A decade ago Marc Benioff declared that software was dead. In 1999, while on leave from his job at Oracle orcl , he convened a group of developers in his downtown San Francisco apartment building to build Salesforce.com. Soon thereafter he paid the quirky rockers the B-52’s $250,000 to perform at a bash where he distributed buttons with the word “software” crossed out, Ghostbusters-style. And that was all before he had signed up a single customer.

Benioff’s audacious goal: to take down enterprise software’s stalwarts (including Benioff’s employer) with a new business that let companies rent the software they use instead of buying it.

It was outrageous! It was brazen! And it worked. Salesforce crm , now a public company with a market capitalization of about $3.5 billion, generates revenue of more than $1 billion a year—a 60% five-year annual growth rate—all from providing software subscriptions to businesses. “We’ve always believed everything’s going into the cloud,” Benioff says triumphantly.

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See Salesforce on 2016 Change the World list HERE.

Benioff, 44, is the original evangelist of what’s now known in tech circles as “cloud computing.” That’s shorthand for centralized computing services that are delivered over the Internet (a.k.a. the “cloud”). He sold companies — from small businesses to Merrill Lynch — on the notion that they should stop investing in expensive servers, elaborate software systems, and regular maintenance fees to handle their customer-management databases. Instead he persuaded them to pay Salesforce a monthly fee and log on to their software programs over the web. No more PC updates. No more computer crashes when the traffic spikes. Salesforce would manage it all.

The biggest purveyors of software, companies such as Oracle, SAP, and Microsoft msft , initially scoffed at Benioff’s idea. Centralized computing was fine for small businesses and consumers. (Web-based e-mail such as Google’s Gmail is a good example of simple cloud computing.)

Oracle launched a service on Sales.com. Tag line? “No force necessary.”

But it seemed unlikely that security-conscious Fortune 500 companies would store their software and critical customer data on central computers that they didn’t own and control. (Some are still scoffing. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has called the current fascination with cloud computing “complete gibberish,” though he helped fund Salesforce and hasn’t sold his stake in the company.)

Benioff’s relentless marketing and promotion—some would say self-promotion—of software as a subscription service hasn’t always helped his cause; some competitors rolled their eyes and dismissed him as a showman rather than a serious business executive.

But as broadband networks proliferated and Salesforce rolled out ever tighter security systems (more on that in a moment), customers started signing up. It also helped that more corporations, including brokerages and banks, grew comfortable—even preferred—using offsite data centers to back up precious data.

Now, as the economic downturn forces businesses to cut back on their tech spending, a growing number of companies are turning to Salesforce, rival NetSuite (N) (another company that Oracle’s Ellison financed), and others as a cheaper alternative to purchasing software. Research firm IDC expects overall spending on subscription software to grow at a compounded 18% a year, to $19.8 billion, by 2012. As the biggest standalone software-as-a-service company in the industry, Salesforce is sure to benefit from the uptick in demand.

Read More: The Salesforce Do-Good Legacy

The typical Salesforce customer is a company like the Minneapolis-based Haagen-Dazs Shoppe, which is owned by Nestle USA. Brand manager Julie Michelutti figures that she would have had to spend $65,000 for a custom-designed database to help her stay in contact with the company’s retail franchises. Instead she spent an initial $20,000 to establish service with Salesforce, and she now pays $125 per month for 20 users to remotely monitor, via the web or their PDAs, all the Haagen-Dazs franchises across the country.

Software companies are taking notice. Despite Ellison’s comments, Oracle at the end of January launched a new version of its online sales-management product, which seems to be a direct swipe at Benioff. The product, inelegantly called CRM On Demand Release 16, can be found at the website sales.com, and a tag line reads: “No force necessary.” It has an estimated 5,000 customers to Salesforce’s 51,800 customers, but prices are competitive and it particularly appeals to companies that have long used Oracle’s products.

In February, SAP said it would be releasing a software-as-a-service product in May. And Microsoft also has customer-management software available. IBM ibm just named a cloud-computing czar, and Google goog and Amazon amzn are launching ambitious initiatives that will bring down the cost of computing by using the Internet to deliver applications that companies formerly purchased. (For more on the competitive landscape, “The Client-Server Model: Not Dead Yet.”)

To keep the lead in the market that his company created, Benioff has entered some new areas. The company last year launched Force.com, where developers can build their own software to integrate with Salesforce software. Now if a company uses Salesforce to manage its customer databases, it can build an application to manage, say, its human resources as well. Salesforce says its largest customer runs 13 software programs on Force.com, in addition to the original customer management service. “There are few places to go once you’re hooked into the Salesforce community,” says Forrester Research analyst Liz Herbert. “It wouldn’t be easy to switch off and go to a competitor.” (See correction at end of story.)

