Diana Ross will make her first television performance in four years on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" later this month -- and she's bringing her family with her, Access Hollywood has confirmed.
In addition to performing, the "I'm Coming Out" singer and former Supremes legend will also sit down for her first-ever interview with all of her children and her grandson on Oprah's February 25 episode.
Diana's children who will be appearing on the show include Rhonda Ross Kendrick, "Girlfriends" actress Tracee Ellis Ross, Chudney Ross, Ross Arne Naess and Evan Ross. Diana's first grandson, Raif Henok Emmanuel Kendrick, is her daughter Rhonda's son with Rhonda's husband, jazz musician Rodney Kendrick.
He was born in August 2009.
The legend, whose career spans more than five decades, will take up the entire hour of Oprah's show no doubt talking about going from her humble beginnings in Detroit to international superstar and icon.
She is currently on the "Now" tour.
*It's about time*
Diva's Nation
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Friday, February 18, 2011
America's 50 Most Powerful People in Food!
(The Daily Meal) Power is the ability to make things happen. It's authority, strength, muscle, swack, juice.
*When it comes to food, many of you are already experts. Many people know a great deal about food nutrition and how to make it work for them. However, it's the influence on the other side and behind closed doors that truly tell the story. From corporations, celebrities, first ladies, chefs, and talk show host; those are the people getting the credit for being the powehouses in food.
In the food world, the people with power are the ones who affect what and how and where and why we eat — or who can, if they want to. They're the agribusiness moguls who decide what gets grown and how it gets harvested and sold; the representatives of major food processing, distribution concerns, and retail food outlets who create new products and service the demand for edibles old and new. They're the scolds and nannies — and admirable consumer advocates — who tell us what we should and shouldn't eat, sometimes upending whole industries in the process
Some wield a traditional form of power, like the key figures in the governmental agencies concerned with the economics and the safety of our food supply; some have more ephemeral might, like the media stars and public figures who sway our food opinions and stimulate our appetites today but might well be gone tomorrow. The food-powerful include the chefs and restaurateurs who ignite food trends, introduce us to unfamiliar products and culinary notions, and establish the standards we come to expect for the preparation and the serving of food; they also include the journalists who report on all of the above…
We've thrown in a few men and women whose connection with food is less than obvious, too (and explained why they're there). And #1 on our list doesn't fit neatly into any one slot — though it's somebody the reader is apt to know very well.
Any catalogue of powerful people — and certainly any ranking of them in order of clout — is bound to be highly subjective, of course. That doesn't mean that it has to be arbitrary. The Daily Meal editors collaborated to assemble our initial list, then added and subtracted, fine-tuned and developed. We did extensive research and had endless discussions and occasionally strenuous debates. One thing that was clear from the beginning was that the most influential figures in the field weren't always the best-known, and that CEOs could wield more might than celebrities.
We certainly included some high-profile individuals — TV personality Rachael Ray (#14), chef Mario Batali (#31), and The New York Times restaurant critic Sam Sifton (#9), to name three — but they are interleafed with people you may never have heard of, like Gregory R. Page, CEO of Cargill, Inc. (#18), whose company sells about a quarter of all the grain and meat eaten in the U.S. annually; or Irene Rosenfeld,
Chairman and CEO of Kraft Foods (#29), named most powerful woman in American business by Forbes.
One unelected but highly visible player in American politics ranks highly on our list, but not for the same reasons that earned a slot for Michael R. Taylor, Deputy Commissioner for Foods at the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration (#11), who is charged with carrying out sweeping new federal food safety laws. And then there are names you might not expect to see on a list of food folk at all: What's New York City mayor
Michael Bloomberg (#27) doing there? And what about Mr. Apple, Steve Jobs (#5)? All will be revealed.
Our ultimate criterion was simply this: Can this person, whether by dint of corporate position, media access, moral authority, or sheer personality, substantially change, improve, and/or degrade the quality and variety of the American diet or the way we think about it?
We're confident that we've come up with a pretty good list. What do you think? Did we leave off anybody obvious, or give undue prominence to some food folk or not enough to others? Here's the list!
50. Adam Rapoport
49. Jeffrey Jordan
48. Ingrid Newkirk
47. Martha Stewart
46. Jonathan Gold
45. Dan Bane
44. Danny Meyer
43. Josh Viertel
42. Barry Estabrook
41. Nobu Matsuhisa
40. Dan Barber
39. Ruth Reichl
38. Michael Pollan
37. Mario Batali
36. David Dillon
35. Susan Ungaro
34. Lockhart Steele
32. Daniel Boulud
31. Rich Melman
30. Tom Colicchio
29. Irene Rosenfeld
27. Lisa Sharples
26. Indra Nooyi
25. Tim & Nina Zagat
24. José Andrés
23. Arturo Rodriguez
22. Maria Rodale
21. Oprah Winfrey
20. Grant Achatz
19. Thomas Keller
18. Gregory R. Page
17. Donnie Smith
16. Guy Fieri
15. James Sinegal
14. Rachael Ray
13. Wolfgang Puck
12. John Mackey
10. Jim Skinner
9. Sam Sifton
8. Mike Duke
6. Alice Waters
5. Steve Jobs
3. Hugh Grant
1. You
*When it comes to food, many of you are already experts. Many people know a great deal about food nutrition and how to make it work for them. However, it's the influence on the other side and behind closed doors that truly tell the story. From corporations, celebrities, first ladies, chefs, and talk show host; those are the people getting the credit for being the powehouses in food.
