Photos: Will and Jada Show Off Calabasas Home in Architectural Digest

*Will Smith and wife Jada Pinkett Smith opened up their 25,000 square foot mansion in Calabasas, Calif. to cameras from Architectural Digest for a cover spread in its September issue.

Click here to read the article.

The property includes tennis and basketball courts, a swimming pool and even a lake.

Will told Architectural Digest the idea behind the house’s circuitous floor plan was “to create an infinite cycle that represented what Jada and I hoped for our love.”

The adobe-style estate was designed by architect Stephen Samuelson and handcrafted by hundreds of master woodworkers, plasterers, metalsmiths, stonemasons and upholsterers.

“For Will and me this home was always a spiritual endeavor,” Jada told the magazine. “We’re very earthy, organic people. We wanted to create a family retreat, something made by hand and as natural as possible, something that ties back to the land.”

The Nation: A Needed Defense Of The Black Athlete

EnlargeKeith Srakocic/AP

Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall runs the ball during the first half of an NFL divisional playoff football game against the Baltimore Ravens in Pittsburgh, Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011. Mendenhall received criticism after tweeting his opinion about reactions to the death of Osama bin Laden.

Mike Tillery, writer/founder of the sports blogThe Starting Five, has contributed to SLAM andSacramento magazines.

In 1968, amid the fires of the Black Freedom Struggle, Sports Illustrated's Jack Olsen wrote the groundbreaking and controversial piece "The Black Athlete — A Shameful Story." It was an overview of black athletes in revolt. At the time, the best athletes in the country — Jim Brown, Bill Russell, Lew Alcindor (soon-to-be Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) and Muhammad Ali — were a part of this revolt. (There were African-American women athletes who would have been a part of this movement, but they found themselves shut out.) In addition, a group of African-American athletes, led by Tommie Smith, Lee Evans and John Carlos, were threatening to boycott that year's Olympic Games in Mexico City. Olsen — for better or worse — focused on the shock felt by mainstream white sports fans that such a revolt would even be necessary.

As Olsen wrote, "What is happening today amounts to a revolt by the black athlete against the framework and attitudes of American sport, and that such a thing could occur in his own pet province has astonished the white sports follower. The reason for the astonishment is that the man in the grandstand knows nothing about the Negro athlete whom he professes to understand, appreciate and ennoble as a symbol of the enlightened attitude of the world of sport toward segregation and intolerance. A wall of ignorance and unfounded suppositions is shielding the fan from the realities of the black athlete's background and his hopes."

Fast-forward to 2011: in an era of twenty-four-hour sports media, the dynamics described by Olsen are profoundly different but also disturbingly similar. Cable networks and fans lining up for luxury boxes are more distanced than ever from the reality that black athletes travel through to make it to the big leagues. In an era of fantasy sports, fans dream of controlling players instead of becoming them. The players also tend to come from impoverished backgrounds, as they did forty years ago, while becoming much wealthier than their forebears. That has created a canyon between the black player and the white fan and overwhelmingly white press corps. And the latitude of that press corps to be brazenly racist is often jaw-dropping. Witness prominent ESPN national radio host Colin Cowherd's recent assertion that (white) NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is a "father figure" to African-American football players who never had the paternal structure and discipline that Goodell provides. Somehow he still has a job. This kind of easy ignorance about and antipathy toward African-American athletes has created a new phenomenon: the black athletic boogeyman.

Websites now compete for attention by parading the latest boogeyman — whether it's Barry Bonds, Rashard Mendenhall or James Harrison — before a largely white fan base. All three of these athletes found controversy, but for profoundly different reasons. Bonds has long been suspected of being a steroid user. Mendenhall argued on Twitter that rejoicing over Osama bin Laden's death was barbaric. Harrison posed for a magazine with two of his guns and unleashed a stream of invective at Goodell (calling him a "f——-"). Yet despite the vast differences in the legality and morality of these acts, each athlete was pilloried in the press in a similar way: as a symbol of the moral degeneracy of black athletes. It's twenty-first-century racism, and sports celebrity is used to make it palatable. After all, they're rich, right?

