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As a first generation Italian-American, I feel safe in saying I know a little bit about the value and simple pleasures of good food. My parents were both from large families in Southern Italy, and early on my mother instilled in me the importance of growing, cooking and savoring (preferably with friends!) the freshest ingredients from the garden. It is a perspective that inspired me to found Bon Appétit Management Company, and to transform the food that people eat at college and in the workplace. I want everyone to know where their food comes from and to appreciate freshly harvested, cooked-from-scratch, simple and nutritious meals -- whether they were lucky enough to eat like that at home or not.As a father, it would be easy for me to bemoan the terrible disconnect from food and the rising diet-related problems we all see in the next generation of young Americans. I grew up chomping on fresh tomatoes like they were apples, the juice dribbling down my chin. In Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, a room full of first graders can't even name a tomato. To say I find this disheartening would be a colossal understatement. But like Michelle Obama and her groundbreaking Let's Move campaign, I am in this game to change it, not to complain about it. And we're not the only ones.More...

Planting Seeds of Change on Campus

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Anne Rice announced on her Facebook page last week that she has decided to quit Christianity. She spoke to Joy Behar today about that decision and what was behind it. Rice addressed some of the major issues that turned her away from her religion, including the church's anti-gay, anti-feminist, and anti-abortion beliefs.Rice acknowledged that it was very difficult to stand behind an anti-gay church when her son, Christopher, is gay, but she denied that the decision was because of him, explaining that she had been aware of gay issues since long before he came out.More...

Anne Rice On Her Decision To Quit Christianity (VIDEO)

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Joyous emails began flooding my in-box within seconds of today's announcement about the overturning Proposition 8, the 2008 California ballot initiative that deprived gays and lesbians of the right to marry.  Even if today's decision is reversed, this is a moment to celebrate the Court's expression of America's highest, inclusive ideals.One of the emails in my Inbox was from a colleague who urged me to read Judge Vaughn Walker's decision closely: "Walker swung for the fences," she said. "It is very very powerful."  She's right.  Judge Walker did swing for the fences, and he hit a grand slam.More...

Prop 8 and the Politics of Paranoia

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French First Lady Carla Bruni is back to modeling, posing in a Jean Paul Gaultier-designed t-shirt for The Global Fund's Born HIV Free campaign. Bruni said in a press release, "Jean Paul Gaultier's design will help us to reach more people with the message of the Born HIV Free campaign--that no child should be born with HIV when we have the medicines and means to prevent it. It is our hope that people will wear this T-shirt to show their support of the campaign and encourage countries to continue funding of The Global Fund." Check out her print ad:More...

Carla Bruni Models For The Global Fund's Born HIV Free Campaign (PHOTO, VIDEO)

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Six. Five. Ten. This is not a date to remember but rather an observation -- a note I made to myself recently. Six -- last week was six months since the earthquake devastated Haiti. Five -- this month is six years since Katrina destroyed parts of New Orleans. Ten -- next year it will be ten years since the Twin Towers were reduced to rubble and America was changed forever.More...

6 - 5 - 10

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Booze-fueled blackouts, "the slap heard around Miami" and "the shirt, before the shirt"; it's all in last night's episode of Jersey Shore.In last week's show, Ronnie and Sammi got into a big fight and Ronnie hooked up with several so-called "grenades" and "landmines" after Sammi went home. Quick vocabulary reminder: grenades are fat ugly women and landmines are thin ugly women.More...

'Jersey Shore' Episode Two: Recap

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In celebration of Proposition 8 being overturned, I've made a magnificent video about why everybody should be able to get married.More...

Why Everyone Should Be Able to Get Married

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There are a lot of people in the military, and in politics too, that think we coulda, shoulda, woulda won in Vietnam.That wouldn't matter much. The past is a foreign country immune from invasion. But here we are in Afghanistan. See, US forces won every battle in Vietnam. Every damn battle. Even Tet.More...

Afghaninam, Vietnamistan

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America has a nasty cold.Collectively, we cough, sniffle and sneeze our way through one billion colds a year, spending 1.5 billion dollars for doctor visits and 2 billion dollars on non-prescription cough and cold treatments. Fortunately, few people die of a cold. But you can't say that about the flu.More...

The Easiest Way to Prevent Colds and Flu

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One must be made of stone to not feel for the great people of New Orleans, as well as everyone along the Gulf Coast. People like singer-songwriter Paul Sanchez, screenwriter Colman deKay, and Chris Joseph, head honcho and chief fundraiser of Threadheads Records should be recognized and rewarded for their tireless efforts in helping New Orleans stay spirited through yet another crisis.Please take a minute and read this.More...

The Threadheads, Nine Lives, and Doing Good For The Gulf