Now for us here at "Diva's Nation" it's about the influence, but are you changing the way Americans deal with food and approach food. You can speak, develop food plans, write books, and mentor, and have a food show; but if your not changing minds then your not getting anywhere. What we have to do, is look at food (healthy) in a different way and develop a multitude of approaches in the teachings. We also have to educate parents, community members, teachers, and others about the joys of food! When taking the time to talk to people in communites (in their own enviroment) then you have to find what may work best for them.
The bottom line is, we have struggling communities, families and individuals who cannot afford to eat healthy like they should. That is an issue and people have to address that in order to help them figure out how to make what they have, work best for them, and at the same time bennefit in a healthy way.
The bottom line is, we have struggling communities, families and individuals who cannot afford to eat healthy like they should. That is an issue and people have to address that in order to help them figure out how to make what they have, work best for them, and at the same time bennefit in a healthy way.
At the end of the day, it's about stepping from behind the corporate doors and the desk and reach out to people who you want to truly influence.*
Diva's Nation
*Join The Conversation*
FDA's Lap-Band decision is a boon for Allergan!
(LATimes) Pharmaceutical giant Allergan Inc. stands to win big from the federal government's decision to make Lap-Band weight-loss surgery available to more overweight Americans.
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday cleared the way for marketing the procedure to patients who are significantly less obese than those who qualify now — a decision that would make an estimated 26.4 million more Americans eligible to consider the Irvine company's device. The approval also means that, according to company officials, 45.6 million Americans meet the criteria for Lap-Band surgery. That's more than 1 in 7.
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday cleared the way for marketing the procedure to patients who are significantly less obese than those who qualify now — a decision that would make an estimated 26.4 million more Americans eligible to consider the Irvine company's device. The approval also means that, according to company officials, 45.6 million Americans meet the criteria for Lap-Band surgery. That's more than 1 in 7.
But some in the medical community worry that it could encourage overweight people to abandon traditional diet and exercise for a surgery that carries some serious risks.
"I'm very concerned," said Dr. Ted Khalili, former director of bariatric surgery at Cedars-Sinai hospital and founder of the Khalili Center for Bariatric Care in Beverly Hills. "You can't be driving down a street and have a flashbulb go off and think that this will be an easy fix."
"I'm very concerned," said Dr. Ted Khalili, former director of bariatric surgery at Cedars-Sinai hospital and founder of the Khalili Center for Bariatric Care in Beverly Hills. "You can't be driving down a street and have a flashbulb go off and think that this will be an easy fix."
Allergan spokeswoman Cathy Taylor said Thursday that although the Lap-Band is now available to a broader base of patients, it "is not intended for everyone." Instead, she said, it is designed for a particular subset of people "with a health condition, who have failed conservative weight-loss therapies like diet and exercise and pharmacotherapy."
The approval allows Allergan to market the device to patients with a body mass index, or BMI, as low as 30 if they have at least one weight-related medical condition, such as diabetes or high blood pressure, the company said. For a 5-foot-9 patient, that translates to a weight of about 203 pounds.
The Lap-Band is an inflatable ring that is surgically implanted around the upper portion of the stomach. Once the surgical wounds have healed, saline solution is injected into the ring to expand it, limiting the amount of food that can be consumed during a meal.
Over the last two years, four Southern California patients have died shortly after undergoing Lap-Band weight-loss surgery at two clinics connected to a television, radio and billboard marketing campaign touting the toll-free number 1-800-GET-THIN, according to lawsuits, family interviews and coroners reports.
Allergan does not pay for the ads, which were created by a marketing company that directs prospective patients to clinics that perform the procedure using Allergan's device. Robert Silverman, the lawyer who represents 1-800-GET-THIN and the two clinics named in the lawsuits, said the advertisements include warnings about the risks of Lap-Band surgery. He said the lawsuits were without merit.
Allergan's chief executive, David E.I. Pyott, told The Times this month that he didn't support the ads.
Allergan said it requires all surgeons who want to order and perform a surgery with the Lap-Band device to first complete a comprehensive proctorship and training program; have advanced laparoscopic skill; and "have the staff and resources needed to comply with the long-term follow-up requirements of obesity procedures."