Today there is no black freedom struggle — no movement — to challenge this state of affairs. That makes athletes hesitant to speak out. But unlike in 1968, when publications like Sports Illustrateddominated public opinion, athletes today have the financial and media power to challenge the way they're depicted in the press. Social media have also had an empowering effect. Athletes can speak out more easily and thus play a role in how "the black athlete" is perceived. In the words of NBA player Etan Thomas, this "can be seen as a burden or blessing."

"Athletes have a big responsibility," NBA guard Deron Williams said to me. "They have a big audience. If they have an opinion and want it heard, there's no better way to do it. We have the media outlets available to get your voice heard, so you go ahead and speak on it."

The question is how to use this platform to make change and not just become the whipping boy of the moment. NBA all-star Grant Hill, now pushing 40, told me the following: "I think from where we are now to when my dad first entered the whole realm of professional sports, obviously we were better suited. We have more control of our careers. We have more of a voice. Whether it's in social media or what have you, the African-American athlete has more wealth and more power. In terms of social consciousness, times are a little different than what Jim Brown, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Muhammad Ali had to go through. Because of those athletes, things are a little different. The main difference is power — the ability to move from team to team and also speak your mind."

The question is, How can more athletes be encouraged to speak their mind? One who preferred to remain anonymous said to me, "I don't speak out because all I'll be doing is giving material to the local sports-radio a———-. Why would I want to make their lives easier?"

We need a movement to defend African-American athletes and their right to speak out, so they will feel they have a base of support. But even more critically, athletes need to realize that they can shape their own image much more successfully than athletes of previous generations could. The perpetual news cycle needs material. We can feed the beast, or the beast will feed on us, and if it does, we'll be stuck in a cycle where athletic success fuels rather than challenges racism in America. Too many athletes do too much good to have it swallowed up, unreported and forgotten.

Circumcision campaign in Africa reduces HIV infections 76%, study finds

A Kenyan physician demonstrates circumcision with a model in a counseling session prior to performing the procedure. (Tony Karumba)

By Thomas H. Maugh II, Los Angeles Times/For the Booster shots blog

A circumcision campaign in a South African township cut newHIV infections among the treated men by 76%, researchers reported Wednesday. The simple operation provides a way to make major inroads in the HIV transmission rate in countries where the infection rate is very high, researchers said, and provides a cost-effective way to slow the pandemic.

Clinical trials have shown that circumcision can reduce HIV infection, but the new results presented at a Rome conference of the International AIDS Society show the benefits in actual practice.

Using funds provided by international donors, physicians offered free circumcisions to all men over the age of 15 in the South African township of Orange Farm, which has a population of about 110,000. About 20,000 men participated in the program between 2007 and 2010, increasing the proportion of circumcised males in the township from 16% to 50%. Among men 15 to 24, the proportion circumcised reached 59%.

Dr. Bertran Auvert, a professor of public health at the University of Versailles in France, and his colleagues studied about 1,200 men in the township in 2007 and a similar number in 2010. They found an average of 2.86 HIV infections per 100 uncircumcised men, compared with 0.42 per 100 in men who had undergone the procedure. After statistical adjustment, that worked out to a 76% reduction in infections. There is no evidence that the circumcised men were more likely to use condoms or otherwise change their behavior.

The team is now looking to see if the procedure benefited women as well.

It is not completely clear why circumcision is so beneficial. Some studies have shown, however, that the folds of the uncircumcised tip provide a pocket for viruses and bacteria to grow. The foreskin is also known to have high concentrations of the cells that are infected by HIV.

Other African countries are also scaling up circumcision efforts. Kenya has circumcised nearly 290,000 men in the past three years, primarily in the province of Nyanza, according to the World Health Organization. The government of Tanzania has announced plans to circumcise at least 2.8 million men over the next five years. A rapid results campaign in early 2011 yielded 10,000 procedures. Swaziland, which has the highest HIV prevalence rate in the world, plans to circumcise 152,800 men. A statement released by the U.S. embassy in Swaziland estimated that the circumcision plan there could prevent nearly 90,000 new infections and save more than $600 million over the next decade.

