1. Beverage: cold Winter Calls for a Hot Cup of Tea
2. Family Issues: Tips for the First Post-Divorce Holiday Season
3. Health: how to Prevent Childhood Obesity
4. Health: Hypnosis Helps People Quit Smoking
5. Health: Medicine Shortages Loom Large
6. Health: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and Veterans Day
OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES
1. Grammar Hammer: Sherlock Holmes and the Mystery of the Semicolon
2. The new Twitter Cheat Sheet
3. A Brief Blog Profile: The great Balancing Act
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Via Expert Alerts, ProfNet members can alert reporters to experts who are available to discuss timely news topics. If you are interested in interviewing any of the experts, please see the contact info at the end of the alert. you can also find Expert Alerts online on ProfNet Connect at bit.ly/pncalerts
**1. BEVERAGE: COLD WINTER CALLS FOR A HOT CUP OF TEA. Alicia Paullin, chef and instructor at The Art Institute of California – San Francisco and former managing chef at a wholesale and retail tea advisory: “The key to making a excellent pot of tea is quality water, appropriate water temperature, careful attention given to the length of steep and beautiful whole leaves that have been handled with love. If you would like to get a little fancy, a Wuyi oolong chilled and served with a macerated stone fruit is fantastic for an afternoon gathering. The same combination can be served with the same stone-fruit liquor for a perfect pre-dinner cocktail.” for the holidays, Paullin adds that a black tea steeped with chocolate mint and served with milk or creme de mint is a luscious option, and that a spiced chai tea with milk and raw sugar crystals goes perfectly with pumpkin pie. News Contact: Sandra Bernardo, sbernardo@aii.edu Phone: +1-714-338-1303
**2. FAMILY ISSUES: TIPS FOR THE FIRST POST-DIVORCE HOLIDAY SEASON. Carmen Eiker, a partner in the Dallas office of the family-law firm McCurley Orsinger McCurley Nelson & Downing, LLP.: “Newly divorced parents may be nervous about their family’s first post-divorce holiday season, so they should rely on the three C’s. First, cooperate with the other parent as much as possible to make the children’s holiday time with that parent as excellent as it can be. Second, communicate with the other parent, particularly if bad weather or delayed flights happen. with email and texting, it’s simple for parents to work out the logistics of the hectic holidays. Third, stay cool. Avoid the tendency to overreact if things don’t live up to what you think the holidays should be. No one’s holiday lives up to that.” News Contact: Rhonda Reddick, rhonda@androvett.com Phone: +1-800-559-4534
**3. HEALTH: HOW TO PREVENT CHILDHOOD OBESITY. Franklin Antoian, fitness expert and founder of the online personal fitness website iBodyFit.com: “More than 33 percent of children in America are obese and 70 percent of them have at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease, while all are at risk for adult Type 2 diabetes, stroke, cancers and other diseases. to combat childhood obesity, healthy eating habits are suggested along with cardiovascular exercise. Cardiovascular exercise doesn’t mean putting your kids on a treadmill all day — any type of activity, such as sports, bike riding and shooting basketball hoops together, is considered cardio exercise.” Antoian: Franklin@iBodyFit.com Website: ibodyfit.com
**4. HEALTH: HYPNOSIS HELPS PEOPLE QUIT SMOKING. Michael Ellner is a new York City-based hypnosis expert who can discuss how working with a certified hypnosis professional is a cost-effective approach for smoking cessation: “This is of significant interest to people trying to stop smoking because just-published research found one of the major stop-smoking drugs in widespread use to be unfit as a front-line stop-smoking aid. Hypnosis and self-hypnosis are evidence-based ways to help people stop smoking, and the public should be made aware of effective alternatives.” In addition to his private practice, Ellner teaches hypnotic pain-relief techniques, effective communication and creative stress management to doctors, dentists, nurses and front-line practitioners for PAINWeek, a major annual medical conference. Ellner: Websites: ellner.info, nycanxietyhypnosis.com and quantumfocusing.com
**5. HEALTH: MEDICINE SHORTAGES LOOM LARGE: Mark Lanier, Houston attorney and founder of The Lanier Law Firm who has handled many of the nation’s largest pharmaceutical cases: “Aiming to solve the growing problem of vital drug shortages, President Obama recently signed an executive order that requires the FDA to broaden reporting of potential shortages, speed up drug-production reviews and report more information on possible collusion or price gouging. for more than 120 years, federal law has prevented large companies from fixing supplies, prices or market shares, and most states have similar laws forbidding unfair business practices. Reporting possible price gouging and collusion certainly should help reveal to the American public the right cause of medicine shortages. If collusion causes a shortage of life-saving medicines, patients can likely bring federal antitrust and state unfair-business-practices lawsuits against the offending businesses.” News Contact: Alan Bentrup, alan@androvett.com Phone: +1-800-559-4534
**6. HEALTH: POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER AND VETERANS DAY. Bob Delaney, retired NBA referee, award-winning PTS/PTSD education and awareness advocate, and author of “Surviving the Shadows: A Journey of Hope into Post-Traumatic Stress” (Sourcebooks, 2011): “President Obama’s recent announcement that all U.S. troops will be brought home from Iraq by the end of the year means America needs to be prepared to handle an influx of returning soldiers who are battling the invisible wounds of PTSD. We need to create peer-to-peer programs early on, so that a new generation sees them as a first option when dealing with traumatic events, rather than suppressing emotions and letting them fester. We need to educate and raise awareness of the importance for intervention so that layers of turmoil do not build up over time and lead to aggression.” In his book, “Surviving the Shadows,” Delaney says treatment for PTSD includes “Process, Time, Support and Desire.” he is located on the East Coast. News Contact: Liz Kelsch, liz.kelsch@sourcebooks.com Phone: +1-630-536-0595
OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES:
Following are links to other news and resources we think you might find useful. If you have an item you think other reporters would be interested in and would like us to include in a future alert, please drop us a line at
**1. GRAMMAR HAMMER: SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE MYSTERY OF THE SEMICOLON: with the help of Sherlock Holmes, ProfNet Editor Grace Lavigne cracks the case of the semicolon: bit.ly/w5gDfB
**2. THE NEW TWITTER CHEAT SHEET: Beth Monaghan looks at some new Twitter tips and tools: bit.ly/u6HRno
**3. A BRIEF BLOG PROFILE: THE FANTASTIC BALANCING ACT: Thomas Hynes spotlights The great Balancing Act, a food blog that’s about more than just food: bit.ly/vutMAD
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/PRNewswire – Nov. 4, 2011/
PROFNET EXPERT ALERTS: Post-Divorce Holiday / Childhood Obesity / Medicine Shortages