Still, a number of companies remain committed to owning and hosting their own software, and despite the tough economic times, they are loath to try something new, especially if it means making additional investments, however meager. What’s more, it’s not clear that software delivered over the web costs less in the long run. Certainly it’s cheaper for the first couple of years, but, asks Gartner analyst Rob DiSisto, “will the expense of upgrading and managing it eventually be higher than the fee you are paying to the provider?”

Salesforce also has worked hard to address perhaps the biggest concern of large users: security. Thus far Salesforce has recorded only one security breach, a phishing attack in November 2007. Benioff says all his major customers send auditors to Salesforce to check security, and he personally gives about 100 data-center tours every year in which customers and their auditors literally kick in the doors to make sure that fire alarms go off; they also try to hack into servers. “What’s unusual is that no one else gets this constant drumbeat of security checking,” boasts Benioff. “Because of that, we’ve got some of the best architecture in the world.

It’s not clear software delivered via the net will be cheaper in the long run.

Just as in the rental market for housing, customers have more flexibility when they pay month to month than when they’ve invested in huge upfront costs. If their sentiments turn, they can leave easily. If they lay people off, they can simply cut down on the number of subscriptions they buy. To hold on to its customers, Salesforce must be vigilant about staying atop their needs so that it doesn’t lose existing business even as it tries to grow. Perhaps that’s why Benioff continues to add staff to his sales team, even as tech companies pull back. Last fall, as Google, Intel intc , and Yahoo yhoo laid off workers, Salesforce hired a platform truck to make its way down the Valley’s central artery, Highway 101, with a billboard blaring LIFE-CHANGING CAREERS; GAME-CHANGING TECHNOLOGY. It’s the kind of audacious come-on people have come to expect from Benioff, only this time no one was rolling his eyes.

Read More: Why Salesforce Is Buying This Little-Known Startup

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified analyst Liz Herbert. She is an analyst with Forrester Research, not Gartner.

A version of this article appears in the March 2, 2009 issue of Fortune.

Summary: Cost cutting could cause a surge in demand for Salesforce.com's web-based services.


FRANKFURT—German sporting goods dynamo Adidas AG was supposed to be celebrating around now, having just sponsored both the World Cup and the winning German team. Instead the company stunned investors with a profit warning Thursday that sent its shares plunging as much as 16%.

Adidas said second-quarter net profit fell 16% from the year-earlier period to €144 million ($193 million). Revenue rose 2% to €3.47 billion. Operating profit fell almost 13% to €220 million.

The company blamed the earnings hit on currency woes, weakening golf-equipment sales, lower consumer spending in Russia and, in a painful twist, the cost of its World Cup marketing. The worsening situation in Russia, which from Friday faces increasing Western sanctions, was prompting Adidas to rethink its strategy there, the company said.

The litany of troubles led Adidas to slash its net profit forecast for the year to around €650 million from a previous range of €830 million to €930 million. The company also said it wouldn't achieve profit targets previously set for next year. In response, the board had taken "strategic decisions" to boost profitability, the company said.

"Our goal is very clear: to strengthen our brand for long-term success," said spokeswoman Katja Schreiber.

At 1425 GMT, Adidas shares traded at €59.56, down 15% from Wednesday's close.

"We find the warning alarming" because it shows Adidas must believe it faces enormous pressure, said Deutsche Bank in a research note.

Adidas isn't alone in its troubles. German rival Puma, owned by French luxury giant Kering SA, on Tuesday posted falling sales and profits for the recent quarter, mainly due to currency pressures. Puma launched a turnaround plan after issuing two profit warnings in less than one year, most recently in May 2013. On Tuesday it maintained its earnings forecast.

Puma is trying to revive its brand by launching a big new marketing campaign. It will run until the 2016 Olympic Games and feature some of the brand's top celebrities, including Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, Chief Executive Björn Gulden said Tuesday. But repositioning Puma and the turnaround will take time, he cautioned.

Adidas last year extended its partnership with World Cup organizer FIFA to 2030. Earlier in July, it unseated U.S. rival Nike Inc. from its sponsorship of Manchester United Ltd. Adidas is offering the enormously popular team more than $103 million ahead of the European Championship games in 2016.

Adidas doesn't disclose financial details of its World Cup partnership and hasn't commented on marketing expenses for the games. Consultants estimate it spent at least $150 million on its sponsorship and for marketing linked to this year's games. The impact remains unclear, however.