Each circumcision in South Africa cost about $108, said Dirk Taljaard of Progressus Research and Development Consultancy in Johannesburg, one of the study authors. He estimated that circumcising five men would prevent one new HIV infection in the next year and that every dollar spent on the procedure would save about $15 that would have later been spent on treatment.

A rising hunger among children

(Globe Staff / Wendy Maeda)Janell Goode, a single Lowell mother who is now unemployed, has struggled to feed her young 



Doctors at a major Boston hospital report they are seeing more hungry and dangerously thin young children in the emergency room than at any time in more than a decade of surveying families.
Many families are unable to afford enough healthy food to feed their children, say the Boston Medical Center doctors. The resulting chronic hunger threatens to leave scores of infants and toddlers with lasting learning and developmental problems.

Before the economy soured in 2007, 12 percent of youngsters age 3 and under whose families were randomly surveyed in the hospital’s emergency department were significantly underweight. In 2010, that percentage jumped to 18 percent, and the tide does not appear to be abating, said Dr. Megan Sandel, an associate professor of pediatrics and public health at BMC.

“Food is costing more, and dollars don’t stretch as far,’’ Sandel said. “It’s hard to maintain a diet that is healthy.’’

The emergency room survey found a similarly striking increase in the percentage of families with children who reported they did not have enough food each month, from 18 percent in 2007 to 28 percent in 2010.

Pediatricians at hospitals in four other cities - Baltimore; Little Rock, Ark.; Minneapolis; and Philadelphia - also reported increases in the ranks of malnourished, hungry youngsters in their emergency rooms since 2008. But Boston’s increases were more dramatic, said Sandel, a lead investigator with Children’s HealthWatch, a network of researchers who track children’s health. Researchers said higher housing and heating costs in Massachusetts probably exacerbated the state’s surge.

BMC has also seen a 58 percent increase, from 24 in 2005 to 38 in 2010, in the number of severely underweight babies under the age of 1 who were referred by family physicians to its Grow Clinic, where doctors provide intensive nutritional, medical, and other services to boost babies’ growth. Such malnourishment is similar to what is more typically seen in developing countries, Sandel said.

Among the children treated at the clinic last year was Jordan Turner-Goode, who at age 1 weighed just 19 pounds, while the average child that age is more than 24 pounds.

“We were living in a hotel in Chelmsford at the time, and it was hard to cook meals because all we had to cook in was a microwave and that wasn’t helping his weight at all,’’ said his mother, Janell Goode. “He was eating cereal, noodles, and eggs in the microwave and hot dogs and fruit snacks.’’

The 27-year-old single Lowell mother, a former telemarketer who is now unemployed, relies on food pantries and other public assistance to feed her three young sons.

Jordan is a healthier weight now, but Goode says it is still a struggle. The family managed to move out of the state-subsidized motel where they were living, but their housing situation is precarious. The owner of the Lowell apartment where they are renting is about to be foreclosed on, Goode said.

Children’s HealthWatch monitors very young children, like Jordan, because their bodies tend to be more vulnerable to changes brought on by a recession. Chronic hunger during toddler years, when young brains are still growing, can negatively affect learning and psychological, social, and a raft of other skills, said Rafael Pérez-Escamilla, professor of epidemiology and public health at the Yale School of Public Health.

While the nation’s spotlight has been trained on the other end of the spectrum, the problem of childhood obesity, Pérez-Escamilla and other researchers report evidence that early hunger may be linked to later obesity.

Some studies have found that young children who grow up with not enough to eat can become overweight or obese adolescents and adults, though the link is not firmly established.

“Babies born with low birth weight may become metabolically programmed during gestation to become very efficient at conserving calories, thus becoming obese later in life,’’ Pérez-Escamilla said.

Health advocates say another sign that families are struggling to feed their children can be found in the steep rise in the number of Massachusetts residents, like the Goodes, relying on food stamps. The numbers nearly doubled, from 452,000 in 2007 to 815,000 in May, the latest available data.

