Huffington Post: Read the Latest News from the U.S. [March ‘11 Diet]

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Update -- The LA Times reports that this home has sold for $5.2 million, and the deal closed two weeks after the home went on the market.Previously -- Via Curbed LA: This $5.5 million mansion in the Holmby Hills of Bel-Air is a real estate double-whammy. Not only was it designed by Wallace Neff, "the architect of California's Golden Age," but it has a celebrity-filled pedigree of past owners. Curbed LA reports that the Bel-Air home was commissioned by American darling Judy Garland in 1938 at the tender age of 16, "the year she was cast as Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz." Other celeb homeowners include music industry heavyweights Quincy Jones and Marvin Gaye. The home has five bedrooms, six-and-a-half bathrooms, and sits on over two-and-a-half acres of land. Besides a pool and cabanas, the official listing also notes an "original writers' cabin."More...

Source: Judy Garland's Bel-Air Home For $5.5 Million

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One way of looking at high-speed rail systems is that they are a means by which distant communities get connected, economic development and jobs are fostered, and workers with a diverse array of marketable skills can improve their mobility and thus their employment prospects. But another way of looking at high-speed rail is that it's some nonsense that came to a bunch of hippies as they tripped balls at a Canned Heat concert. That's my takeaway with George Will's latest grapple-with-the-real-world session, in which he attempts to figure out "Why liberals love trains."  It's "Matrix" deep, yo:

To progressives, the best thing about railroads is that people riding them are not in automobiles, which are subversive of the deference on which progressivism depends. Automobiles go hither and yon, wherever and whenever the driver desires, without timetables. Automobiles encourage people to think they--unsupervised, untutored, and unscripted--are masters of their fates. The automobile encourages people in delusions of adequacy, which make them resistant to government by experts who know what choices people should make.More...

Source: George Will Is Confused By The Concept Of Trains

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(Photos from www.millesimerestaurant.com)More...

Source: Millesime Bar/Salon in the Carlton Hotel Is a Classy, Jazzy Affair

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By Nick Schwellenbach, crossposted with POGOThere is no shortage of headlines with a variation on a theme such as: "Tea Party Declares War on Military Spending," "Tea Partiers Say Defense In Mix For Budget Cuts," and "Veteran Republicans Fear Tea Party, Liberals Will Unite To Cut Defense." Much of the media has fostered the narrative that the current crop of Tea Party-influenced GOP freshmen are gunning to slash the Defense Department's budget. But the reality, so far, has hardly lived up to that storyline.More...

Source: Are House GOP Freshmen Seriously Interested In Cutting the Defense Budget?

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By Carina Storrs, Health Magazine More...

Source: Does Love Benefit Men's Or Women's Health More?

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Today marks an obscure but important milestone: the 20th anniversary of the Rodney King beating. The videotaped events of March 3, 1991, and the subsequent trial and acquittal of the LAPD officers, would set off the L.A. Riots more than a year later. For many faith leaders, especially those in South L.A., the period between the beating and the verdicts was a time of foreboding; a non-guilty verdict would mean disaster for their communities. Their worst fears were realized in April 1992 as the city fell into chaos.Clergy, including L.A. heavyweights like Rev. Cecil L. Murray at First AME Church, took to the microphone, stood in front of the TV cameras and called for calm. He and others used their moral voice and standing within the community to remind us all that a shared outrage was not well-funneled into civil unrest.More...

Source: Rodney, Riots and Religious Engagement: Reflections on the 20th Anniversary of the Rodney King Beating

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Referee Damien Rubino handed out a whopping 36 red cards in Tuesday's Argentine fifth division match between Claypole and Victoriano Arenas... and it appeared as if he had a good reason for each. According to 101 Great Goals, the match was constantly interrupted fights and scuffles. Towards the end of the match, a huge brawl broke out which included the players, coaches and even the fans who were running onto the field challenging the athletes to fights. Claypole went on to win 2-0 and the local Football Association is reportedly discussing overruling Rubino's red cards, claiming that "it sets a dangerous predecent moving forward." Scroll down to watch the video.WATCH:More...

Source: Damien Rubino, Argentine Referee, Hands Out 36 Red Cards In Claypole-Victoriano Arenas Match (VIDEO)

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Ohio's Senate just passed legislation that would eliminate collective bargaining for public university faculty because they are now to be seen as management.   The legislation declares all public college faculty members who either "participate in decisions with respect to courses, curriculum, personnel, or other matters of academic or institutional policy" or, "individually or through a faculty senate or like organization, participate in the governance of the institution, are involved in personnel decisions, selection or review of administrators, planning and use of physical resources, budget preparation, and determination of educational policies related to admissions, curriculum, subject matter, and methods of instruction and research."More...

Source: Professors as Management? OK, Let's Take That Seriously

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While we were actually at this Chanel party for Blake Lively, we never really saw her behind the throngs of other Blake Lively enthusiasts. So when we got a glimpse of these photos we thought, well, this is how it's done. Do you agree?Another thing she knows how to do? Invite her mom to fancy Chanel dinners. At least that's what we gathered by reading the place cards. Adorable.More...

Source: Blake Lively Sure Knows How To Wear Chanel (PHOTOS)

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Oil prices started to surge even before upheaval in the Middle East had spread to oil producing states.  Now the specter of civil war in Libya is intensifying fears of spiraling prices, shortages, pipeline stoppages and, above all, of contagion.This stark reminder of the impact of oil on the global economy should bring a timely dose of reality into the U.S. energy debate.  That debate is distorted by the glaring disconnect between the way we use energy and the way we talk about it.  The talk is only about the future.  It's about clean technologies and tackling climate change.  It's about investment in energy efficiency and in bio-fuels.More...

Source: Let's Bring Oil Back Into the Energy Debate