Johnson

Nathanael Johnson was born without a doctor and later toddled around his Northern California yard without diapers, free to ingest whatever germy creatures he got his hands on, but no sugar allowed. With parents like his, it's little wonder he grew up wondering about the miracles of modern science. What's really welcome about his deeply reported book, "All Natural," is that his upbringing makes the investigation of nature versus technology fun as well as thought-provoking. He questions mainstream wisdom, "expert" advice and the all-natural solutions for childbirth, germs, raw milk, sugar, factory farming of animals and more.

Jerry West isn't the only Lakers great who still has confidence in his former team. Magic Johnson, one of the Lakers' harshest critics this season, was optimistic about their chances with 13 regular-season games left. "The Lakers, I'll tell you what, they're one of the most dangerous teams," he said. "They've got talent. And they've got two weeks to put it together, almost three weeks. They can still get this thing done. " The Lakers (36-33) have improved in recent weeks.

Dodgers co-owner Magic Johnson said on Friday that he was “very excited” to watch outfield prospect Yasiel Puig. Johnson was visiting the Dodgers' spring-training complex for the first time this spring. Puig was scheduled to bat sixth and play right field in a game against the Cincinnati Reds later in the day. But Johnson said he wouldn't push for the 22-year-old Cuban to be included in the Dodgers' opening-day roster. That decision, he said, would be left up to Manager Don Mattingly, President Stan Kasten and General Manager Ned Colletti.

PHOENIX - The Dodgers don't have a clear-cut leader, but Magic Johnson is certain one will emerge. “That's the last piece of this puzzle for us,” Johnson said. “Who's going to be that leader?” Matt Kemp, with his exuberance and all-out style of play, might be the closet thing the Dodgers have to a clubhouse leader. Adrian Gonzalez has a low-key demeanor. Clayton Kershaw pitches only once every five days. “Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] led by being quiet, by his performance on the court, by his approach to the game,” Johnson said.

PHOENIX - Minority owner Magic Johnson visited the Dodgers for the first time this spring and spoke to players in a team meeting Friday morning. "To sum up the whole meeting, it was basically about winning," outfielder Carl Crawford said. "Everybody knows Magic is a winner. " During the hourlong meeting, Johnson took questions from players. "I thought that would be fun," Johnson said. "It was amazing. " Johnson said he was asked about how his Lakers teams approached road games.

The glass-walled Melrose Avenue space, halfway between the budget apparel shops to the east and swanky haute couture salons to the west, wasn't where one would normally go looking for JCPenney. But the hip shopping strip is where discount chain J.C. Penney Co. chose to launch a temporary pop-up store last week in celebration of its new collaboration with popular Canadian apparel brand Joe Fresh. At the opening soiree, the languid beats of Frank Ocean's "Super Rich Kids" played over the clink of champagne glasses.

Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson will set sail on three " Dancing With the Stars: At Sea" cruises offered this year by Holland America Line . Passengers will see Johnson, who won four medals in Beijing in 2008 and was a "DWTS" champ in 2009, perform aboard ship and appear at photo and autograph sessions during two weeklong sailings to Alaska and one to Canada and New England . Mark Ballas, Johnson's winning partner on "DWTS," will...

A Los Angeles jury Friday ordered healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson to pay $8 million in damages to a retired prison guard who said he was injured by the company's defective artificial hip. But in a victory for the company, the 12-member jury declined to levy any punitive damages, despite being told by the guard's lawyer that J&J's behavior warranted up to $179 million. This marks the first verdict in more than 8,000 similar suits filed against the world's biggest medical-products maker over this all-metal hip introduced in 2005 by DePuy, the orthopedic division of J&J. In this case, Loren Kransky, a 65-year-old former prison guard in Montana, claimed that he suffered metal poisoning and other health problems from the company's ASR XL hip implant he received in 2007.

A Los Angeles jury said healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson was negligent by selling a defective artificial hip and ordered the company to pay a retired prison guard $8.3 million in damages for his injuries. But in a victory for the company, the 12-member jury declined to award any punitive damages even though the patient's lawyer told jurors J&J's actions warranted up to $179 million in damages. Friday's verdict marks the first in more than 10,000 similar suits filed against the world's biggest medical-products maker over this all-metal hip introduced in 2005 by DePuy, the orthopedic division of J&J. At the five-week trial, Loren Kransky, a 65-year-old former prison guard in Montana, testified that he suffered metal poisoning and other health problems from the company's ASR XL hip implant he received in 2007.

It's got to be said that while wine folks are wonderful people, in general (and frequently in specific), they often seem to lack a sense of humor about themselves. I don't know whether you've noticed that. But way back in the day, a guy named Bob Johnson created some of the wackiest wine cartoons ever as covers for Mike Lynch's old San Francisco Pacific Wine Co.'s trade catalogs. These started in 1980 and continued through 1996. But they're just as funny as ever, and now many of them are available for enjoying on Behance .  These days Johnson is busy running his gallery in Healdsburg, Calif., (where signed editions of some of the posters are available to purchase)