STOCKHOLM—Swedish appliance manufacturer Electrolux AB has held preliminary discussions about acquiring General Electric Co. GE -0.19 % 's appliance business, joining a group of other potential suitors considering a deal that could expand their reach in North America.

GE's century-old appliance business, which along with lighting generated $8.3 billion in revenue last year, could help Electrolux Chief Keith McLoughlin's drive to expand his company's sales beyond Europe, where growth has been slow. Electrolux, with $15.9 billion in 2013 revenue, said in a statement Thursday that it has held discussions about a possible acquisition, but "no agreement has been reached and there can be no assurances that an agreement will be reached."

GE, looking to possibly shed a profitable appliance business with low margins and significant labor costs, has also been approached by Electrolux rivals. Other potential bidders include South Korea's LG Electronics Inc. 066570 -0.56 % and Samsung Electronics Co. SSNHZ 0.00 % as well as Arcelik AS ARCLK -0.45 % of Turkey, a lower-cost producer, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

Quirky Inc. has teamed up with private equity firm Blackstone Group BX 1.20 % LP to work on a potential bid for the GE appliance business, a person familiar with the matter said. The five-year-old startup already has a partnership with GE in which they have teamed up to launch new products, including an air conditioner that can be controlled from a smartphone. GE invested $30 million in the company last year.

Quirky's interest in GE's appliance business was reported earlier by Bloomberg News.

"GE is evaluating a wide range of strategic options for our appliances business, including discussions with Electrolux and other interested parties," GE spokesman Seth Martin said, confirming Electrolux's interest but not naming other parties.

LG, Samsung and Arcelik couldn't be immediately reached for comment.

Electrolux, whose home appliances include Frigidaire and AEG, is nearing the end of a restructuring designed to reduce overhead costs and revamp its manufacturing footprint. In recent years, it has been dogged by malaise in European markets, prompting Mr. McLoughlin to pursue growth in Asia and North America.

Electrolux has a history of expanding through acquisitions. It made a flurry of acquisitions throughout the 1960s, acquired Frigidaire in 1986, bought AEG's household division in 1994, and bought Chilean appliance manufacturer CTI in 2011.

A clutch of major Nordic industrial companies have been acquisitive in recent years amid strong underlying economic conditions in Scandinavian countries, including Sweden, and many deals have been aimed at grabbing companies with manufacturing operations or customers near the U.S. market. Swedish lock maker Assa Abloy AB, for instance, has been hunting for American acquisitions, motivated by the view that the U.S. construction market will continue to improve.

Electrolux is doing better in Europe despite the continent's darkening economic outlook, but weakness in Latin America was a key factor in the company reporting a 4.8% revenue decline in the second quarter. Electrolux's products include refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines, cookers, air conditioners and vacuum cleaners—with many of those products overlapping with GE's product lines.

GE has a large share of the market for sales to home builders, one of the bright spots of the U.S. market. Electrolux has only a small share of that and has been trying to expand it.

The Swedish company recently opened a cooking-appliance plant in Memphis and remains eager to invest in the U.S. It is, however, losing market share in the region, while Korean makers are gaining steam.

Established brands like LG and Samsung likely would be mostly interested in the appliance business for its U.S. facilities rather than the GE name, the person familiar with the company's plans said. It is unclear what Electrolux's strategy would be.

GE executives believe that selling the appliance business for the right price is "consistent with strategic positioning,'' this person said. But GE isn't rushing to complete the sale by a certain date, such as year-end, this person added. "There's not a dire need for cash.''

GE put the appliance business up for sale in 2008 but couldn't find buyers or the right conditions for a spinoff amid the global recession. After the sale plan fizzled, GE committed almost $1 billion to reinvigorating its appliance product line.

GE's appliance business has been focused on the U.S. market, and executives believe that a global footprint could be required to keep pace in the competitive appliance industry, one reason the company is strongly considering a sale, another person familiar with the matter said. But a sale wouldn't necessarily mean the end of GE-branded dishwashers and refrigerators. There is a strong likelihood that the GE brand would live on after any deal, via a licensing agreement with a buyer, this person said.

More than 30% of Electrolux's sales come from selling major appliances in North America. In its most recent earnings statement, Electrolux said the market demand for core appliances in North America increased 6% on the year and demand for major appliances, including microwave ovens and air conditioners, increased by 7% during the quarter.

But Electrolux's own sales in North America were unchanged year on year. While sales in many of its core appliance categories continued to increase, sales of air conditioners declined significantly. Sales of refrigerators and laundry products were hurt by a fire at one of the company's suppliers.

The company said operating income in North America improved due to price increases and focus on premium products. Demand for vacuum cleaners in North America increased while Electrolux had lower sales of small appliances, and operating income declined in this area.

Write to Jens Hansegard at jens.hansegard@wsj.com, Tedd Mann at tedd.mann@wsj.com and Joann S. Lublin at joann.lublin@wsj.com

Summary: Swedish appliance manufacturer Electrolux AB has held preliminary discussions about acquiring General Electric Co.'s appliances business to expand its reach in North America.


Nine people have been arrested and $100,000 worth of methylamphetamine seized in a two-day police sting close to the ACT border.

Following an investigation a 33-year-old man was arrested in Queanbeyan, NSW, on Wednesday, allegedly returning from the ACT with four ounces of the drug ice worth about $30,000.

On Wednesday and Thursday several search warrants on Queanbeyan and Jerrabomberra homes led to the arrest of two women and six other men.

During the two day operation, more than 400g of ice worth about $100,000 and various weapons were allegedly seized by police.

Summary: Two women and seven men have been arrested in NSW and ACT following a two day operation which saw $100,000 worth of the drug ice seized.


Ginkgo Bioworks Inc. on Thursday will open a new 18,000-square-foot production facility near its South Boston headquarters to custom-design living cells for food, fragrances, and cosmetics.

The company, founded in 2008, raised $100 million earlier this year to expand its business of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing organisms through genetic engineering. Starting with brewers yeast, Ginkgo has developed a process to alter genes from vanilla, rose oil, mint, and other flowers or plants to produce flavors and scents used in food or cosmetic products.

Ginkgo chief executive Jason Kelly said about 75 of the company’s 110 employees will work in the new foundry, which is being called Bioworks 2. He said the company, which now makes about 40 organisms for 20 customers, will focus initially on food, consumer goods, and industrial products. But its technology eventually could be used for drug making, he said..

“We see an economy of scale,” Kelly said in an interview. “As we do more of this genetic engineering, it gets cheaper.”

Summary: The new 18,000-square-foot foundry near the company’s South Boston headquarters will make living cells for food, fragrances, and cosmetics.


Commonwealth Bank senior executives have defended the interest rates they charge for small business loans, despite them being comparatively higher than they were during the 2008-2009 global financial crisis.

They admitted the bank got the pricing of such loans wrong during the GFC and were not pricing for risk appropriately.

"When the global banking system went through the experience of the global financial crisis, what we all looked at was the fact that appropriately pricing for risk has ceased to occur," CBA boss Ian Narev told the House of Representative economics committee in Canberra on Tuesday.

"Whilst conditions at the moment in terms of defaults are actually reasonably good ... we are safeguarding hundreds of billion Australia's deposit money, we must price for the risk of default over a cycle."

Mr Narev was answering questions from Liberal MP Craig Kelly who couldn't understand why the margin on business loans on average was 5.75 per cent above the RBA rate, and higher than during the GFC when economic circumstances are much improved now.

"There is a view generally because a business loan is secured by a mortgage over someone's home that therefore interest rates should be the same as the home loan, that's just not true," CBA's chief risk officer David Cohen said.

The loans were now more accurately priced given around 40 per cent of new businesses fail in their first couple of years.

Summary: The Commonwealth Bank has defended the rates it charges for small business loans, even though they are comparatively higher than they were during the GFC.


A NSW greyhound racing club aiming to relocate to Queensland will now most likely stay within the state after the Baird government backflipped on banning the sport.

Border Park, situated at Tweed Heads and only accessible from the Queensland side of the border, is up for sale with a price tag between $15 million to $20 million .

Secretary manager Steve McGrath told AAP that since the ban was announced in July the club had aimed to move across the border, but following the backflip they may now relocate within NSW.

"It widens our options as to whether we relocate in the Tweed shire, the Northern Rivers area or whether we want to skip the border to Queensland," Mr McGrath told AAP.

"We won't know for sure what we will do until we see the devil in the detail of the backflip because you have to look at what guarantees are in place when you are spending more than $10 million."

Summary: The Baird government's backflip on its greyhound racing ban means a far north NSW greyhound track may not need to relocate to Queensland.


A young whale has been set free by rescuers after becoming trapped in a shark net off a Gold Coast beach this morning.

The Marine Rescue Team and SeaWorld rushed out to a shark net off Coolangatta Beach after a Humpback whale calf became trapped.

Video shows rescuers working to free the young whale from the net, as its mother keeps close watch.

“After a few cuts the net was removed from around its head and pectoral fin and the four-metre juvenile whale was soon on its way,” Queensland Shark Control Program Manager Jeff Krause said.

It is the sixth whale this migration season to be caught in shark nets in Queensland, according to Mr Krause.

© Nine Digital Pty Ltd 2016

Summary: A young whale has been set free by rescuers after becoming ensnared in a shark net off a Gold Coast beach this morning.


A mother and stepfather will stand trial for the alleged manslaughter of a four-year-old Gold Coast boy, who died seven years ago from serious injuries.

Heidi Strbak and her ex-partner Matthew Scown, both aged 33, were originally charged with Tyrell Cobb's murder but on Friday were ordered to stand trial on the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Scown, who is alleged to have punched or kicked Tyrell in the stomach before his death, also applied for bail in the Brisbane Magistrates Court, but will only learn on Monday if he will be released from custody.

The prosecution opposed Scown's bail on the grounds he was an unacceptable risk of not appearing at future court dates.

A committal hearing for the pair this week heard Tyrell was found unconscious at a Biggera Waters home in May 2009 with 70 injuries on his body.

He later died in hospital from internal bleeding and peritonitis - inflammation caused by an infection of the ruptured organ.

Paediatric expert Professor Roy Kimble said Tyrell could have been saved if he had been taken to hospital even hours before his death.