"Nike reported very, very strong World Cup figures and Adidas doesn't seem to be mentioning it," said Jon Copestake, retail analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit in London. He said many consumers believe Nike was an official World Cup sponsor. Nike only sponsored individual teams.

Away from sponsorships, Adidas said lower consumer spending and higher political risk in Russia and surrounding countries had prompted it to halt plans for new stores there and to close some to "reduce risk and protect profit." Adidas has roughly 1,000 stores in the region.

"We will ask ourselves what investment really makes sense given the risky situation," Ms. Schreiber said.

Even on sedate American putting greens Adidas faces headaches. Sales of its TaylorMade golf equipment fell 18% in the second quarter compared with the year earlier. The slump appears to be part of a broader trend: U.S. retail chain Dick's Sporting Goods earlier this month said it would lay off more than 400 golf instructors.

Adidas said it would reduce inventory at TaylorMade and begin restructuring. Details of the plan and second-quarter earnings are slated for Aug. 7.

Adidas didn't break out current revenue but in 2013 its sales in Russia and its golf business were roughly equivalent to the €2 billion Adidas expects from soccer sales this year.

—Ruth Bender and Natali Schwab contributed to this article.

Write to Monica Houston-Waesch at nikki.houston@wsj.com

Adidas warned on profit, citing challenges in its golf business. An earlier version of a headline and URL on this article incorrectly said Adidas cited challenges in its gold business.

Summary: The German sporting goods company stunned investors by slashing its profit forecast for the year, citing challenges to its golf business, lower consumer spending in Russia and the cost of its World Cup marketing.


Trump to attend African American service...

This weekend, Donald Trump is set to attend an African American church service in Detroit. The Senior Pastor of that church and co-founder of the Impact Network, Bishop Wayne T. Jackson, joins MSNBC’s Tamron Hall to discuss this event and comment on...

MSNBC Live with Tamron Hall

Summary: Joy Reid talks to Marco Gutierrez, founder of the group Latinos for Trump.


LAGUNA BEACH, Calif.—Activist investor Paul Singer doesn’t think conflict is brewing with Samsung Electronics Co. , one of the latest targets in his quest to push for changes that benefit shareholders.

He said he is encouraged by Samsung’s public comments that leaders of the South Korean company are receptive to the ideas recently put forward by his firm, Elliott Management Corp.

“We are optimistic about that one—we think it’s a tremendous platform and a tremendous value,” Mr. Singer said Tuesday during an appearance at The Wall Street Journal’s WSJDLive 2016 global technology conference.

In early October, Elliott disclosed an effort to push Samsung to reshape and simplify its complicated ownership structure, by bundling its various ownership stakes in the other Samsung entities into a new holding company. Mr. Singer said it had also proposed a U.S. stock listing for the company, whose shares have been only traded in South Korea.

Elliott disclosed its effort after Samsung announced its recall of the Galaxy Note 7 but before its decision to kill the product altogether. Mr. Singer said Elliott’s efforts to push for changes at Samsung were unrelated to the product problems, which doesn’t “shake or shatter our belief” about the possibility of changes that could reward holders of the company’s stock.

Mr. Singer, a billionaire and famed stock picker, founded Elliott in 1977. The firm has become one of the most successful activist hedge funds.

His firm and other activist investors have pushed companies in many industries to make changes aimed at boosting stock prices and rewarding shareholders. Activists have targeted big U.S. tech companies including Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Qualcomm Inc., prodding the companies to buy back more shares and boost dividends.

Elliott and others investors also recently launched a coordinated effort, called the Council for Investor Rights and Corporate Accountability, or Circa, to make the case to lawmakers and the American public that their investment strategy is beneficial to companies and the U.S. economy.

Their push follows criticism by politicians that include Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, who last year proposed changing the tax code to crack down on “hit and run” activists.

Mr. Singer said that the short-term image is misplaced, when it comes to Elliott. He says his firm typically holds stakes in companies for two years, compared with the one-and-a-half years he said is the average for other institutional investors.

He said his firm does extensive research before deciding to take positions in companies. “We don’t just show up,” he said.

Mr. Singer said one of its most successful efforts was at Citrix Systems Inc., a software company that he said had made a series of ill-conceived acquisitions and other steps that had destroyed shareholder value. After reaching a settlement with the company in 2015, Elliott pushed for change that included replacing Citrix’s chief executive. Jesse Cohn, who leads Elliott’s activist efforts, took the rare step of joining Citrix’s board.

Mr. Singer said he is very excited about the potential at Citrix now. “For the last couple of quarters the revenues in its core product have grown,” he said.