FDA spokeswoman Karen Riley said the agency can't control how doctors use the procedure because it has no authority over the practice of medicine. But she pointed out that the FDA did not give Allergan all it asked for.
Allergan wanted approval of the device for use in patients with a BMI of at least 35 and no other diseases and in patients with a BMI of at least 30 with one or more diseases. FDA gave approval only for use in patients with a BMI of 30 and one or more diseases, with the additional stipulation that those diseases be obesity-related, Riley said.
Obesity, as well as vanity, have transformed Allergan. Allergan markets Natrelle breast implants, Latisse eyelash lengthener and Botox, a toxin that temporarily paralyzes facial muscles.
On Thursday, after news of the FDA decision was released, Allergan's shares reached a 52-week high and closed at $75.58, up 81 cents.
Analysts said they had expected Wednesday's news after an FDA panel in December voted 8 to 2 in favor of expanding the device's potential pool of patients; such votes typically foreshadow final approval by the agency. The FDA decision recognizes that obesity is a disease that proceeds along a continuum as measured by BMI, said Dr. John Kral, a surgeon who supported expanded use of the Lap-Band procedure as a member of the FDA advisory committee reviewing Allergan's request last year.
Dr. Robert Kushner, an obesity specialist at Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital, said expanded access to the technology was a welcome development, but that other treatments are needed.
Kushner noted that the FDA was willing to accept the inherent hazards of surgery but recently rejected three diet drugs — Lorcaserin, Qnexa and Contrave — because it judged that the drugs' risks outweighed benefits.
*There is never a quick fix to weightloss. Either your in it or not! There is no magic pill or precedure that can fix a person's weight issues, if the individual doesn't fix what got them to obesity in the first place. If most people realize, that it's their mental issues (past and current) that they let plague them; then maybe they their lives wouldn't be all about "mind-hoarding" addictions. They would attack the issue and move on. When you look at the state of our nation being taken over by by obesity, and other things; you have to wonderful, they can't all be that way can they? Well, many people have real issues and some are just plain LAZY! At this point with so much information and many ways to fix obesity; you have to wonder-why haven't more obese people "decided" to fix their weight issues*
By: Diva's Nation
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111 charged in Medicare scams worth $225 million!
Federal authorities charged more than 100 doctors, nurses and physical therapists in nine cities with Medicare fraud Thursday, part of a massive nationwide bust that snared more suspects than any other in history.
More than 700 law enforcement agents fanned out to arrest dozens of people accused of illegally billing Medicare more than $225 million. The arrests are the latest in a string of major busts in the past two years as authorities have struggled to pare the fraud that's believed to cost the government between $60 billion and $90 billion each year. Stopping Medicare's budget from hemorrhaging that money will be key to paying for President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder partnered in 2009 to allocate more money and manpower in fraud hot spots. Thursday's indictments were for suspects in Miami, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Detroit, Chicago, Brooklyn, Tampa, Fla., and Baton Rouge, La.
They show that "health care fraud is not easy money," Holder said at a press conference in Washington.
A podiatrist performing partial toenail removals was among 21 indicted in Detroit. Dr. Errol Sherman is accused of billing Medicare about $700,000 for the costly and unnecessary procedures, which authorities said amounted to little more than toenail clippings. The podiatrist billed Medicare for 20 nail removals on three toes of one patient, according to the indictment. He charged Medicare about $110 for each procedure.
A message could not be left at Sherman's office Thursday.
A Brooklyn, N.Y., proctologist was charged with billing $6.5 million for hemorrhoid removals, most of which he never performed. Dr. Boris Sachakov claimed he performed 10 hemorrhoid removals on one patient, which authorities said is not possible. An employee who answered at Sachakov's office declined comment Thursday.
Sachakov had been arrested last year on charges related to a separate scam. Sachokov denied the charges.
Authorities also busted three physical therapy clinics in Brooklyn, run by an organized network of Russian immigrants accused of paying recruiters to find elderly patients so they could bill for nearly $57 million in physical therapy that amounted to little more than back rubs, according to the indictment.
In Miami, two doctors and several nurses from ABC Home Health Care Inc. were charged with swindling $25 million by writing fake prescriptions recommending nurses and other expensive aids to treat homebound patients, authorities said. The services were never provided. A message left Thursday was not immediately returned.
In total, nearly three dozen defendants were charged in Miami in various scams that topped about $56 million.
Thursday's totals exclude busts two days earlier in Miami that netted 21 suspects accused of bilking $200 million from Medicare.
"These unprecedented operations send a clear message. We will not tolerate criminals lining their pockets at the expense of Medicare patients and taxpayers," HHS Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson said.