"He certainly had a lot of bruises around his body, much more than would be expected in normal childhood play," Prof Kimble said.

"Obviously this child has had more than one blow to the abdomen, this child has had many blows to cause all the bruises on the body."

Uncle Danial Allan told the court Tyrell was "just not well" and "covered in bruises" on his head and arms the day before he died.

The following day he was "sluggish" and "throwing up green slime", he added.

Tyrell allegedly said Scown had punched him in the stomach and showed Mr Allan a bruise above his genitals.

On a separate occasion, Tyrell allegedly showed his grandmother Diane Strbak a bruise he got after Scown kicked him because he weed on the carpet, the court heard.

Summary: A magistrate is set to decide if the mum and former stepdad of four-year-old Tyrell Cobb will stand trial for his murder.


NEW YORK — Federal regulators are moving to make it more difficult for Wells Fargo to make executive changes or give departing executives departure packages known as ‘‘golden parachutes,’’ the latest signal that the San Francisco bank will be grappling with the fallout from a sales scandal for months to come.

The move by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency caught Wells Fargo executives by surprise. It comes after the bank had already reached a $184 million settlement in September with regulators, including the OCC, after acknowledging that it had fired thousands of employees for opening checking accounts and credit cards customers didn’t ask for in order to meet sales goals.

Such so-called enforcement actions can trigger new restrictions on a bank’s operations. But the OCC has typically waived those restrictions and it did so again when it initially reached a settlement with Wells Fargo.

In a notice Friday, the OCC said it has changed its mind. The agency ‘‘informed the Bank today that it has revoked provisions of the enforcement documents that provided relief from specific requirements and limitations regarding rules, policies, and procedures for corporate activities,’’ the OCC said in a statement.

Wells Fargo will be required to get agency approval for changes in directors and senior executive officers and for any golden parachute payments, the OCC said.

An OCC spokesman declined to comment on why the agency decided to rescind its decision to waive the restrictions. Its action comes as the bank and regulators continue to face criticism from angry lawmakers.

Wells Fargo, which saw customers open 44 percent fewer accounts last month, said it would continue to cooperate with regulators. ‘‘The updated requirements are not a result of any new event or issue,’’ Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan said in a note to employees. ‘‘In addition, they will not inhibit our ability to execute our strategy, rebuild trust, serve our customers, or continue to operate the company for the benefit of all our stakeholders.’’

The sales scandal has sparked widespread criticism of the bank. But the surprise election of President-elect Donald Trump, who has promised to dismantle some key banking industry regulations, had raised the prospect that the company’s troubles would fade as regulators and lawmakers turned their attention to preparing for the new administration’s priorities.

That now appears less likely. ‘‘Though the agency didn’t give a reason for the unexpected measure, it’s an indication that the OCC and other financial regulators don’t intend to slide into lame-duck mode,’’ said Ian Katz, director at the policy analysis group Capital Alpha.


There have been no sightings of a man who twice pointed a gun at police during a pursuit on the NSW north coast on the weekend, with the public urged to keep their distance.

Police say it is most likely that 37-year-old David Bell is still armed and dangerous.

Bell was pulled over for a random breath test on the Pacific Highway at North Macksville in his white van on Sunday morning when he pulled out a gun before driving off.

He again aimed the shotgun at police at a road block on a dirt road at nearby Valla before driving into bushland. His abandoned van was found about 11am.

Police have warned people to avoid him as he may be armed and is wanted on interstate warrants.

The search for Bell in bushland was suspended on Sunday afternoon but local police are on the lookout for him and Coffs Harbour police will address media at midday on Monday.

Anyone who sees Bell, who is described as Caucasian, about 180cm tall with a solid build, brown hair and with tattooed fingers, is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.

Summary: Residents on the NSW mid north coast are being warned not to approach a man who twice threatened police with a shotgun before fleeing into bushland.


With the U.S. confronting an obesity epidemic that shows no signs of abating, some doctors and scientists are divided on just how dangerous extra weight is.

The debate is a critical one when you consider that about two-thirds of U.S. adults are classified as either overweight or obese, meaning they have a body-mass index (calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) of 25 or higher.

While most everyone agrees weight loss is a good goal for those who are heavy, some researchers now believe that fitness is more important than fatness when it comes to long-term health and longevity.

They cite studies showing that people in the overweight category—or those with a BMI from 25 to 29.9—actually have better survival rates in some situations than their normal-weight counterparts, a finding known as the “obesity paradox.”

Others say the risks related to obesity are being underestimated. They say most of the studies supporting the obesity paradox are flawed in that they don’t take into account people’s weight history.

Carl J. Lavie, the medical director for cardiac rehabilitation and director of exercise laboratories at the John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute in New Orleans, says overweight people can be healthy, so fitness should be the goal. Andrew Stokes, assistant professor in the department of global health and Center for Global Health and Development at Boston University’s School of Public Health, disagrees, saying the risks associated with extra weight are being underestimated.

First and foremost, I don’t promote overweightness or obesity or suggest that normal-size people gain weight. That said, fat isn’t always the demon it is made out to be when it comes to a person’s long-term health and mortality.

In a perfect world, everyone would be lean, fit and metabolically healthy, maintaining balanced blood-sugar levels, healthy lipid profiles and good blood pressure throughout life. However, this is far from the case in the U.S., where nearly three out of four adults are classified as either overweight or obese.

The good news for those who may be struggling to lose weight and keep it off is this: As I explored in my book “The Obesity Paradox,” there can be surprising benefits to carrying around a few extra pounds. In fact, being out of physical shape and having low overall fitness is actually a far greater danger to health than fat, especially in people who are only slightly overweight.

A major 2013 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and led by Katherine Flegal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that although obesity was associated with much higher risk of death, it was all due to the higher mortality in moderate and severely obese people, or those with body-mass indexes (BMIs) greater than 35 and 40, respectively.

The mildly obese, or those with BMIs of 30 to 34.9, actually had a 5% lower mortality than did the normal BMI subjects, which wasn’t quite statistically significant. More important, the overweight people, or those with BMIs between 25 and 29.9, had the lowest mortality and a significant 6% lower mortality than the normal BMI subjects, according to the researchers, who analyzed 97 studies involving nearly 2.9 million adults.

Although the paper was controversial and harshly criticized by some, many obesity experts around the world applauded the results because it supported their data and observations. Furthermore, it got the conversation moving in a different direction—one that must account for the quality of one’s fitness and metabolism regardless of weight and fatness.

Many overweight or mildly obese individuals can have normal blood glucose levels, lipid profiles and blood pressure, and if these people are physically active and have a good level of fitness, substantial evidence indicates that they can be extremely healthy—more so than lean individuals who are unfit or metabolically unhealthy. So while preventing more severe obesity is indeed a necessary goal, the vital takeaway from the latest scientific literature is: Fitness is more important than fatness for long-term health.

I have emphasized in many of my medical papers that being heavier increases the risk of coronary heart disease, as well as other cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension, heart failure and atrial fibrillation. However, as numerous reports show, the overweight and even the mildly obese have a better short- and medium-term prognosis and survival compared with normal BMI subjects with these same diseases, a phenomenon called the obesity paradox and possibly better termed an overweight paradox.

When people gain weight, the majority of weight is in fat pounds, but some muscle weight increases, as well, more so if one is exercising. By contrast, a thin person who is physically inactive and physically weak, with poor fitness and low muscle mass and muscular strength, is actually “sicker” than the heavier person who is fitter. And very thin people (BMI in the upper teens and low 20s and especially less than 18.5, which is considered “underweight”), generally have the worst prognosis and survival for many conditions, partly because they have fewer fat reserves to fall back on when major illness takes a toll on their bodies.

Some critics of the obesity paradox take issue with the fact that many obesity studies don’t differentiate between people who have always been normal weight and people who used to be overweight or obese but lost weight (which could be bad if their weight loss was due to illness). They also suggest that the beverage industry may have influenced results by funding some research. The truth is, the studies supporting the obesity paradox are large, clean and robust and have been published in prestigious journals, something over which the beverage industry has no control.

There’s no doubt that preventing obesity at the extreme end is important. But the situation for those who are overweight or mildly obese isn’t “doomsday,” as they can be very healthy despite the extra pounds. For these people, which represent a large number of adults in the U.S., weight loss is a good goal, but preventing weight gain and maintaining optimal fitness is a more important goal.

Dr. Lavie is the medical director for cardiac rehabilitation and director of exercise laboratories at the John Ochsner Heart and Vascular Institute in New Orleans. Email him at reports@wsj.com.

It is almost hard to imagine that in the early 1960s, at the peak of the smoking epidemic, about half of American men and a third of American women smoked cigarettes. Although lung-cancer rates started climbing as early as the 1920s and studies showing a link to smoking began to appear soon thereafter, appreciation of the harms of smoking remained remarkably low for many decades.

Not until the landmark Surgeon General’s report of 1964 declared that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer did public perception start turning. To fight faltering sales, the tobacco industry launched an aggressive campaign to sow doubt about the harms of smoking that would last for many years. This campaign, which enlisted respected physicians and researchers, sought to portray the science on the health effects of smoking as unresolved.

We find ourselves in a similar situation today even if the culprits may not be as obvious as before. The proportion of the U.S. population that is overweight (defined as having a body-mass index of 25 to 29.9) or obese (BMI of 30 or greater) has increased rapidly in recent decades, and excess weight is a well-established risk factor for diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Yet, as was the case historically with smoking, the effects of carrying extra weight on the risk of dying apparently remain an open controversy.

Some research in recent years has suggested that being in the overweight range may actually lower a person’s risk of dying prematurely. Some in the food and drink industry have embraced the finding, funding researchers whose work supports the idea that extra weight may be good for you. Other skeptics, both inside and outside of academia, have jumped on board, claiming that the hazards associated with excess weight are overblown.

Why does it remain unclear after so much research whether being overweight is helpful or harmful for longevity? There is one simple but surprisingly overlooked problem with previous studies examining the effects of being overweight and obese: They fail to account for weight history.

Looking at weight at a single point in time, like almost all obesity studies do, misses the fact that low weight can be a sign that something is wrong—that is, sometimes people are slim because they have a serious illness such as heart disease or cancer. To epidemiologists, this bias is known as confounding by illness or reverse causality.