Write to Don Clark at don.clark@wsj.com

Corrections & Amplifications: Jesse Cohn, who leads Elliott’s activist efforts, took the rare step of joining Citrix’s board. An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified him as Jesse Cohen. (Oct. 25, 2016)

Summary: Activist investor Paul Singer doesn’t think conflict is brewing with Samsung Electronics Co., one of the latest targets in his quest to push for changes that benefit shareholders.


Gayle Dunlop was so badly beaten on a daily basis by her partner that her face never had a chance to heal.

"It was every day, every single day," the 60-year-old woman told the Victorian Supreme Court of the abuse she suffered from John Reed.

Mr Reed died in hospital in July last year aged 63 after a fight with Ms Dunlop in their Seaford flat.

She was charged with his murder but was acquitted by a Victorian Supreme Court jury on Thursday after they heard of the catalogue of violence she endured for decades. She was also acquitted of his manslaughter.

Ms Dunlop had hit a low point in her troubled life when she met Mr Reed in the late 1980s.

Her nine-week-old son had just died of SIDS.

"We were soul mates straight away," Ms Dunlop, 60, said.

"He showed me love, cuddles, I felt safe and I felt secure with him."

But she didn't forsee then that her low point was about to get even lower.

Her childhood had been characterised by alcohol-fuelled violence, with her mother "covered in bruises all the time".

Her father had never been affectionate - she said - and she was lonely when Mr Reed came into her life.

"He asked me the next day would I be his lady and I said yes."

Soon after, Mr Reed said this to her: "If you love someone set them free. If they don't come back, hunt them down and kill them."

He was beginning to change, but "I was too blind to see it", she said.

"(He) was already isolating me from people and very controlling and everything that I did he controlled.

"If I spoke to a male or spoke to a friend he just got so jealous, like I was his."

In one incident, described by Ms Dunlop to the court, he threw her over a balcony.

"I've managed just to grab on to the concrete part and I was begging him to get me up," Ms Dunlop said.

"He's just looking at me, `Get yourself up, you bitch."

Whenever somebody asked questions about Ms Dunlop's appearance they would move.

By the time of Mr Reed's death they had lived in between 40 and 50 houses.

Their daughter Mika was born in 1990.

One night when "Mika was only a babe in arms" he started yelling for money, punching the wall, shouting "If you don't f***n' give me that card ... I'll kill you".

When Mika was five he broke a glass in Ms Dunlop's arm, dragged her over jagged paving - leaving a trail of blood - and threw her in a wheely bin.

She wasn't allowed to go anywhere without him and developed a "phobia" of people.

If she made doctors' appointments, he would cancel them.

Police attended their Seaford flat on July 1 last year to find Ms Dunlop with a bloodied head.

On July 18, they fought again.

As Ms Dunlop tried to escape Mr Reed grabbed her and said, "You're going f****n' nowhere, you bitch"

Ms Dunlop described a look on his face that she'd seen before.

"It's just like everything just drains away and he just looks like the devil," she said.

"I know that look, that I'm in for one hell of a beating or dead."

He was still leaning over her when she grabbed a footstool, turned and hit him over the head, twice.

"I just wanted to stop him so I could get out the door," she said.

Summary: A woman in her 60s has been acquitted of murdering her partner in Victoria last year.


Mopar in recent years has been bringing some serious muscle to the annual SEMA show.

$150 to $1,500 for finding faults.

Google is becoming a soccer mom.

You can get a lot of very cool features in the new Chrysler Pacifica.

Chrysler is sending the Town and Country out to pasture.

Fiat Chrysler is back in hot water with U.S. auto safety regulators.

Summary: Chrysler is an American automaker that produces cars, convertibles and minivans and has a global alliance with Italian manufacturer Fiat.


Protesters demanding South Korean President Park Geun-hye step down have marched for a seventh straight weekend, a day after parliament voted overwhelmingly to impeach her.

The crowd estimated by organisers at 200,000 packing a large square in downtown Seoul on Saturday was much smaller than in recent weeks but festive, with music between speeches calling for Park's early removal.

"We demand the Constitutional Court make a decision of conscience and justice and do not act against the will of the people," Jung Kang-ja, one of the leaders of a coalition of civic groups backing the rally, said.

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, who became acting president late on Friday after the impeachment vote, called for rallies to be peaceful and sought to calm anxiety over national security and reassure financial markets

"Financial and foreign exchange markets have been relatively stable and there are no signs of unusual movements by the North but all public servants should bear vigilance in mind as they conduct their duties," Hwang said.