Advocates estimate that there are tens of thousands more Massachusetts residents who are eligible but have been stymied by the complex enrollment process.

“We believe a lot of them are families with kids,’’ said Pat Baker, a senior policy analyst with the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, a legal services nonprofit for low-income people.

Baker said that in recent years Massachusetts has not devoted enough money to the federally funded, state-administered food stamp program, called SNAP, to hire the staff needed to help residents enroll.

A decade ago, Massachusetts ranked nearly last nationally for signing up its eligible residents, but after a concerted push by the state and health advocates, it is eighth, said Julia Kehoe, commissioner of the Department of Transitional Assistance, which runs the food stamp program.

Kehoe attributed the rise in enrollment to the state’s outreach, coupled with the recession. Without that campaign, she said, the number of hungry, malnourished children in BMC’s emergency room would have been “much worse.’’

The flood of people signing up for food stamps has eased since 2009, Kehoe said, but several thousand residents are still signing up each month and there are probably thousands more who are eligible that staff has been unable to reach.

She said her department is working to streamline the enrollment process.

Kehoe said she is concerned because the state’s federal stimulus money ran out in June, funds that were used to help defray the cost of signing up new families for food stamps.

The state recently increased its spending to cover more than half the shortfall, but it probably will not be enough, she said.

“We will have effectively fewer staff at the end of the year then we do now,’’ Kehoe said. “The state is doing what it can, but there are just so many other public safety and human service needs out there right now.’’

Kay Lazar can be reached at klazar@globe.com. 

Tiger Woods’ finished practice facility at home is incredible

By Shane Bacon

For up to the minute Tiger and golf news, follows Devil Ball on Twitter and Facebook.

http://sports.yahoo.com

Yes, Tiger Woods might not be teeing it up for the rest of the season, and yes, he seems to be falling down the rankings faster than the likes of David Duval, but that doesn't mean the 14-time major winner is going to stop plans on his $55 million house in Florida, complete with a four-green practice facility that makes most golf courses look like your local putt-putt course.

Photos emerged from Tiger's website, and his practice facility blows the likes of Rory McIlroy's out of the water, complete with different greens set for different winds and all types of bunkers to practice from.

It shows that even if Tiger isn't totally healthy right now, when he's ready to get back on the golf course, he will be well prepared.

Photos from all angles are after the jump, and trust me, it's well worth looking through, if nothing else to realize how great it must be to play golf for a living.

Follow Yahoo! Sports on Facebook and be the first to know about the most interesting stories of the day.

Registering as a donor is a life-saving act: An editorial

African-Americans who need a bone-marrow transplant to treat blood diseases are far less likely to find a matching donor simply because fewer African-Americans are registered as potential donors -- only 7 percent of the 9 million people on the registry in this country.

"For Caucasian kids, they may have five matches, and for an African-American child one,'' said Dr. Julie Kanter who performs pediatric bone marrow transplants at Tulane Medical Center. "Then you have to call that one donor and hope they are still able to donate or willing to donate at that time,'' she said.

A recent public awareness drive at Essence Festival resulted in 262 people signing up, and that's encouraging. Typically, 15-20 African-American donors sign up at a drive, according to Natalie Rowe of the National Marrow Donor Program in Louisiana.

Increasing that number is critical. For patients with sickle cell disease, leukemia and other blood diseases, a suitable donor can be the difference between life and death.

Joining the registry is simple: just go to bethematch.org/stepup and fill out a form. Donors will get a kit in the mail that includes a swab for collecting cells from inside their cheeks that they mail back.

That simple act could result in a chance to save someone's life.

Atlanta a sex traffic hub - Majority African-American

By Andria Simmons 

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

It's clear that Atlanta has become a hub for human trafficking, a fact bolstered by the FBI 's recent listing it as one of 14 cities in the nation with the highest incidents of children used in prostitution.

More than 400 federal, state and local law enforcement, nonprofit organizations and state officials sought solutions to the problem on Monday at a summit on human trafficking hosted by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia at Georgia State University.