Using information on weight history, it is possible to address this seemingly intractable source of bias. Weight history makes it possible to distinguish people who were slim throughout their lives from those who were formerly overweight or obese but lost weight. Again, the importance of this distinction can be seen in a simple analogy to smoking.

If you study the health effects of smoking by comparing smokers to nonsmokers, you may very well conclude that smoking isn't all that bad for you. However, the reason isn’t that smoking is inconsequential but that the comparison is biased. Nonsmokers include both low-risk people who never smoked and high-risk people who used to smoke but quit—many of them after developing an illness. To deal with this bias, epidemiologists factor in smoking history to divide current nonsmokers into former smokers and never smokers.

In similar fashion, any study that fails to distinguish never-overweight/obese people from the former overweight/obese will arrive at biased results. This doesn’t mean that all people who maintained normal weight throughout their lives are healthy. Likewise, not all people who were formerly overweight/obese and lost weight are at high risk of dying. Some of them lost weight through healthy lifestyle change, and there is strong evidence that this form of weight loss reduces risk of cardiovascular disease, though science has shown that intentional weight loss is difficult to achieve and even more difficult to sustain.

But my research with Samuel Preston of the University of Pennsylvania suggests that taken as a whole, people who were formerly overweight/obese and are now of normal weight are a high-risk group because of illness-induced weight loss. Conflating this group with the never-overweight/obese category—as almost all prior studies do—obscures the real health risks associated with excess weight.

Flawed research has helped to create an appearance of much greater uncertainty than actually exists around the science on overweight and obesity. With about two-thirds of Americans currently classified as overweight or obese, it is vital that we don’t become complacent and that we do everything in our capacity, at individual, community and national levels, to aggressively tackle this epidemic in the U.S.

Dr. Stokes is an assistant professor in the department of global health and Center for Global Health and Development at Boston University’s School of Public Health. He can be reached at reports@wsj.com.

Summary: Heart doctor Carl J. Lavie says that overweight people can be healthy and that fitness should be the goal. Public-health professor Andrew Stokes says the risks associated with carrying extra weight are being underestimated.


This post is part of Mashable's Startup Review series, which highlights great unsung startups. The series is made possible by Sun Startup Essentials.

PrintingChoice is a price search tool, similar to Travelocity or Kayak, for finding low prices for printing things like brochures.

There are a lot of online printing companies out there, and researching the best price for your business cards, postcards, flyers, and etc. can take forever. PrintingChoice makes it easy for you to find the lowest prices based on your product, dimensions, options, and turnaround time. You enter your specs into a form, and you get instant results, sorted by price, along with reviews and a link to buy directly from the printing company you choose. This tool makes printing easy for small businesses, entrepreneurs, franchises, and even people who need to print wedding announcements or their own Christmas cards.

PrintingChoice fills a void in a fairly big niche market of the Web: printing services. The company has indexed prices for around a dozen leading sites like Vistaprint and iPrint to allow you to search for the best deals on printed business and promotional materials. The result, as the company puts it, is like a Travelocity for business cards and brochures.

The search function of the site lets you first select the type of product you need printed (brochures, business cards, door hangers, etc.) and then choose from one of several standard sizes. You can then input the # of sides that need to be printed, the quantity, and how quickly you need the materials to arrive. Click “search” and PrintingChoice will return all of the online vendors and their prices, listed from lowest to highest. In addition to its price comparison tool, PrintingChoice offers articles about printing to help you make the best decisions, as well as links to current deals and specials that the various vendors are offering.

While I generally think PrintingChoice is a decent idea, there are current a couple problems in my mind. For one, ordering print materials is a decision that is usually based on a combination of quality and price, not just one of the two. While PrintingChoice offers user reviews, it's currently not enough to get a sense of each printer's quality. Additionally, PrintingChoice liters its site with AdWords, which, is sort of lame and unnecessary considering they’ll also make money on the referrals they drive through to the printing sites.

Business cards and other schwag is still one market that I think is best served by your local brick and mortar print shops, but if you need stuff in a hurry, a price comparison tool like PrintingChoice could be useful. That said, I’ve always been curious where all of the reliable, high-end online printers are. If you know of one, add it to the comments.

Editor's Note: This post is part of an ongoing series at Mashable - The Startup Review, Sponsored by Sun Microsystems Startup Essentials. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Sponsored By: Sun Startup Essentials

Summary:
This post is part of Mashable's Startup Review series, which highlights great unsung startups. The series is made possible by Sun Startup Essentials. Company Name
PrintingChoic...


A 10-year-old who was diagnosed with a severe heart condition around a month ago only had one wish around the holiday season: to meet Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton.

When his teacher, Courtney Cooper, heard that Austin Deckard was diagnosed with advanced pulmonary hypertension and might not live through an upcoming surgery, she took to Facebook on Dec. 20 to try and make it happen.

“Just before Thanksgiving, I was headed to an Auburn football game. Austin was in awe of this. He also told me he ‘wished Cam Newton could come to his birthday party,'” she wrote. “Austin may not ever make it to an Auburn football game but I know social media is a strong force that can make things happen.”

On Tuesday, Austin’s wish came true when Newton walked into his hospital room at Atlanta Healthcare of Atlanta’s Egleston Hospital and surprised him. They two hugged and played a game together.

“I thought I had an unknown number but dude I’ve gotten about 100 calls about you,” Newton told him according to The Ledger-Enquirer.

After their warm and embrace, Cooper posted on Facebook to express her gratitude to everyone who made this happen.

“To Cam Newton- I may not ever meet you and that’s ok but what you did for this special little kid tonight made my year and shows compassion and love that we can all learn something from,” she wrote. “I know I will never forget this moment, that hug, and this video. And I know without a doubt that Taylor Austin won’t either.”

“The amount of people who reached out to me, including people I did not even know or from my hometown, proved to me that there is still good in this world and that if we rally together we can make wonderful, memorable things happen,” she wrote. “Austin and his family are being covered in our prayers. I know they have felt them and continue to feel them. Austin needs them in a big way.”

Austin’s surgery has been moved to this Friday.

Summary: “Please pray for Austin, his parents, his family and the doctors and nurses that will be performing this miracle,” his teacher Courtney Cooper wrote on Facebook.


Licensed real estate agents and professionals are invited to a career night to learn what it takes to succeed in the business. Attendees will leave knowing about opportunities in today’s market and the tools and support available. Wednesday, 5:30 to 7 p.m., Keller Williams Realty Cape Cod and the Islands, 1600 Falmouth Road, Suite 2, Centerville. Free.

Everyone is invited to this CryptoParty for a night of networking and learning about digital security tools. The goal is to have attendees leave with useful encryption tools on their devices. The evening features pizza and conversation about technology, surveillance, and privacy. Wednesday, 6 to 9 p.m., Encuentro5, 9 Hamilton Place, Suite 2A, Boston. Free.

Stop by Hatch for an open projects meetup. Experts and amateurs alike are encouraged to bring a project to work on, or come just to exchange ideas, watch others, and learn. The group will review motion control and sensor technologies, and attendees are encouraged to ask for help. Wednesday, 7 to 9 p.m., Hatch, 485 Arsenal St., Watertown. Free.

At this workshop, learn the legal steps to launching a startup and building a business. A startup attorney and a patent attorney will speak about intellectual property rights, fund-raising, and investments. Attendees will hear about lessons learned and success stories from a startup founder. Friday, 3:30 to 4:45 p.m., CSB Business Center, 626 Massachusetts Ave., Arlington. Free.

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The Haitian American Business Expo hosts a conference to review small-business loan programs for Haitian businesses in Massachusetts. Attendees will leave with recommendations and vital information to ensure they have the resources for success. Friday, 6 to 7:30 p.m., Kay Pam, 6 Livingstone St., Dorchester. Free.

Summary: Conferences, workshops, and more notable events and things to know.


Before you go, we thought you'd like these...

come and go, but the real special ones have legs and grow into something amazing.

Last year, the brothers of the Delta Sigma Phi-Beta Mu fraternity at

posted a lip-dub video of them signing Taylor Swift's smash hit, "Shake It Off" and drew the attention of T.Swift herself.

The video garnered millions of views and also got the frat brothers tickets to Taylor Swift's "1989: World Tour" concert! Barton Lynch of the fraternity told

that they all got tickets.

Instead of taking their friends or girlfriends, they decided to do something even better with the tickets: donate them. The fraternity gave all 37 tickets to the Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bluegrass.

This apparently wouldn't be the first time the students wanted to give back. When the video first went viral, the students used it as a way to raise money for leukemia.

What one fraternity did with their Taylor Swift concert tickets will warm your heart

NASHVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 26: Singer/songwriters Taylor Swift (L) and Mick Jagger perform onstage during The 1989 World Tour live in Nashville at Bridgestone Arena at Bridgestone Arena on September 26, 2015 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Shearer/LP5/Getty Images for TAS)

CHICAGO, IL - JUNE 03: Taylor Swift and Mick Jagger perform at the United Center on June 3, 2013 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images)

SANTA CLARA, CA - AUGUST 15: (L-R) Taylor Swift, musician Joan Beaz and actress Julia Roberts take a bow on stage during Swift's 'The 1989 World Tour' at Levi's Stadium on August 15, 2015 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by John Medina/LP5/Getty Images for TAS)

LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 24: Singer-songwriters Alanis Morissette (R) and Taylor Swift perform onstage during Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Live In Los Angeles at Staples Center on August 24, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/TAS/Getty Images for TAS)

LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 24: Singer-songwriters Alanis Morissette (L) and Taylor Swift perform onstage during Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Live In Los Angeles at Staples Center on August 24, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/TAS/Getty Images for TAS)

LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 24: Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift performs onstage during Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Live In Los Angeles at Staples Center on August 24, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/TAS/Getty Images for TAS)

LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 24: Singer-songwriters Taylor Swift (L) and Natalie Maines of the band Dixie Chicks perform onstage during Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Live In Los Angeles at Staples Center on August 24, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/TAS/Getty Images for TAS)

LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 24: Singer-songwriters Taylor Swift (L) and Natalie Maines of the band Dixie Chicks perform onstage during Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Live In Los Angeles at Staples Center on August 24, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/TAS/Getty Images for TAS)

LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 24: Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift (L) and comedian Ellen DeGeneres perform onstage during Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Live In Los Angeles at Staples Center on August 24, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/TAS/Getty Images for TAS)

LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 24: Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift (L) and comedian Ellen DeGeneres perform onstage during Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Live In Los Angeles at Staples Center on August 24, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/TAS/Getty Images for TAS)

LOS ANGELES, CA - AUGUST 24: Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift (L) and comedian Ellen DeGeneres perform onstage during Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour Live In Los Angeles at Staples Center on August 24, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Christopher Polk/TAS/Getty Images for TAS)

FOXBORO, MA - JULY 25: Singer Taylor Swift performs at Gillette Stadium on July 25, 2015 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for TAS)

FOXBORO, MA - JULY 25: Singer Taylor Swift performs at Gillette Stadium on July 25, 2015 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for TAS)

Singer Taylor Swift performs during her "1989" world tour at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., on Friday, July 10, 2015. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Singer Taylor Swift performs during her "1989" world tour at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford on Friday, July 10, 2015, in New Jersey. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Singer Taylor Swift performs during her "1989" world tour at MetLife Stadium on Saturday, July 11, 2015, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

Singer Taylor Swift performs during her "1989" world tour at MetLife Stadium on Saturday, July 11, 2015, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - JUNE 21: Taylor Swift performs in The 1989 World Tour at Ziggo Dome on June 21, 2015 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. (Photo by Michel Porro/Getty Images for TAS)

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JUNE 13: Taylor Swift performs onstage during The 1989 World Tour on June 13, 2015 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for TAS)

COLOGNE, GERMANY - JUNE 20: Taylor Swift performs live on stage during 'The 1989 World Tour' night 2 at Lanxess Arena on June 20, 2015 in Cologne, Germany. (Photo by Sascha Steinbach/Getty Images for TAS)

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JUNE 24: Taylor Swift performs at Manchester Arena on June 24, 2015 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Shirlaine Forrest/Getty Images for TAS)

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - JUNE 23: Taylor Swift performs at The SSE Hydro on June 23, 2015 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ross Gilmore/Getty Images for TAS)

DUBLIN, IRELAND - JUNE 29: Taylor Swift brings The 1989 World Tour to 3Arena on June 29, 2015 in Dublin, Ireland. (Photo by Carrie Davenport/Getty Images for TAS)

COLOGNE, GERMANY - JUNE 20: Taylor Swift performs live on stage during 'The 1989 World Tour' night 2 at Lanxess Arena on June 20, 2015 in Cologne, Germany. (Photo by Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images for TAS)

COLOGNE, GERMANY - JUNE 19: Taylor Swift performs during 'The 1989 World Tour' night 1 at Lanxess Arena on June 19, 2015 in Cologne, Germany. (Photo by Sascha Steinbach/Getty Images for TAS)

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - JUNE 21: Taylor Swift performs in The 1989 World Tour at Ziggo Dome on June 21, 2015 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. (Photo by Michel Porro/Getty Images for TAS)

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JUNE 24: Taylor Swift performs at Manchester Arena on June 24, 2015 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Shirlaine Forrest/Getty Images for TAS)

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - JUNE 23: Taylor Swift performs at The SSE Hydro on June 23, 2015 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ross Gilmore/Getty Images for TAS)

BATON ROUGE, LA - MAY 22: Taylor Swift performs on stage during 'The 1989 World Tour' at LSU Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, LA on May 22, 2015. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for TAS)

COLOGNE, GERMANY - JUNE 19: Taylor Swift performs during 'The 1989 World Tour' night 1 at Lanxess Arena on June 19, 2015 in Cologne, Germany. (Photo by Sascha Steinbach/Getty Images for TAS)

COLOGNE, GERMANY - JUNE 20: Taylor Swift performs live on stage during 'The 1989 World Tour' night 2 at Lanxess Arena on June 20, 2015 in Cologne, Germany. (Photo by Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images for TAS)

COLOGNE, GERMANY - JUNE 20: Taylor Swift performs live on stage during 'The 1989 World Tour' night 2 at Lanxess Arena on June 20, 2015 in Cologne, Germany. (Photo by Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images for TAS)

AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - JUNE 21: Taylor Swift performs in The 1989 World Tour at Ziggo Dome on June 21, 2015 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. (Photo by Michel Porro/Getty Images for TAS)

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JUNE 12: Taylor Swift performs onstage during The 1989 World Tour on June 12, 2015 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for TAS)

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - JUNE 24: Taylor Swift performs at Manchester Arena on June 24, 2015 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Shirlaine Forrest/Getty Images for TAS)

BOSSIER CITY, LA - MAY 20: Taylor Swift performs on stage for the 1989 World Tour at CenturyLink Center on May 20, 2015 in Bossier City, Louisiana. (Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for TAS)

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JUNE 13: Taylor Swift performs onstage during The 1989 World Tour on June 13, 2015 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for TAS)

COLOGNE, GERMANY - JUNE 19: Taylor Swift performs during 'The 1989 World Tour' night 1 at Lanxess Arena on June 19, 2015 in Cologne, Germany. (Photo by Sascha Steinbach/Getty Images for TAS)

COLOGNE, GERMANY - JUNE 19: Taylor Swift performs during 'The 1989 World Tour' night 1 at Lanxess Arena on June 19, 2015 in Cologne, Germany. (Photo by Sascha Schuermann/Getty Images for TAS)

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - JUNE 23: Taylor Swift performs at The SSE Hydro on June 23, 2015 in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Ross Gilmore/Getty Images for TAS)

PHILADELPHIA, PA - JUNE 12: Taylor Swift performs onstage during The 1989 World Tour on June 12, 2015 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for TAS)

DETROIT, MI - MAY 30: Taylor Swift performs on stage during the 1989 World Tour Live at Ford Field on May 30, 2015 in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Larry Busacca/Getty Images for TAS)

COLOGNE, GERMANY - JUNE 19: 'TS' letters are seen during the 'Taylor Swift The 1989 World Tour' night 1 at Lanxess Arena on June 19, 2015 in Cologne, Germany. (Photo by Sascha Steinbach/Getty Images for TAS)

Summary: Brothers of one fraternity did something amazing with their Taylor Swift concert tickets


A frame from surveillance video shows Jared Paul Stern, facing the camera, with Ron Burkle.

Jared Paul Stern, a native of Philadelphia, moved to New York after graduating from college and began working at the New York Press.

Gossip  real, hard-boiled, who-was-seen-where-with-whose-wife tabloid gossip  is not a new game. Everyone who plays this game plays by the same rules more or less, and has been playing by these rules for years. Until last week, the view of many in the trade was that the New York Post's Page Six simply played it harder.

Its reporters are out all night, making friends and enemies in the dark corners of nightclubs and parties all over the city, and at times, in Los Angeles and Miami; the next morning they are reporting what they found to the editor behind it all, Richard Johnson, who every week sits in a corner of the Post's newsroom strewn with party invitations, magazines and gift bags.

And then starts the avalanche of tips  from press agents, from tattling readers, from other reporters at the paper, from industry sources and from celebrities themselves. Calls come from publicists who want their clients' names in the paper and from publicists who are begging to keep their clients' names out of the paper. They come from publicists who know of the dirt on their clients and are resorting to an age-old gossip trick: giving the reporters better dirt on somebody else.

For the gossip warriors trafficking in it all  Mr. Johnson, two staff reporters, Paula Froelich and Chris Wilson, and a rotating cast of contributors  the relentless, fast-moving operation has now landed The Post squarely in the harsh glare it usually directs on others.

Jared Paul Stern, a longtime contributor and party scene fixture, is accused of trying to extort money from Ronald W. Burkle, one of the column's subjects, in exchange for better coverage  a claim he denies. The federal investigation into the accusations could well amount to the most public strike at one of the great properties in the world of gossip.

"It is so much the first among equals of that world," Kurt Andersen, a founder of Spy magazine and a former editor in chief of New York magazine, said of Page Six.

Staying on top in this world, however, has not been getting any easier. The gossip consumer has been saturated with weekly gossip magazines, gossip television shows, gossip blogs and a swarm of paparazzi documenting the most mundane shopping trip of even D-list celebrities. Movie stars figure in it, as they always have; now, politicians and business executives do, too. And all have developed methods to manipulate the swirl of gossip to their purposes.

But amid the pink and yellow magazines, Page Six has continued working in its old-fashioned way.

At the pinnacle of it all sits Mr. Johnson, a tall, debonair 53-year-old who was raised in New York. He is, in many ways, an unlikely candidate for the prince of gossip: an avid patron of the theater with a taste for Shakespeare who has a librarian for a sister.

Mr. Johnson started at The Post as a general assignment reporter, moved to cover gossip, and in 1985, became the editor of Page Six. Except for a brief stint at the rival Daily News, he has been at the helm ever since.

Mr. Johnson, according to current and former employees of The Post, has virtually the final say on what gets into the column; Steve Cuozzo, a managing editor at The Post, gives the column a final review before it is sent to be published.

He pays particular attention to the lead item  the longest, and usually the most salacious item, which runs across the top, above the cartoon  and often rewrites it, several former Page Six reporters said. He also approves what the other reporters are pursuing on their own, or hands leads on possible items to the reporters.

Over a decade ago Mr. Johnson also revived the blind items  "WHICH married tycoon has a fondness for..."  the little "Just Asking" puzzlers that are all the more juicy for being not quite lawyer-proof. The first one he remembers running, he recalled in a lengthy Vanity Fair magazine article in 2004 about Page Six, was on Marla Maples and Donald Trump.

Mr. Johnson, who was set to be married yesterday for the third time on a yacht in Palm Beach, Fla., with a guest list of his column's regulars, can be seen in New York at cocktail parties and dinners. But he is not the one scouring the clubs for late-night gossip.

That duty falls to those beneath him in the gossip order: Ms. Froelich, a straight-talking woman from Ohio who has a side business appearing on celebrity gossip television shows and who once dated the celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain, and Mr. Wilson, a hard-partying, gregarious man from Baltimore.

Joyce Wadler contributed reporting for this article.

Summary: The relentless gossip game has landed The New York Post squarely in the harsh glare it usually directs on others.


TOKYO, April 14  Samsung Electronics, the South Korean maker of consumer electronics, announced a sharply lower quarterly profit on Friday in its consumer electronics businesses as declines in global prices hurt earnings from cellphones and memory chips.