Park's powers were suspended after 234 of parliament's 300 members voted to impeach her, meaning more than 60 members of her own party backed the motion against her.

The impeachment, which has to be reviewed and approved by the Constitutional Court within 180 days to remove Park from office, sets the stage for her to become the country's first elected leader to be ousted in disgrace.

The 64-year-old daughter of a former military ruler, is accused of colluding with a friend and a former aide, both of whom prosecutors have indicted, to pressure businesses to donate to foundations set up to back her policies.

Park, who is serving a single five-year term ending in February 2018, has denied wrongdoing but apologised for carelessness in her ties with her friend, Choi Soon-sil.

For seven consecutive weekends, huge crowds have gathered in central Seoul in demonstrations calling for Park to step down.

The candle-lit rallies have been peaceful, with parents bringing children and many demonstrators using smartphone apps with candlelight images and maps for bathrooms.

If Park leaves office early, an election must be held within 60 days.

Summary: South Korean protesters plan to march near the Seoul presidential palace in celebration at the impeachment of President Park Geun-hye.


An accused Melbourne drug kingpin allegedly found with 3D printed guns has pleaded to stay out of jail because he will miss his mum's last Christmas.

Francesco Molinaro was arrested in raids on his Noble Park home on Sunday after a five month police operation.

"Can't you just give me bail, please?" Molinaro told an out of sessions court hearing on Sunday night.

"It's going to be my mum's last Christmas, please."

The 30-year old was hit with 35 charges, including commercial trafficking of ice and GHB, as well as selling guns.

Police allegedly found 3D printed guns at Molinaro's home, along with regular guns, and said he was the kingpin of the drug operation.

Molinaro said he had "a little plan" to go to a drug detox facility in Toorak if he got bail.

"Which my grandparents said they would pay for me... I just never took them up on the offer," he said.

Co-accused Patrick Arena, 43, was allegedly financing Molinaro's operation, but he told the court he only bought so much ice because he could afford it for personal use.

Arena and Molinaro allegedly used emojis as a code for drug orders - a bottle for GHB, and a bowl for ice.

Police also allegedly found $49,000 in cash, ice, magic mushrooms, IDs, 11 silver bars and a gold ingot at a property linked to another co-accused, Andy Pantzoglou.

"I'm not a stupid boy, I know how serious this is going to be," the 26-year-old Pantzoglou said in court.

Each of the men, and a fourth accused, James Bau, 30, were denied bail and remanded to appear in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Monday.

Summary: An alleged Melbourne drug kingpin has pleaded to stay out of jail because he will miss his mum's last Christmas.


Victoria, NSW, Queensland and WA have banned portable ethanol burners as the federal government moves to outlaw them nationally because of safety concerns.

A 60-day interim ban came into effect in the four states on Wednesday.

The decorative burners, filled with methylated spirits, ethanol or bio fuel, have caused 113 reported injuries and 115 fires in Australia since 2010.

They can be freestanding or sit atop furniture.

Retailers and online traders must take the banned products off their shelves or delete them from online catalogues immediately.

Those who continue to sell them will face steep penalties of up to $220,000 for individuals and $1.1 million for corporations.

People with ethanol-fuelled burners at home are advised to stop using them immediately.

The ban doesn't apply to fixed alcohol-fuelled fireplaces, products used in the heating or warming of food, or products with a power output of more than 4.5kW.

The federal government is moving towards a national ban on the advice of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.

Federal Small Business Minister Michael McCormack says despite previous warnings by the watchdog, significant injuries are still occurring, including second- or third-degree burns.

"I'm worried about the potential harm these products can cause families, which is why we're moving towards banning those burners that pose the greatest risk," he said in a statement.

Summary: A two-month ban on ethanol burners has come into effect in four states after dozens of reported injuries.


In this new podcast, Leah Green and Fred McConnell will discuss what it’s like being a minority, or the “token” in society. They talk about the changes they’d like to see, and answer awkward questions. We’ll have guests journalists from the Guardian to talk about their work and their opinions on the UK’s aspirations for our culture and identity, and attitudes and behaviour towards sex and gender.

They don’t want to preach to the converted. This podcast is based on discussion and differences. We’re hoping to find voices who disagree with us, (we don’t think it should be too hard). This is a platform for all. So as long as you’re respectful, we’d love to hear from you.

Summary: Join Leah Green and Fred McConnell in this new series of podcasts about sex, gender, race, culture and identity, and what that means in the UK


Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull spent part of his Christmas Day waiting on the homeless, after urging Australians to reach out to those having a difficult time.