Proposals for combating human trafficking ranged from creating a day center where prostitutes can receive help to increasing training for law enforcement officers on how to recognize victims during traffic stops and sex sting operations.

The Georgia Care Connection, a program of the Governor's Office for Children and Families that cares for victims of child sex trafficking, shared these statistics about 101 referals they have received since June 2009:

• 100 percent were female.
• The average age when referred was 15.
• The majority (65 percent) lived in Fulton and DeKalb counties.
• 78 percent were confirmed victims and 22 percent were considered "at risk" for becoming exploited.
• Majority were African-American
• Majority were raised by a single parent or in state custody.

GBI Director Vernon Keenan said on July 1, he formed a specialized unit comprised of four investigators to work human trafficking cases to tackle the problem, which Gov. Nathan Deal had named as a priority for his administration. Previously, the bureau didn't get involved in such cases unless a local police department requested their help. Now, with the help of federal grant money, they will provide training to officers on recognizing and identifying human trafficking victims and they will work cases.

Already, the newly formed unit has been contacted by police from other states about two children ages 14 and 16 who were being prostituted in Atlanta. One victim was from Wisconsin and another from Tennessee. Both have been found and returned home, Keenan said. The GBI is investigating their respective pimps.

The victims of several human trafficking victims spoke Monday, including one father of a 14-year-old daughter who was swept up in a cycle of prostitution shortly after she moved from Augusta to Atlanta. She was given a fake ID and transported to Texas, Alabama and California at various times by her pimp. At the age of 16, she died in a car while driving to reunite with her pimp, the father told the crowd.

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard, who said he will embark on his 47th prosecution of a pimp next week, urged police officials in attendance to designate a person in their department to specialize in human trafficking. He also said there is a need for special counseling and treatment services for victims, many of whom struggle to break the cycle of prostitution even after they have been rescued.

The Guy Hanks & Marvin Miller Screenwriting Program Sponsored by Drs. Bill & Camille Cosby

A Call For Submissions From TV and Feature Writers Drs. Bill and Camille Cosby Los Angeles, CA (July 24, 2011) -- Starting its eighteenth year, THE GUY HANKS & MARVIN MILLER SCREENWRITING PROGRAM aka The Cosby Program, will be accepting applications from July 15th to September 15, 2011. This program was established by Drs. Bill and Camille Cosby at the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. Unaffiliated with USC, the goal of the Hanks-Miller Program is to develop the pool of qualified African-American writers in the entertainment industry.

This program meets twice a week for 15-weeks beginning February 2012. It is designed to assist writers in completing a television or feature script, while giving them the opportunity to examine African-American history, culture and iconography. Tuition is free to those selected.
The program is not designed for beginning-level writers. They are seeking writers who have taken the initiative to study television or feature writing through workshops or classes; though a degree in cinematic writing or filmmaking is not required. In an industry that is extremely competitive, we have found our greatest success in assisting those who have a strong foundation in television or screen writing and have a body of work to show for their efforts. Writers selected for this program usually have no produced credits, but are on the brink of great success. They are able to use the product and the relationships they create in this unique workshop environment to advance their careers. The Hanks-Miller Program is credited with introducing more successful African-American writers into the entertainment industry than any other program of its type.
Doreene Hamilton, the program's Executive Director states that "their alumni are highly respected and sought after. They are a primary recruiting source for the Disney Writing Fellowship, the Fox Diversity Program, the CBS Television Program, the Nickelodeon Writers' Program and the Warner Brothers Comedy and Drama Writing Program. Our alumni are represented by top agencies including UTA, William Morris, ICM, APA and CAA, to name a few."
Although obtaining employment is not the primary goal of the program, alumni have used relationships and scripts developed in the program to secure positions as television and feature writers, producers, directors and executives. Our writers have created, written and produced for top ten shows on televisions, as well as news and reality television shows. They have also completed countless freelance assignments. Our Feature writers have not only been produced, but have received honors through "Tribeca All Access," "Hollywood Black Film Festival," "Austin Film Festival" and "Fade In Magazine," to name a few. They have also completed independent features and short films as well.
Their writers have been recognized by organizations including the NAACP; while the Program itself has been recognized by the California Governor's office, a State Senator and the Los Angeles Mayor's office.
All are invited you to apply or re-apply to our program. They are always seeking writers with talent and a drive for success.