Samsung said it expected the slump in prices to continue until summer, which is good news for consumers but a possible sign of weak earnings for other electronics manufacturers.

Samsung, based in Suwon, South Korea, reported earnings for the three months that ended March 31.

"This shows that cheaper products have been driving down prices in the global market," said Denny Kim, an analyst at Woori Investments and Securities in Seoul. "The first half of this year isn't a good time for Samsung."

Over all, Samsung said net profit in the quarter rose 26 percent from the period a year earlier, to 1.88 trillion won ($1.96 billion).

Analysts said the gain came largely because a one-time write-off to help a credit card affiliate had suppressed net profit in the first quarter a year ago.

Operating profit, which more accurately reflects the underlying business strength, fell 25 percent, to 1.61 trillion won ($1.74 billion), well below most analysts' forecasts. Samsung said sales crept up 1 percent, to 13.96 trillion won ($14.5 billion).

The company cited intensifying competition, weak consumer demand and a production glut for the price declines in cellphones and chips, its two largest categories.

Operating profit fell 45 percent in the telecommunications business, Samsung said, and 19 percent in the semiconductor business.

In particular, falling prices lowered profit margins for one of Samsung's best-selling products, the NAND flash memory chips used in iPods, digital cameras and other products to record songs and images. Samsung, the world's largest maker of memory chips, said it expected flash memory prices to fall another 20 percent in the quarter.

Samsung was more optimistic about the second half of the year. It said it expected prices to bottom out or even rebound as consumers resume buying MP3 players and other products that use flash memory chips.

"I think finally we will see the light at the end of the tunnel," Chu Woo Sik, a senior vice president for investor relations, said Friday, according to Reuters.

The company said it would try to keep pace with price declines by making factories more efficient. On Friday, it said would spend $220 million to add a more advanced production line at its only memory chip plant outside South Korea, in Austin, Tex.

In cellphones, analysts said Samsung had been forced to cut prices and sell more low-end phones, which have smaller profit margins, after rivals like Motorola and Nokia introduced cheaper models.

But they also said Samsung's profit could rebound in the second half of the year when the company releases several new higher-end models, including superthin phones.

"The new products could bring consumers back to higher-end models," Mr. Kim said.

One bright spot in the first quarter was sales of liquid-crystal-display televisions, the most popular type of flat-panel TV's. Other makers like Sharp and Sony have also posted strong sales as L.C.D. TV's have gained popularity in markets like the United States and Europe.

Operating profit in Samsung's L.C.D. TV business increased fourfold, the company said, as booming sales offset price declines that are expected to reach up to 15 percent this year. Samsung jointly builds L.C.D. screens with Sony.

Summary: Steep declines in global prices hurt earnings from cellphones and memory chips for the South Korean maker of consumer electronics.


A 13-month-old Corona girl remained in a coma today at Elmhurst Hospital Center, three days after being violently shaken by her babysitter who had covered the girl's mouth and nose with duct tape, the authorities said.

The girl, Andrea Lopez Palacios, arrived at the hospital in full cardiac arrest, which she remained in for 10 minutes until the medical staff could restart her heart, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said. Three injections of epinephrine were needed to get her heart beating.

Andrea remains in critical condition on a ventilator, suffering from shaken baby syndrome with acute bleeding on the brain, retinal hemorrhaging, brain swelling and widespread and permanent brain injuries from the shaking and oxygen deprivation, Mr. Brown said.

"This case is a grim reminder of the fact that never under any circumstances should a baby be shaken," Mr. Brown said in a statement. "When shaken in anger, the force is equivalent to the impact of a fall from a second story window."

The babysitter, Dolores Guzman, 31, rents a room in her apartment on 46th Avenue to Andrea's mother, Adelina Palacios, who lives there with Andrea and two sons.

Ms. Guzman was arraigned Thursday before Queens Criminal Court Judge Suzanne Melendez on charges of assault, reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child. She was remanded without bail and is being held at Rikers Island. If convicted she could face up to 25 years in prison

On Tuesday morning, Mr. Brown said, Ms. Palacios, 35, left Andrea in Ms. Guzman's care around 6 a.m. when she left for work. Ms. Guzman became annoyed when Andrea, who was crying, refused her bottle. The babysitter taped a pacifier to Andrea's mouth, covering her nose and mouth and leaving her unable to breathe.

According to investigators, Ms. Guzman then pushed Andrea, who fell on the floor and lost consciousness, Mr. Brown said.

Alarmed when the girl did not awaken, she called 911 and Andrea was taken to the hospital where efforts to revive her began.

Ms. Guzman, who first told detectives that Andrea had jumped on the bed and fallen, later told investigators that she had shaken the girl, Mr. Brown said.

Ms. Guzman's lawyer, Gil Santamarina of Manhattan, said his client had several children of her own and had no criminal record.

Regarding the district attorney's account that Ms. Guzman had told investigators different stories, Mr. Santamarina said that he could not confirm that and that it was under investigation.

"She denies injuring the child," he said.

Summary: Andrea Lopez Palacios was violently shaken by her babysitter who had covered the girl's mouth and nose with duct tape, the authorities said.


Thursday, November 5th 1998, 2:05AM

THE X-FILES. Sunday, 9 p.m., FOX. 3 1/2 STARS

DINOSAURS, schmeinosaurs. Deals like the one that brought "Lost World: Jurassic Park" to Fox' airwaves Sunday won't save the network; they'll bankrupt the joint.

Fox' record $80 million payment for TV rights to the second-rate movie sequel produced a whisker-thin first-place finish among its target viewers, ages 18 to 49 for one week. To achieve even that marginal distinction, the film needed help from the prime-time spillover of a hot NFL game. By big-event standards, "Lost World" ratings were decidedly mediocre on the first of the 10 runs Fox purchased.

Fox' Sunday-night fate rests not in the wildly overpriced claws of computer-generated dinosaurs but in the tangled web of conspiracies, coverups, monsters, aliens and genetic engineering of "The X-Files."

And that fate with the phenomenal series poised at the start of its sixth season is far from certain.

Indeed, Fox is playing a very high-stakes game with this essential element of its prime-time schedule:

Last summer's feature-film spin-off, "The X-Files: Fight the Future," did decent box-office business, but it also proved creatively disappointing (or worse) to legions of committed fans of the TV show, including me.

Although connections are hard to pin down, the film's shortcomings, if not its mere release, surely had something to do with the depressed ratings for "X-Files" reruns on Fox over the summer.

The movie also failed in another of its key missions: to help intensify and broaden the excitement about and anticipation of the series' return this fall with fresh episodes. If there's a lot of buzz about Sunday's season premiere, I haven't heard it.

That's too bad; it's a terrific episode on most counts. The opening "previously on . . ." recap, for example, ingeniously includes elements from both last season's cliff-hanger and the feature film.

The new footage begins with a classic "X-Files" device: pseudo-normalcy. A carful of seemingly normal, carpooling co-workers is headed home at the end of the day. Well, all but one of them seems normal.

Distinctly abnormal (i.e., gruesome) events happen immediately, eventually drawing in Agent Mulder (David Duchovny) and Agent Scully (Gillian Anderson). Among the featured characters returning from last season's concluding episode are Agent Diana Fowley (Mimi Rogers) and that smug liar Agent Spender (Chris Owens).

The episode, written by series creator Chris Carter and directed by Kim Manners, deftly weaves together what feels like dozens of dangling plot threads into a whole that, if not entirely comprehensible, is thoroughly engaging. Carter also has included several impish gibes some subtle, some not so that take aim at a variety of targets, including the show itself, the feature film and some of the film's critics. And you might want to take special note of the name of a worker at a nuclear power plant.

But the upcoming "X-Files" landscape is not entirely sunny. An avowed homage to "The Wizard of Oz" written and directed by Carter titled "Triangle" and scheduled to air Nov. 22 attempts to blend time travel, parallel universes, Nazis and the Bermuda Triangle but turns out to be a chaotic, inconsistent mess.

If not for the novelty of its letterbox presentation (wide picture, black borders top and bottom) and some exciting camera work, the episode would qualify as one of the series' rare best-not-seen installments.

Looks like we're in for a bumpy season, Toto.

Summary: THE X-FILES. Sunday, 9 p.m., FOX. 3 1/2 STARS DINOSAURS, schmeinosaurs. Deals like the one that brought "Lost World: Jurassic Park"to Fox' airwaves Sunday won't save the network; they'll bankrupt the joint. Fox' record $80 million payment for TV rights to the second-rate movie sequel produced a whisker-thin first-place finish among its target viewers, ages 18 to 49 for one week. To achieve even that marginal distinction, the film needed help from the prime-time


By THOMAS M. DeFRANK DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF With Kenneth R. Bazinet

Thursday, February 22th 2001, 2:20AM

WASHINGTON - Former President Jimmy Carter believes Bill Clinton's "disgraceful" pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich was directly linked to financial contributions by Rich and his ex-wife.

In an unusually scathing critique of one former President by another, particularly a fellow Democrat, Carter said the Rich pardon was "highly questionable" and one of Clinton's biggest blunders as President.

Referring to the Rich case, Carter said, "I don't think there is any doubt that some of the factors in his pardon were attributable to his large gifts. In my opinion, that was disgraceful."

Clinton loyalists wasted no time shooting back.

One told the Daily News that when Clinton awarded Carter and his wife the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1999, Carter lobbied Clinton to pardon Patty Hearst, the publishing heiress and urban guerrilla. "How do you think Patty Hearst got her pardon?" the source said. "Carter asked Clinton to look at it and pardon her."

Hearst's was among the 140 clemencies and pardons issued by Clinton on his last morning in office.

As a rule, the five members of the former Presidents' club generally go out of their way to avoid criticizing one another. "It's part of the code," says a former chief of staff to a former President.

But Carter has always been a stickler for probity and has told associates he's appalled by Clinton's political and sexual scandals. He publicly criticized Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky.

Carter's comments about the Clinton pardons came during a question-and-answer session after a Tuesday business school speech at Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, near Carter's boyhood home in Plains. "I never pardoned anyone whose pardon was not recommended to me after a complete investigation by the Justice Department," he said.