Mr Turnbull and wife Lucy helped out at Sydney's Wayside Chapel lunch on Sunday, where his presence caused a stir and selfies among the up to 1000-strong Kings Cross crowd.

He described the day as a celebration of Christ and his "message of unconditional love and sacrifice", before joining volunteers to serve entrees to the hungry crowd.

Mr Turnbull urged Australians to think about the lonely, poor and sick who might be finding the day difficult.

"In Australia, we have much to be grateful for, not least that so many people of so many different backgrounds, races and religions live together here in a harmony founded on mutual respect," he said in a Christmas message released earlier on Sunday.

Mr Turnbull also remembered emergency service workers on duty on Sunday and armed forces personnel based overseas, reassuring them they were in the nation's thoughts.

"This Christmas many of you will be far from family and home, but you will be closest of all in our thoughts and in our hearts," he said.

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten also remembered defence forces and emergency workers.

"And Christmas is also a time for us to spare a thought for the people who are doing it tough," he said on Sunday in a Christmas video message, alongside his wife Chloe.

"We're so lucky that many Australians will roll up their sleeves to provide hot meals, secure accommodation and a little bit of Christmas cheer in hard times."

Mr Shorten is now on leave until mid-January.

"From our family to yours, Merry Christmas," he said.

Mr Turnbull, who was planning a "warm, friendly family" Christmas with ham and seafood, wished Australians a 2017 filled with peace, happiness.

"From Lucy and me, and our family, to you and yours, we wish you a very merry Christmas, and a relaxing and safe holiday."

Summary: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten have remembered the homeless, emergency workers and defence personnel in their Xmas messages.


By FERNANDA SANTOS in Virginia Beach KATE BERRY in Capistrano Beach, Calif. and TRACY CONNOR in New York DAILY NEWS WRITERS With Donna Petrozzello

Sunday, January 12th 2003, 1:80AM

He's hardly an average Joe.

The spin on Evan Marriott, star of the smash hit reality TV series "Joe Millionaire," is that he's just an ordinary construction worker content to scrape by on $19,000

Although he poses as the $50 million man for a gaggle of gold-digging women on Fox each week, he really had a "humble" upbringing and lives in "poverty," the story line goes.

But a peek into Marriott's background reveals the 28-year-old green-eyed hunk is more Hollywood than hardhat.

Marriott's father is a banker, he was raised in a gated community, attended a pricey private school and vacationed in Europe.

Barely out of his teens, he was signed by a top modeling agency in New York and worked with a famed fashion photographer, living in a W. 68th St. pad with other models.

And while he does drive a bulldozer - he was even back at work on Friday - he set his sights on showbiz, trying to break into wrestling and acting.

"I wouldn't say it's a rags-to-riches story," said Kevin McKeon, who went to high school with Marriott.

The home where Marriott grew up isn't some swamp shack, but a tidy, two-story Colonial on a half-acre lot at Great Neck Farms, an upper-middle class area of Virginia Beach.

His father, Robert, is a senior vice president at Old Dominion Trust and his mother, Charlotte, has a job at the fanciest linen shop in town, Yves Delorme.

Marriott went to local public schools until seventh grade, when he was packed off to Hargrave Military Academy, a $12,000-a-year boarding school for rambunctious teens.

The ex-Marines and retired Army officers couldn't stifle young Evan's spirit.

"He was kind of the class clown. He had a hard time knowing when to be serious," said McKeon, recalling Marriott as a prankster who booby-trapped doors with water buckets.

His dark good looks also made him popular.

"I remember that girls were chasing after him even back then," McKeon said.

In his junior year, he jetted off to England and France for 10 days with his school chums. In the classroom, he had trouble buckling down.

"I know he had problems with studying and that he struggled a lot academically," said ex-classmate Robert Petty.

College wasn't in the cards. After graduation, he went to Paris to break into modeling, but was back in Virginia within a year.

"It didn't pan out for him," said Kathy Keeny, a Virginia Beach photographer who met Marriott when he returned from Europe looking for work.

Keeny and fashion editor Kim Wadsworth set him up with his first paid gig, four shoots at $50 a pop. But the strapping stud seemed more interested in beef than beefcake.

"He said, 'Man, you guys should try the steak fajita. I wish I could have one right now,'" Keeny remembers.

"He likes hanging out, drinking beer, watching football and working construction," Wadsworth said. "Just a regular guy."

A little too regular for Tanya Tyrrell, 30, who dated Marriott briefly about seven years ago when he was working for his godfather's construction firm in Virginia Beach.

"He's a really nice guy with a good heart, but he can't hold a conversation," Tyrrell said.

