Month: June 2014

It's easy to feel like you're on top of the world when your career is soaring, you're living passionately and you're accomplishing one dream after the other. But what about when life isn't at its peak? Learning to appreciate these "down periods" rather than take them personally has been a key component of actor Rob Lowe's success. He joined HuffPost Live host Ricky Camilleri today to discuss his career, his family and how he benefited from having the time to let both take center stage at different points in his life. "You can't help but learn odd, unique, interesting things

A new Mississippi law requiring drug testing for some welfare recipients will not take effect on July 1 as scheduled after state officials agreed to allow civil liberties groups to voice concerns at an upcoming public hearing. The implementation date will be determined after the July 22 hearing, according to a spokeswoman for the Mississippi Department of Human Services. The delay, announced on Thursday, was requested by the national and state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Mississippi Center for Justice. “It is really murky,” said Charles Irvin, legal director for the ACLU of Mississippi.

Days before most U.S. states’ new fiscal year begins, 40 states have passed budgets that boost spending and dedicate extra funding primarily for education, according to a brief released on Friday by the National Association of State Budget Officers. Typically, governors suggest budgets in January that legislatures use as starting points to negotiate. States have primarily increased education funds by changing school finance formulas, raising amounts for early education, and tying higher education funding to performance measures, it found.

He stepped outside. He looked up at the top of a tree. He listened to a bird sing. He inhaled and, for the first time in a long time, heard and felt the intake of breath through his nose and the stream of air as it left his mouth.

A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the dismissal of nearly all claims in 68 cases seeking to hold drug makers liable for injuries from the use of the prescription painkillers Darvon and Darvocet, which were pulled from the U.S. market in 2010. The plaintiffs, who used generic versions of the drugs, had invoked design defect laws in 22 U.S. states in claiming that generic drug makers misbranded the drugs. Many also sought to hold brand-name drug makers liable for alleged misrepresentations made to prescribing doctors. A three-judge panel of the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati rejected claims in 67 of the cases.

By Victoria Cavaliere NEW YORK (Reuters) – New Jersey could become the first state in the nation to ban cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products in all public parks and beaches if Governor Chris Christie signs into law a sweeping anti-smoking bill approved by lawmakers. The bill passed both houses of the New Jersey legislature with strong bipartisan support and was sitting on Chistie's desk on Friday but the Republican presidential hopeful would not indicate his intentions. Public beaches would also be smoke-free, though local officials can opt to save 15 percent of beach land as a designated smoking section. "This is definitely groundbreaking," said Karen Blumenfeld, the executive director of Global Advisors on Smokefree Policy, a proponent of the New Jersey bill.

Often, what bothers us — keeps us from enjoying life more fully — is just the feeling that something is missing. I hope this will help with that. If you are new to tapping, it will be beneficial to also watch the first episode in the "Tap Out Your Fears" series — which explains the basics of EFT — click here. As with any of my tapping videos, this is an abbreviated process for releasing uncomfortable feelings and enhancing good ones. Some folks may find their fear dissolve after just one tapping session, but for others, it will take some

By Richard Valdmanis and Elizabeth Barber BOSTON (Reuters) – Massachusetts is beefing up security around abortion clinics and scrambling for a legal fix after the U.S. Supreme Court voided the state's buffer zone law that kept protesters 35 feet away, saying it violated freedom of speech. Boston, Worcester and Springfield, the state's largest cities, have deployed extra police to clinics, and abortion-provider Planned Parenthood said it was training new "patient escorts" to help women through protests if needed. Marty Walz, director of Planned Parenthood in Massachusetts, said she has been in contact with police officials. The Supreme Court said on Thursday the 2007 law that kept protesters back 35 feet (10.6 meters) violated the free speech rights of anti-abortion protesters under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by preventing them from standing on the sidewalk and speaking to people entering the clinics.

$5 a pound for fruit might give me pause, especially when my kids can power through it before I even get out of the market. But making such a choice is voting with your fork for something that tastes as it should, delicious, and is hopefully grown with care for the earth and for the people who do the hard labor of getting the food from farm to table.

In the busyness of our lives it's easy to forget that we are all fearless, unique, brilliant individuals here to create something that only we can create. Our obstacles, big and small, get in the way and bring us to a slow crawl even a halt.

Just a couple of glasses of wine a night could be fatal, study says.