His broadside came the same day as Hamilton Jordan, Carter's White House chief of staff, called Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton "The First Grifters," or con artists, in a blistering Wall Street Journal commentary.

Summary: WASHINGTON - Former President Jimmy Carter believes Bill Clinton's "disgraceful"pardon of fugitive financier Marc Rich was directly linked to financial contributions by Rich and his ex-wife. In an unusually scathing critique of one former President by another, particularly a fellow Democrat, Carter said the Rich pardon was "highly questionable"and one of Clinton's biggest blunders as President. Referring to the Rich case, Carter said, "I don't think there


BY LANCE GOULD DAILY NEWS DEPUTY FEATURES EDITOR

Thursday, February 14th 2002, 2:25AM

Good news for those who have grown weary of the style status quo - fashion is about to get an infusion of caffeine.

AmeriCo, the New York-based apparel manufacturer, has teamed up with the Pepsi-Cola Co. to produce clothing lines for both Pepsi and its sugar-loaded sister soda Mountain Dew.

What would induce anyone to step into a pair of Pepsi pants?

"It is unusual," admits AmeriCo CEO Eli Harari. "But in the business world today, if you're not unique and you're not different, you're not anywhere. You have to make some bold, bold moves to shake up the market."

The Pepsi line looks no different from a collection of collegiate button-down shirts and extra-pocketed pants from the Gap or Abercrombie & Fitch, with one exception: the very subtle use of the famous Pepsi red, white and blue globe. For now, the line, which starts at $9.88 for a T-shirt, will be available exclusively at Wal-Mart.

The Mountain Dew merchandise is targeted more specifically, at the same extreme-sports fan demographic that drinks huge quantities of the yellow citrus soda. The logo for the spring line - yes, Mountain Dew has a spring line - is "Proceed Without Caution." T-shirts will feature such colors as "lightning yellow" and "extreme green," along with such cryptic messages as "Vertical Leap Capacity" and "Maximum Height Ratio."

The Dew line (which will be available in such stores as Bob's and Belk's) also will include woven shirts, cut-and-sew knits, shorts and pants. The branding in this case will also be subtle, but more inventive, with a green-and-red "MD" placed inside pockets, at the end of pull strings, on belt loops or rubber-stamped in other spots.

So what's next - the folks at STP collaborating with Milanese designers to create a line of heavily lubricated evening wear?

Actually, the Pepsi venture is not the first attempt at brand-extension into the fashion world - even for soft drinks. Coca-Cola launched a clothing line in 1986, giving design control to then-newcomer Tommy Hilfiger. The line had its own retail outlet - Fizzazz - and became an instant multimillion-dollar hit. But sales went flat almost overnight, and the venture fizzled by the end of the '80s, losing millions.

Other brands have been seduced by the sexy world of fashion - among them Chrysler Jeep, Marlboro and Camel - but not since Coca-Cola Clothes was unveiled has there been such a serious foray into fashion as the Pepsi-Cola venture.

"The Mountain Dew line makes sense," says Irma Zandl, president of the Zandl Group, which researches trends among young consumers. "People have a real strong attachment to the brand. It's a little outrageous, and for teenage boys, Mountain Dew is almost an ersatz beer. In the same way as older men wear beer T-shirts, younger boys identify with the madness of the beverage."

Mountain Dew has been particularly successful at creating an image for its highly caffeinated product. Its ads conjure scenarios in which extreme athletes "Do the Dew" to help them windsurf, snowboard or - in over-the-top humor typical of the campaign - butt heads with wild rams.

While the Mountain Dew line capitalizes on taking things to extremes, the mood of the Pepsi line seems to be one in which toes are not even close to the edge. An AmeriCo spokesman described the line as "urban suburban" with "a little attitude, but not standing out too much."

Harari adds that it will evoke "more of an all-American multicultural lifestyle, and be music-driven." But so far there are no plans to involve Pepsi pitchwoman Britney Spears with the clothing line.

The Pepsi line, says Zandl, has a significantly less clear mandate than that of Mountain Dew.

"I don't know who that would be targeted at," says Zandl. "Pepsi is a popular brand, but I don't feel that it has the same badging quality [as Mountain Dew], where somebody would want to walk around and say, 'Hey, I'm a Pepsi person.' "

AmeriCo is exhorting young people to "think outside the can." Which is exactly what Harari himself did when he approached Pepsi-Cola with the idea of developing clothing lines affiliated with its popular soft drinks.

"They were a little taken aback," says Harari. "But I think, after several meetings, that they saw the potential."

And if the concept of "synergy" has helped forge alliances between magazines and Internet service providers, baseball teams and movie studios, why not soda and clothing?

"I think we always have ideas and plans," says Harari. "Our think tank is always full." And whatever is in there, you can be sure it's carbonated.

Summary: Soda Pop Apparel Pepsi and Mountain Dew aim to add fizz to fashion market THE SYNERGY GENERATION: As in this ad, Pepsi hopes its new clothing line will help it bond with younger consumers. By lance gould DAILY NEWS deputy feature editor ood news for those who have grown weary of the style status quo - fashion is about to get an infusion of caffeine. AmeriCo, the New York-based apparel manufacturer, has teamed up with the


By JOHN MARZULLI and HELEN PETERSON DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

Saturday, February 17th 2001, 2:20AM

Cops have busted an upper East Side prostitution ring that advertised hourly rates as high as $4,000 and allegedly was run by a frequent guest of the Howard Stern show, authorities said yesterday.

Arianna Uzo Egwu promoted the pricey call-girl operation as a high-class dating service and advertised her so-called models on a Web site, according to Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik.

Prices ran from $1,000 to $4,000 an hour and could reach $32,000 for a weekend, according to Kerik.

The operation raked in $2 million a year, he said.

Egwu, who once hosted a public-access cable TV show, is part of shock jock Stern's "wack-pack" and is known as Uzo, a law enforcement source confirmed.

Egwu, 30, claims on one of her Web pages to have been called "the most beautiful woman on Earth" by the controversial radio host. Stern could not be reached for comment.

Her Glamour Roses Web site features photographs of women - whose rates were determined based on their classification as "A," "B" or "C" models.

The site advertises "Mega Models" available for $25,000 a date and boasts it is a service for the "privileged few." But it also notes that customers may make "appointments" only 30 to 60 minutes in advance.

Egwu, a Nigerian national, is charged with promoting prostitution and money laundering.

She was ordered held without bail yesterday after being arraigned.

A source said she is building a mansion in Nigeria.

The year-long police investigation was prompted by an anonymous tip about activity at Egwu's apartment at 1474 Third Ave.

Authorities said she was in charge of the day-to-day operation, including interviewing, hiring and housing the prostitutes, as well as setting up dates for clients.

Two other women, Snejana Bedunkevich and Elena Wagnerova, also were arrested Thursday and charged with prostitution.

Cops executing search warrants recovered $212,000 from Egwu's apartment, a $68,000 limo with the license plate "DECADENT" and $417,000 from bank and investment accounts, Kerik said.

Egwu is accused of using several companies, including MCO Enterprises of NY and UE International Group, as fronts to launder the money, said Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.

He said a civil forfeiture was filed against Egwu, seeking to freeze the operation's $2 million in proceeds.

The sex ring involved at least eight apartments on E. 83rd St., E. 82nd St., E. 77th St., E. 76th St., E. 74th St., E. 66th St., E. 51st St. and E. 25th St., officials said.

Egwu's attorney could not be reached for comment.


BY GEORGE RUSH AND JOANNA MOLLOY WITH MARCUS BARAM and MARC S MALKIN

Tuesday, August 17th 1999, 2:11AM

God forbid that Oprah Winfrey, the Queen of Talk, should catch laryngitis. Or suffer an infection that blocks her sympathetic ears. Or get into some accident that, gulp, takes her show off the air.

But network bean-counters have to be prepared for the worst.

Winfrey is one of the jewels in the crown obtained by CBS when it bought King World Productions recently for $2.5 billion. And execs there want to protect their investment, says a well-placed source. If Winfrey lets them.

Several months ago, CBS approached Zurich Insurance to take take out a multi-million-dollar policy that would compensate it if Winfrey was not able to perform her duties, an insider tells us.

Insuring stars is standard practice in showbiz. But we're told that Winfrey balked at Zurich's demand that she submit to a physical.

The Swiss insurer is said to have wanted current medical data to assess the risk it was taking on. But according to our source, Winfrey's handlers didn't feel she should have to endure a new battery of tests. "They were worried about leaks," says the source.

In the end, we're told, Zurich backed away from the policy.

Winfrey rep Jerilyn Schultz says she hasn't "heard anything about" CBS' seeking to take out insurance on Winfrey, and Schultz declined to say whether King World carries an insurance policy on her. Reps for CBS and Zurich declined comment.

Two otherworldly celebs were in alignment Sunday. The Dalai Lama, earthly embodiment of the Buddha of Compassion, granted an audience to Michael Jackson, who some think is just visiting Earth.

It was the first meeting of His Holiness and His Weirdness, says a Jackson spokesman. The King of Pop arrived at the Mark Hotel wearing his traditional vestment: a black mask. The Dalai Lama, garbed in his monk's robe, spoke with the singer for about 20 minutes.

The Dalai Lama headed off yesterday for Bloomington, Ind., where he's due to spend 12 days teaching thousands of followers. Jackson is sticking around New York, finishing an album that execs at Sony Epic hope to have out for Christmas. While here, he has been catching up with some old friends. A few weeks ago, he dined at a New York apartment with Dolly Parton and Elizabeth Taylor. According to a source, the focus of much of their table talk was the death of John Kennedy Jr. and the dangers celebs face when flying private planes. (Mike Todd, Liz Hubby No. 3, died in a plane crash.)

Three days of tabloid headlines have done nothing to cool the romance of Newt Gingrich and girlfriend Callista Bisek.

The ex-House Speaker spent the weekend with the 33-year-old House Agriculture Committee aide at her Arlington, Va., condo, a D.C. spy tells us.

At first, Gingrich stayed inside while his choir-singing girlfriend did some Saturday-afternoon errands. The two then headed out around 8:30 p.m. wearing shorts with Gingrich carrying a foil-covered pan, as though headed for a summer-evening potluck before returning in Bisek's white Honda just before midnight.