For decades, Medicare has operated under a pay-and-chase system, paying providers first and investigating suspicious claims later. The system worked when the agency was paying hospitals and institutions that couldn't close up shop and flee the country if they'd been overpaid. But as Medicare has expanded to one of the largest payer systems in the world, he agency has struggled to weed out crooks. There are about 1.3 million licensed suppliers nationwide with 18,000 new applications coming in every month.
"We can arrest and charge people every day and it still won't make a dent until changes are made to Medicare," said FBI special agent in charge John Gillies.
He called for criminal background checks and fingerprints of providers. He also suggested Medicare use unique, secure numbers for patients instead of Social Security numbers, making it easier to cancel Medicare cards in fraud cases.
Sebelius has promised more decisive action on the front end, by vigorously screening providers and stopping payment to suspicious ones, under greater authority granted by the Affordable Care Act.
Authorities also announced Thursday they were adding strike forces in Chicago and Dallas.
*I say it's about time! When it comes to rising medical cost in America; the medical schemes and scams are responsible for the a great amount of it. It's a shame that it took this long, however, maybe now progress can be made in keeping track of criminals that set out to do this sort of thing. Hopefully this will send a clear message to people who are thinking about getting into this line of hotmess work. All in all, we know that this administration isn't playing around and twiddling they're thumbs*
By: Diva's Nation
*Join The Conversation*
More than 700 law enforcement agents fanned out to arrest dozens of people accused of illegally billing Medicare more than $225 million. The arrests are the latest in a string of major busts in the past two years as authorities have struggled to pare the fraud that's believed to cost the government between $60 billion and $90 billion each year. Stopping Medicare's budget from hemorrhaging that money will be key to paying for President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder partnered in 2009 to allocate more money and manpower in fraud hot spots. Thursday's indictments were for suspects in Miami, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Detroit, Chicago, Brooklyn, Tampa, Fla., and Baton Rouge, La.
They show that "health care fraud is not easy money," Holder said at a press conference in Washington.
A podiatrist performing partial toenail removals was among 21 indicted in Detroit. Dr. Errol Sherman is accused of billing Medicare about $700,000 for the costly and unnecessary procedures, which authorities said amounted to little more than toenail clippings. The podiatrist billed Medicare for 20 nail removals on three toes of one patient, according to the indictment. He charged Medicare about $110 for each procedure.
A message could not be left at Sherman's office Thursday.
A Brooklyn, N.Y., proctologist was charged with billing $6.5 million for hemorrhoid removals, most of which he never performed. Dr. Boris Sachakov claimed he performed 10 hemorrhoid removals on one patient, which authorities said is not possible. An employee who answered at Sachakov's office declined comment Thursday.
Sachakov had been arrested last year on charges related to a separate scam. Sachokov denied the charges.
Authorities also busted three physical therapy clinics in Brooklyn, run by an organized network of Russian immigrants accused of paying recruiters to find elderly patients so they could bill for nearly $57 million in physical therapy that amounted to little more than back rubs, according to the indictment.
In Miami, two doctors and several nurses from ABC Home Health Care Inc. were charged with swindling $25 million by writing fake prescriptions recommending nurses and other expensive aids to treat homebound patients, authorities said. The services were never provided. A message left Thursday was not immediately returned.
In total, nearly three dozen defendants were charged in Miami in various scams that topped about $56 million.
Thursday's totals exclude busts two days earlier in Miami that netted 21 suspects accused of bilking $200 million from Medicare.
"These unprecedented operations send a clear message. We will not tolerate criminals lining their pockets at the expense of Medicare patients and taxpayers," HHS Inspector General Daniel R. Levinson said.
For decades, Medicare has operated under a pay-and-chase system, paying providers first and investigating suspicious claims later. The system worked when the agency was paying hospitals and institutions that couldn't close up shop and flee the country if they'd been overpaid. But as Medicare has expanded to one of the largest payer systems in the world, he agency has struggled to weed out crooks. There are about 1.3 million licensed suppliers nationwide with 18,000 new applications coming in every month.
"We can arrest and charge people every day and it still won't make a dent until changes are made to Medicare," said FBI special agent in charge John Gillies.
He called for criminal background checks and fingerprints of providers. He also suggested Medicare use unique, secure numbers for patients instead of Social Security numbers, making it easier to cancel Medicare cards in fraud cases.
Sebelius has promised more decisive action on the front end, by vigorously screening providers and stopping payment to suspicious ones, under greater authority granted by the Affordable Care Act.
Authorities also announced Thursday they were adding strike forces in Chicago and Dallas.
*I say it's about time! When it comes to rising medical cost in America; the medical schemes and scams are responsible for the a great amount of it. It's a shame that it took this long, however, maybe now progress can be made in keeping track of criminals that set out to do this sort of thing. Hopefully this will send a clear message to people who are thinking about getting into this line of hotmess work. All in all, we know that this administration isn't playing around and twiddling they're thumbs*
By: Diva's Nation
*Join The Conversation*
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