"A little flighty is a nice way of putting it. I guess you could say he's two wings short of a bucket."

Marriott had no trouble meeting women.

"In Virginia Beach, he didn't go unnoticed. If he walked into a bar, women would walk right up to him," Tyrrell said. "But once you started talking to him, it was like, 'Never mind.'"

Marriott's striking looks didn't go unnoticed by the fashion world, either.

He sent his pictures around New York, and a premier agency, Click, liked what it saw. They signed him in 1994.

His chiseled features caught the eye of Bruce Weber. He also worked for Macy's, Calvin Klein and catalogues, said Click President Joey Grill.

He lived in the Click models' apartment on W. 68th St. and worked as a doorman at the Paramount Hotel between shoots.

Ever the practical joker, he would call the Click offices using fake voices and names, and tell people he was the heir to the Marriott hotel fortune.

"He was one of the most delightful, funny, charming guys I ever represented," said his booker, Jules Birnbaum.

But his 6-foot-5 frame was an impediment to fashion work, and after two years, Marriott quit Manhattan for Los Angeles to give acting a try.

Modeling left "a bad taste in my mouth," Marriott told the Daily News.

His success on the West Coast was more modest. He worked construction, sculpted his body at Gold's Gym in Venice, Calif., and went on auditions.

In March 2000, he landed a part as "Mover No. 1" on "Days of Our Lives."

The next year he pocketed $1,000 to pose in racy underwear - gladiator briefs, anyone? - for the California Muscle catalogue.

In May 2001, he enrolled in classes at Ultimate University, a $125-a-month school for wanna-be professional wrestlers, using the nickname Duke Elder.

"After a few months, we put him on scholarship because he was one of the four or five most natural guys I'd ever met," said coach Rick Bassman.

For seven months, his schedule was building-demolition by day and smackdowns by night.

"He had some financial struggles, but he wasn't on the brink of poverty," Bassman said.

His shot at stardom in the squared circle was cut short by a bigger break, when he met a producer for "Joe Millionaire" at a Christmas party in 2001.

The popularity of the show has fueled speculation that the audience is somehow being hoodwinked, along with the women on the show, that Marriott may be hiding assets. Rumors of his background have floated onto Internet discussion groups and radio talk shows.

Fox says it didn't pay Marriott for his work on "Joe Millionaire," where he tries to con 20 women into believing he's a multimillionaire aristocrat with a castle in the French countryside.

Which could explain why he showed up for work at R.B. Holt Inc., a construction firm in Capistrano Beach, five days after the first episode aired.

Holt office manager Amy Houlihan said that after his run at reality TV, Marriott wanted a dose of actual reality. "I think he just wanted to get back to work."

Summary: A REGULAR GUY? OH, THAT'S RICH 'Joe Millionaire' a model and actor FOX-TV Twenty women (inset) are vying to get close to "Joe Millionaire"star, Evan Marriott. MIKE HEFFNER Home in Virginia where Marriott grew up and went to school until seventh grade before going to a private school, and later on to a stint as an underwear model (below). CALIFORNIA MUSCLE.COM By FERNANDA SANTOS in Virginia Beach KATE BERRY in Capistrano Beach, Calif.


Sunday, August 11th 2002, 1:05AM

The newest "mama" at Le Madri, Pippa S. Calland, is the first American-born executive chef at the popular Tuscan restaurant, which built its reputation on featuring women chefs from the regional kitchens of Italy. And while Calland trained in Italy and traveled extensively throughout the Mediterranean, she does bring her American heritage to the stove at Le Madri.

"I was born in Indianapolis and grew up in the southernmost part of the Corn Belt," she recalls. "My father used to bring home bags of corn still warm from the fields and it was my job to shuck them. I still remember how intoxicating that corn was."

That memory inspired a seasonal delight, pan-seared diver scallops with summer corn chowder. Calland, who loves to showcase fish at the restaurant, admits that "scallops and lobster constitute my favorite food group. There's a lot of flavor here without a lot of fuss."

Although the dish may look complicated, most of the work can be done in advance, says Calland. The corn puree that forms a flavorful bed for the scallops can be made a day ahead. The only last minute "work," notes the chef, is briefly roasting a half-cup of corn kernels "just enough to bring out the flavor" and quickly searing the scallops in a hot skillet. *

Le Madri, 168 W. 18th St.; (212) 727-8022

- The bacon. A little goes a long way, so get high-quality, double (not single) processed bacon for this dish. The smoky flavor comes from two smokings.