John Travolta seems to have lost the knack for wearing platforms since his "Saturday Night Fever" days.

In his new sci-fi flick, "Battlefield Earth," the actor wears 2-foot-high elevated boots that would make the guys in Kiss drool.

But the air is thin at that altitude. Last week, during a scene on the movie's Montreal set, Travolta, who plays a villainous space alien, laughed so hard at a joke that he tripped over his boots and fell flat on his well-compensated butt.

"He just started laughing hysterically and stumbled in his boots," Warner Bros. publicist Pamela Godfrey tells us. "He didn't hurt himself, and he's fine."

Students at a NoHo yoga class may have had a hard time concentrating on their chakras yesterday. Twisted into a pretzel on one blue mat was Gwyneth Paltrow. On another: Madonna. The two arrived separately, both wearing Nike leotards. Madonna, who was celebrating her 41st birthday, also had on a tank top labeled "Made in India."

IT WASN'T exactly Woodstock '99, but Michael Bolton's fans tried their best Sunday night. The bland balladeer ruffled a few feathers at the benefit for his foundation when he encouraged his audience including Fox News anchor John Roland and a lady to get up and dance around Marty Richards' Southampton estate. That caused Richards to get up onstage and shout, "No one wants to look at your tuchises people have paid a lot of good money to see the performance." A blushing Bolton agreed, saying, "Marty knows best," before dashing off to field a congratulatory phone call from President Clinton. Among the dancers at the Robbins Wolfe Eventeurs-catered event were Star Jones, Keith Hernandez and Dan Jansen . . .

DON'T GET near Sean (Puffy) Combs and Jennifer Lopez with a camera. One eager shutterbug is accusing the couple's bodyguard of attacking him and stealing his film. Donnell Mitchell says that he was hired by Arista Records to shoot the pair at a radio promotion in Cleveland on Thursday. In a police report, Mitchell says that after taking a photograph of Lopez, a security goon grabbed him by the shirt and threw him against a car several times. "He was intimidated and pushed around for no reason," Robert Weakley, listed as a witness on the police report, told the Cleveland Plain Dealer . . .

LENNY KRAVITZ could be the poster boy for "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous." He handed $1 million to interior designer Michael Czysz to revamp his new Miami Beach ranch house, and promised not to return until it was completely refurbished. "When I came inside, I screamed for about 20 minutes," Kravitz says in the new Harper's Bazaar. What he saw, among many other things, was a Porsche-designed toaster, a 1999 silver 456 Ferrari parked in the driveway and a one-of-a-kind chrome Flying V guitar for the recording studio. Then there's the white floor-to-ceiling, shag-carpeted room nicknamed the "kitty box." "I've caught people doing naughty things in there," Kravitz says, "but I can't tell you who." . . .

GENTLEMEN, CALM your libidos. Brainy, leggy New York Times reporter Alex Kuczinski is not back on the market. After an item ran elsewhere that the media scribe was the party "date" of lawyer Richard Emery, who's going through a messy divorce with actress Lori Singer, word went out that she had split up with ABC News correspendent John Miller. "No way," she tells us. "John was away for '20/20,' so I brought Richard as my date to the party. But he wasn't my 'date date.' " Got that?


Production for her season of

begins next month but Maynard, 25, isn't quite ready.

"It really hasn't hit me, what I've signed on to do," she tells PEOPLE. "I'm scared to death."

Last June when Maynard and

, she swore she "had no intentions of ever being the next Bachelorette."

"I genuinely meant that," Maynard explains. "I feel like the biggest hypocrite because I said that and now I'm doing it."

"I know it can work," Maynard says. "I fell in love the first time and no, we didn't end up getting married, but in the end just falling in love, for me, is a success."

The show will film in Charlotte, N.C., where Maynard is

Ricki, 6, as well as in other locations.

"She's not going to be involved in a lot of filming and certainly not meeting the guys," Maynard says. "But she's really excited to go on vacation with Mommy."

While many find it hard to believe that the blonde beauty would have trouble finding a date, Maynard says dating for single moms can be a challenge.

"My schedule is very different than a normal single guy's schedule. I can't go out every night of the week," she says. "They just kind of fizz out before they ever have a chance to become anything. I have to take things slowly because I have a daughter, so that makes it really hard."

Summary: Brad Womack's ex admits she never thought she'd be looking for love on TV again


An unprecedented action-adventure film,“Act of Valor” stars a group of active-duty U.S. Navy SEALs in a fictionalized portrayal of real anti-terrorism operations. But for star Roselyn Sanchez, who plays a CIA operative held captive, it wasn’t just the story line that piqued her interest – it was also a welcome change to star alongside real American servicemen as opposed to Hollywood actors.

“What surprised me was how unaffected and cool they were," Sanchez told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column of the SEALs. "Here they were doing a Hollywood movie and it wasn’t a big deal, they went along for the ride, they did their thing and they were incredible. I didn’t see any diva behavior. It was new for me to work with guys that even if they were waiting around for eight hours and didn’t have a trailer, they were content. It was refreshing.”

And for directors Mike “Mouse” McCoy and Scott Waugh of Bandito Brothers, the film – which hits theaters Friday – would never have worked out without the real SEALs not only in the starring roles, but also writing a large portion of the script.

CLICK HERE FOR AN EXCLUSIVE FIRST LOOK AT 'ACT OF VALOR'

“As were led inside the community, we connected with this brotherhood of men that totally blew us away. We thought this was something that only existed in mythology,” McCoy explained. “But when we really connected with these men, and learned about the real acts of valor that have happened on the battlefield over the last ten years, they were more mind-blowing than anything a Hollywood screenwriter could write… And all the operational planning was done by the SEALs, every op you see go done in the movie, it was written by the SEALs so it is 100 percent legit.”

“The caliber of these guys was just so unbelievably amazing," McCoy added. "They were some of the most competent, intellectual, dynamic men you have ever met in your lives,” he said. “Given the weight of the subject matter and paying respect to their communities, the only way to do it was with the real guys.”

But “Act of Valor” not only seeks to showcase the skills and tenacity of our SEALs, but also the sacrifices their families make in the fight to keep all Americans safe.

“We strived to make this movie appeal to women. It is the Navy SEALs so guys are going to love it – but we set out to capture the women’s sacrifice too, they are just as heroic as the men. They have their own acts of valor that might never be recognized,” Waugh said.

The directors also hope moviegoers leave the cinema with a deeper respect for our servicemen and women.

“They don’t do it for recognition, and that was really the exploration of the film,” Waugh noted. “Why do these people do these incredible acts of valor for no recognition? It’s a rare breed of people these days and we wanted to play homage to that.”

And for Sanchez, her biggest desire is that Americans will walk away with a richer understanding of what really goes on beyond and borders – and why.

“It’s important for America and the world to know – all these people risk their lives every day to make sure we are okay,” she added. “America is already in love with, and fascinated by the NAVY Seals, and I think after watching this movie that love affair is going to be even stronger. You leave loving them and really respecting what they do.”

Summary: An unprecedented action-adventure film,“Act of Valor” stars a group of active-duty U.S. Navy SEALs in a fictionalized portrayal of real anti-terrorism operations. But for star Rosalyn Sanchez, who plays a CIA operative held captive, it wasn’t just the storyline that piqued her interest – it was also a relief to star alongside real American servicemen as opposed to Hollywood actors.


away on a military mission,

is a newlywed on her own – but she's hardlyÂ sitting home alone waiting.

Instead, she is confidently stepping out solo into the royal spotlight, and impressing royal insiders and commoners alike with her grace and charm.

In this week's cover story, PEOPLE steps inside Kate's world, chatting with people who've met her during her six recent royal engagements at charities of her choice. All were moved by the Duchess of Cambridge's friendly and warm manner.

"We were a bit nervous," parent Diane Squire said after Kate met her daughter, 12-year-old Megan, who has cancer, at a Liverpool hospital. "But she was lovely."

ThoughÂ William is 7,500 miles away, the couple keeps their love alive through phone calls, emails and Skype. Kate often referred to her husband during her recent engagement, and even told one young girl that William had sent her a card and flowers on Valentine's Day.

Summary: Kate is making quite the good impression on her own at her first solo royal appearances


Ashley Alexandra Dupré, the woman at the center of New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's call-girl scandal, withdrew her $10-million lawsuit against

founder Joe Francis and his film company on Thursday afternoon.

The suit, originally filed in April, claimed that Dupré's name and image had been exploited for profit.

"Ms. Dupré wants to eliminate all negativity from her life and focus on the positive," DuprÃ©'s attorney Richard C. Wolfe said in a statement. "She has prospects for many exciting new projects and is looking forward to starting a new chapter."

Francis could not immediately be reached for comment.

The lawsuit alleged that Dupré was duped into signing a release form and exposing her breasts for

cameras in 2003, when she was only 17.

After the lawsuit was filed, Francis said he was "surprised and in fact amazed" by her claims, noting that he had not released new video of Dupré "due to corporate policy of not using footage of individuals younger than 18." Francis also asserted that Dupré gave her consent on video when the footage was taken, and at that time provided his camera crew with identification that showed she was 18. Francis later released video clips that supported those assertions.

Summary: She "wants to eliminate all negativity from her life," her lawyer says


-- Kirk Gibson, whose Diamondbacks began September 8 1/2 games out of first place, is looking at last year's Cardinals as motivation. With 32 games to play, the Cards were 9 1/2 back of Atlanta before capturing the NL wild card. Here's a better example: Playoff-bound Tampa Bay trailed Boston by nine games with 24 to play.

-- One of the best races could go down to the wire: Bob Melvin vs. Buck Showalter vs. Robin Ventura for the AL Manager of the Year Award.

-- In the NL? For now, it's Clint Hurdle over Davey Johnson, Dusty Baker and Bruce Bochy.

-- So Bud Selig took a flight to Minneapolis for a news conference announcing the Twins would be hosting the 2014 All-Star Game, and splashed across the front page of the Minneapolis Star Tribune was a story on ... the Twins putting Joe Mauer on waivers. No worries. He wasn't claimed or traded. Now the question is whether Mauer will have enough game to earn a '14 All-Star spot.