For more information or to obtain an application visit their website atwww.CosbyProgram.com or email them at: cosbyprogram@gmail.com

Why DeMaurice Smith won big in the NFL labor war

NFLPA Executive Director DeMaurice Smith, right, and NFLPA President Kevin Mawae, prepare to announce to reporters that they have reached a deal with the NFL, Monday, July 25, 2011, outside the NFL Players Association headquarters in Washington, Monday, July 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Late Monday morning, when it was announced that the NFL lockout was finally over, I wonder what DeMaurice Smith was really feeling.

The executive director of the NFL Players Association was one of the faces of the war on football, as he was pitted against NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a fight most fans felt was frivolous and greed-driven. After four-plus months of negotiation, arguing, harsh words and threats, the players and owners finally came to a deal.

Did Smith feel triumph, having accomplished a goal that looked near impossible just a few months ago? Did he feel pride, having stood his ground, never wavering to the pressure, and never blinking, while knowing that had any football time be missed, he would be the scapegoat?

Although he probably wouldn't admit it, I bet Smith felt relief. Relief that his confidence (which at times was mistaken for arrogance) and unwillingness to waver to the owners led to a resolution that was good for the players, good for the NFL, and ultimately good for Smith.

When this lockout began, many felt it would just be a matter of time before the players caved. The owners sign the checks and the players could only hold out for so long before the missed paychecks caught up with them.

The owners did all they could to manipulate the situation in their favor. They wanted more money, longer seasons, and more control of the athletes. When Smith said they were "at war" six months ago, he wasn't kidding.

But as the months of negotiation went on, Smith stayed calm. He formed a working relationship with his biggest adversary in Goodell, and refused to relent on the most important sticking points.

While the owners did get back some money, Smith helped the players get crucial benefits. They now receive 55 percent of future television revenue, which seems to grow exponentially each year. Minimum salaries increased $55,000 over 2010, giving more money to veteran players that have earned it.

Smith brokered a deal that addressed the biggest concern facing current players: safety. This new deal puts stringent restrictions on just how long players have to practice in the off-season.

The deal also addresses the biggest concern facing former players: security. This new deal will provide hundreds of millions of dollars to retired players through the length of the agreement.

The fans won in this deal because we get football again. The owners and players both won, as this deal is fair for both sides. But the biggest winner of all may be Smith. Sports Illustrated's Peter King had this to say of Smith:

I think the guy that is validated in my opinion is De. Smith. When he got this job, a lot of people in the NFL scoffed at him because he never had any experience in big labor negotiations, never had any sports experience except having season tickets to the Redskins' games. Everyone in the NFL, no matter how long this lasted, they were going to come back and be fine. But I think De. Smith was being judged very closely on the kind of deal he got in this deal.

Smith is clearly a very smart and articulate guy, and this deal will be part of his resume and legacy as he moves forward in his career.

Before getting this position, Smith had ties to President Obama, and was a highly successful lawyer. If Smith decides to go back to practicing full-time, he should have no trouble getting hired. He also could also parlay his newfound celebrity into a political career.

What's also important is that Smith, an African-American man in a tremendous position of power, never wavered. Whereas former and late NFLPA Executive Director Gene Upshaw and former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue formed a friendship, Smith and Goodell were anything but friends when this all began. Smith knew when to be testy, but more importantly, when to be cordial, forming a bond with Goodell in the past month that was vital in getting the deal done.

Smith proved that you can stand up to Goliath and come out a winner. There's a big difference between being combative and understanding, and Smith showed sometimes you have to be both to get what you want. In the end Smith got what the players and fans wanted...more football.

We all should feel pretty good about that.