’s fired from the Dollar Store for being perpetually

“Yesterday I did not know what an eco-terrorist was. Now it appears that I am one?”
- Sea Shepherd Deckhand Amanda Caldwell
When Japanese whalers, Canadian sealers, Costa Rican shark poachers, and Libyan bluefin tuna poachers call Sea Shepherd an “eco-terrorist” organization, I always have the same response: “Okay already, arrest us, or shut the hell up!” This constant, misguided yammering about alleged terrorism every time someone tries to nonviolently stop some thug from clubbing seals, harpooning whales, or finning sharks is downright ignorant, and just plain silly.
What exactly is an eco-terrorist? There is no known law defining the alleged crime of eco-terrorism. And what kind of crimes would an eco-terrorist commit? There’s arson, but Sea Shepherd has never burned anything. There’s bomb making, planting, throwing, and conspiring about bombing, but we don’t do anything like that

I like teachers. My three sisters are teachers in the public schools. They are all very good teachers; Teri won teacher of the year in her district. Two of my wonderful brother-in-laws are, or have been,

After initial allegations of mistreatment, I requested a visit with Private First Class Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of leaking classified information to Wikileaks, to see for myself the conditions of his treatment.
Despite the fact that Manning has not been found guilty of any crime, his lawyer reports that he is in isolation 23 out 24 hours every day, conditions which may violate his 8th Amendment protection from ‘cruel and unusual’ punishment. This treatment is in stark contrast to a presumption of innocence and raises questions of whether Pfc. Manning can be fit for trial.
My request to visit with

New Orleans, Feb. 17
After two days in New Orleans, it was clearly an ideal city in which to hold 2011′s version of the League of American Orchestra’s biennial conductors’ preview showcase. The weather was warm, the pre-Mardi Gras atmosphere was electric, and the participants were champing at the bit.
Named after conducting legend Bruno Walter, the showcase is designed like the talent evaluation combine that pro football teams like New Orleans’ beloved Saints hold every year. Like the football combine, the conductors do not compete directly against each other but are asked to rehearse an orchestra in four required pieces and score in unofficial categories like technique, stamina, poise and

A thoughtful reader send me a link to a wonderful site, Letters of Note — “correspondence deserving of a wider audience.” In particular, she pointed out a letter that writer Ray Bradbury wrote to a fan.
The line that caught my eye was: “Love what YOU love!” It’s constantly a surprise to me just how challenging this is. Why is it so hard to know ourselves, and to act in accordance with our own interests, temperament, and values? Several of my resolutions, Personal Commandments, and Secrets of Adulthood are meant to help me remember just this: “Just because something is fun for someone else doesn’t mean that it’s fun for me–and vice versa,” and “I can choose what I do, but I can’t choose what I like to do,” and of course, most important of all, “Be Gretchen.”
In my case, for instance, when I allowed myself to admit my passion for children’s literature, a gigantic new part of my life opened up — with new friends, new projects, and more fun. Not to mention when I made the even bigger change, and switched from being a lawyer to being a writer.
I remind myself of this as a parent,

Santa Barbara — While the “Eco:nomics — Creating Environmental Capital” — conference is hosted by The Wall Street Journal, the anti-government bias that dominates the Journal’s editorial page was slammed by speaker after speaker, beginning with venture capitalist Vinod Khosla. Khosla went after what he
called “incumbent capitalism,” in which government policy and incentives are designed not to encourage competition and innovation, but to protect entrenched incumbent interests, with coal, oil, nuclear, and utility monopolies being the most spectacular beneficiaries of this bias against innovation.
Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris would seem to represent a well-entrenched incumbent company, then piled on. Liveris, an Australian, has a new book
called Make It In America: The Case for Re-Inventing The Economy, which makes the case for bringing America back as a manufacturing power. Liveris concedes that — for wierd historical reasons — the term “industrial policy” is too politically toxic to use, but that’s what he’s talking

Writing the Great American Novel seemed out of the question. So instead I set out to write the Decent Denver Novel. Why Denver, you ask? Why not Denver, I say. New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Chicago, even Santa Fe, Missoula, and Las Vegas have scores of writers telling their