-- Second baseman Chase Utley started taking grounders at third. His idea. A possible career move so that Freddy Galvis could stay at second. The Phillies aren't expected to pick up Placido Polanco's option. But the guy playing there recently needs to get a look in 2013. After all, Kevin Frandsen is hitting .353 in 31 games.

-- The Nationals are having us believe Stephen Strasburg, above, who has thrown 150 1/3 innings, will pitch Sunday (against the Cards), Sept. 7 (Marlins) and Sept. 12 (Mets), then shut it down. Can't wait for John Lannan, Strasburg's supposed replacement, to anchor the rotation the rest of the way.

Summary: -- Kirk Gibson, whose Diamondbacks began September 8 1/2 games out of first place, is looking at last year's Cardinals as motivation.  -- So Bud Selig took a flight to Minneapolis for a news conference announcing the Twins would be hosting the 2014 All-Star Game, and splashed across the front page of the Minneapolis Star Tribune was a story on ... the Twins putting Joe Mauer on waivers.  -- The Nationals are having us believe Stephen Strasburg, above, who has thrown 150 1/3 innings, will pitch Sunday (against the Cards), Sept. 7 (Marlins) and Sept. 12 (Mets), then shut it down.  Can't wait for John Lannan, Strasburg's supposed replacement, to anchor the rotation the rest of the way.


If you're looking to lose weight these days, you're not short on options. In fact, the quandary for many people can oftentimes be in determining which avenue is the most effective.

A recent study published in the Journal of Applied Physiology should help gym-goers decide whether to hit the treadmill or the dumbells.

Researchers at Duke divided more than 100 overweight or obese adults into three groups: A section of people who did resistance training, another that did aerobic exercise and a group that did both. The participants worked out for between two and three hours each week.

Those in the aerobic and the mixed group lost the most weight, followed by the resistance group. From these results, researchers concluded that cardio should be the main (but not only) focus of people looking to cut pounds

"If you’re overweight, it’s good to lose fat and body weight,” said Dr. Leslie Willis, lead author of the study and an exercise physiologist at Duke. "Spend time doing cardio training if that’s your main goal."

It should be noted, however, that resistance training is still valuable, especially for people looking to build toned muscles.

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Summary: If you're looking to lose weight these days, you're not short on options. In fact, the quandary for many people can oftentimes be in determining which...


For Nissan 360, the Nissan Motor Companyâs month-long product jamboree in southern California, the company annexed the driveway at the posh Pelican Hill Resort in Newport Beach to create a memorable family reunion photo.

This impressive and improbable array of historical vehicles dates to the 1930s, and includes such confections as the lovely Fairlady Roadster of 1961 (a car named after the Lerner and Loewe musical My Fair Lady) and the R390 GT1 Le Mans racer (styled by British designer Tony Southgate, who penned the Jaguar XJR-9 and Ferrari 333 SP racers).

Nissan 360 gives journalists the rare opportunity to sample some 130 different models, new and old, concept and production, on a closed course within the former US Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro, and on the streets of Orange County.

The lineup in this family photo includes the following vehicles:

Summary: In California, the Japanese automaker snaps a photo photo eight decades in the making.


The Harvard University endowment posted an 11.3 percent gain on its investments for the fiscal year ended June 30, up from a roughly flat performance in the prior 12 months but slightly underperforming its rival Yale University.

Harvard’s gain outpaced its own internal goal and broad market indexes, ending the year with $32.7 billion in assets. US and foreign stocks drove the performance, with hedge funds and real estate also reaping significant gains for the nation’s largest university endowment, even as returns in bonds and emerging markets were modest.

Five years into her tenure as chief executive of Harvard Management Co., Jane Mendillo trumpeted the endowment’s improved performance since the financial crisis and the measures she has taken to reduce risk.

“I am very proud of the internal and external managers we have in place and the results they have achieved,” Mendillo said in her annual report on the endowment released Tuesday. She said managers outperforming their benchmarks had added $600 million to the university’s portfolio “over and above the markets.”

While the Standard & Poor’s 500 index jumped 20.6 percent in the fiscal year, Harvard’s portfolio is diversified with a mix of bonds, commodities, private equity, and other assets. A hypothetical portfolio composed of 60 percent global stocks and 40 percent bonds would have risen 10 percent in the year.

Meanwhile, Yale said its $20.8 billion endowment had a 12.5 percent return over the same period. And the $53 billion Massachusetts state pension fund also outpaced Harvard with a 12.7 percent gain.

Mendillo has sought to lower risk in the Harvard endowment since it lost more than one-quarter of its value in the turbulent market of 2008-2009. Her more cautious approach has brought even but less spectacular returns than Harvard enjoyed at times in the past.

Mendillo has made big bets on emerging markets and real estate investments, while also reducing fixed-income holdings as a long bull market in bonds ended.

She has also ended a practice of borrowing additional money to invest as a strategy to boost returns.

The university counts on the endowment to deliver more than one-third of its annual operating budget. Excluding this sum, which Harvard did not disclose Tuesday, the endowment would have regained its peak asset level of nearly $37 billion reached before the financial crisis, officials said. Last weekend, Harvard announced a new campaign to raise $6.5 billion from alumni and other donors by 2018.

Mendillo said in the outlook section of her report that “the world’s economies and markets continue to be full of uncertainty,” including challenges with the federal budget and debt problems overseas. But she sees potential for Harvard’s endowment in areas where the fund is looking for opportunities, such as direct real estate investments.

The new strategy of investing directly in real estate deals generated a return of 15.8 percent last year, compared with a 5.3 percent return from the endowment’s older real estate fund investments.

Mendillo also continues to believe that emerging markets, where the fund has increased its stake, will pay off over the long term. That wasn’t the case last year, when Brazil, India, and China all posted disappointing returns, she said.

Harvard’s historic strength in managing bonds came through last year, with the endowment eking out singe-digit gains in fixed-income, even as bonds generally lost money.

Endowment managers are keeping an eye on private equity — an asset class that has delivered an 11 percent return last year. Private equity returns have been decreasing over time, making the investments potentially less attractive than public stocks that are easier to buy and sell.

“As a result, we are actively focused on honing our private equity strategy to maintain the highest concentration in the very best managers with the greatest potential to add value,’’ Mendillo said.

Summary: The Harvard University endowment posted an 11.3 percent gain on its investments for the past fiscal year, up from roughly flat performance the prior year, but still did not return the fund to its prerecession size. Harvard’s gains beat the endowment’s internal target as well as broad market indexes, ending the year with $32.7 billion in assets. US and foreign stocks, hedge funds, and real estate drove the performance for the nation’s largest university endowment, while returns in bonds and emerging markets were modest. Five years into her tenure as chief executive of Harvard Management Co., Jane Mendillo trumpeted the endowment’s improved performance since the financial crisis of 2008 and her measures to reduce risk.


On Thursday, Senate Republicans blocked President Obama’s nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, Gina McCarthy. But as Republican obstructionism goes, this wasn’t your everyday obstructionism. Republicans actually boycotted a committee vote to deny a quorum, prompting committee chair, California Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer, to proclaim that Republicans should ”Get out of the fringe lane.”

Republicans wouldn’t even let the nominee out of committee. But here’s the other reason blocking this nomination is so extraordinary: Gina McCarthy is currently the assistant administrator for the Office of Air and Radiation at the EPA. In other words she is the head of EPA’s air pollution regulation efforts, and as head of the EPA would have the authority, as its current head does, under the Clean Air Act, to regulate carbon—an idea that Republicans and their fossil fuel backers really hate. That’s why the committee’s ranking Republican, Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, and his brethren, want McCarthy and the EPA to first answer more than 1,000 questions about the “underlying data used to justify the EPA’s job killing regulations.”

You see, the EPA is our best shot right now at regulating carbon and regulating carbon is pretty damn important considering the milestone we are approaching. We learned that we are about to pass 400 parts per million in the amount of carbon in the atmosphere. That may not mean anything to you it certainly didn’t mean anything to me. So here’s the context for it. The last time that we had 400 parts per million of carbon in the atmosphere wasn’t a century ago, wasn’t a thousand years ago and it wasn’t ten thousand years ago.

It was 800,000 years ago, according to ice core records of atmospheric carbon dioxide. It’s now higher it is than any other period of time over the past 800,000 years. And in fact, even that is an understatement. What’s more likely, is that the last time we hit those levels of carbon in the atmosphere was about three to five million years ago, otherwise known as the Pliocene era.

Now I don’t know much about the Pliocene era but average temperatures were 3 to 4 degrees higher than today’s with sea levels between 5 and 40 meters higher than today. And yes, there were mammoths. So pro, A lot of mammoths. Con, hot as balls. With as a bonus, really, extraordinarily high sea levels, particularly if that kind of sea level rise were to happen again today. But of course that doesn’t matter to Republicans because they’re either so in the pocket of big carbon that they want to deny it or they’ve decided, as some might put it, that God won’t allow us to ruin the earth.

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, who offered a stunning 17 minute answer to that un-named person’s statement, including the notion that any God who gave us earth also gave us its natural laws. If no divine power stops gravity from operating, no divine power will stop the heating of our planet, when we know that are putting an element into the atmosphere at outrageous levels, that will lead to an untenably hot planet.

It’s time for Republicans to get out of the fringe lane, out of the pocket of big carbon, and into reality. Before we’re all riding woolly mammoths underwater.

Summary: On Thursday, Senate Republicans blocked President Obama's nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency, Gina McCarthy. But as Republican obstructionism


05/19/2014 at 07:00 PM EDT

Beyoncé, Jay Z, Tina Knowles, Solange Knowles

and Jay Z are united, look no further than their

Beyoncé, 32, posted happy shots of the family together in New Orleans – where Solange, 27, lives – two days after

seen all over the world.

The rest of the photos include shots of them posing with mom Tina Knowles, Solange's boyfriend Alan Ferguson and son Daniel Julez – even 2-year-old Blue Ivy gets in on the action.

"New Orleans May 17th 2014," she captioned

between Solange and Jay Z, the source says they are a happy family.

"They all have fun together. They've always been really cool with each other and [Beyoncé and Jay Z] like being around Solange and her friends," says the source.

Beyoncé and Jay Z, 44, recently released a

for their summer tour, which kicks off on June 25. And another source adds Solange is busy working on her new album and with her role as art director for PUMA.

Summary: The family put on a united front while visiting New Orleans