- The scallops. Diver scallops are hand- harvested. "It isn't imperative that the scallops be diver, but they must at least be dry-packed, meaning they're not processed, so they will caramelize nicely and taste best," says Calland. For a change, try this preparation with roasted lobster tail, sliced into medallions.

Pan-Seared Diver Scallops With Summer Corn Chowder.

Serves 2 as a main course, 4 as an appetizer.

2 1/2 cups of corn kernels, cut from cobs of 6 fresh, sweet ears.

2 large Yukon gold potatoes, peeled

4 slices double smoked bacon

Canola oil for coating skillet

1 tablespoon parsley, coarsely chopped

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Extra-virgin olive oil for roasting corn kernels

1 1/2 pounds large diver scallops, cleaned.

8 chives, preferably garlic, tops reserved, thinly sliced

Reserve a half-cup of the corn. Combine the remaining corn with the heavy cream in a heavy- bottomed saucepan; heat gently until just under a boil. Remove pot from the heat and set aside in a cool place to steep for 30 minutes.

Wash the potatoes well. Using a sharp knife, cut them lengthwise in thirds. Cut these rectangles lengthwise in thirds again, then dice potatoes into cubes. Place them in a small pot and cover with cold water. Cook gently until the water just begins to boil. Add salt to taste and cook 1 minute more. Strain potatoes and set aside.

Cut bacon into small dice. Heat a small heavy skillet. When warm, add a scant amount of oil. When the oil is warm, add the bacon and render it until crisp. Take off the bacon and, using a strainer, pour off and reserve the fat. Wipe the skillet with a paper towel and return it to the stove. Add the bacon fat and, when it's hot, add the potatoes. They will brown very quickly so have a paper towel-lined plate nearby. Gently stir potatoes so they don't stick. Using a slotted spoon, remove them to the plate as soon as they begin to color. Set potatoes aside; discard hot fat.

In a blender, puree the corn mixture. With the back of a spoon, press puree through a wide-mesh strainer; discard corn hulls. Season puree with salt and pepper as needed.

To finish dish: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place a baking sheet in the oven to heat. Toss reserved corn with extra-virgin olive oil just to coat the kernels. Season to taste and pour corn onto hot baking pan. Roast to bring out flavor, until corn just begins to cook, about 5 minutes. Add the reserved potatoes and bacon and cook until crisp, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from oven and keep warm until ready to serve.

Heat a nonstick skillet on the stove. Season scallops well with salt and pepper. When the pan is hot, add a small amount of canola oil to just cover the bottom of the pan and heat. Add the scallops, being careful not to crowd them, and sear. When scallops have browned on one side, turn them and cook 1 minute more. Remove scallops from pan, draining them on a paper towel. Warm corn puree; recheck seasonings; add parsley and stir.

Spoon puree onto warmed plates. Spoon warmed bacon, potatoes and roasted corn on puree; top with scallops. Sprinkle dish with chives and serve.

Summary: The newest "mama"at Le Madri, Pippa S. Calland, is the first American-born executive chef at the popular Tuscan restaurant, which built its reputation on featuring women chefs from the regional kitchens of Italy. And while Calland trained in Italy and traveled extensively throughout the Mediterranean, she does bring her American heritage to the stove at Le Madri. "I was born in Indianapolis and grew up in the southernmost part of the Corn


Actor Hugh Grant and "Harry Potter" writer J.K. Rowling will testify in a London courtroom next week about alleged press intrusion into their private lives.

They are among witnesses announced Friday by an inquiry into British media ethics.

The inquiry was triggered by the scandal over phone hacking at now-defunct tabloid News of the World.

More than 20 alleged hacking victims are scheduled to give evidence starting Monday, including the parents of 13-year-old Milly Dowler, who was abducted and murdered in 2002. The Rupert Murdoch-owned tabloid eavesdropped on her voicemails while police were searching for her.

Other witnesses include comedian Steve Coogan, actress Sienna Miller, singer Charlotte Church and Gerry McCann, whose daughter Madeleine disappeared in 2007.

Summary: Hugh Grant to Testify About Alleged Privacy Intrusions


Several stars have come forward recently with casting couch tales, saying they were appalled and shocked they were asked for sexual favors in order to get coveted jobs in Hollywood.

But for all of the talk of outrage, few of the alleged perpetrators have been named. In fact, a number of entertainment industry experts and insiders declined to even comment on the hot-button issue when approached by FoxNews.com.

So why are entertainment pros mum when it comes to sexual predators in Hollywood?

“Actors don’t name names for several reasons. Many times it is because they want to move on from that unpleasant experience, or perhaps they succumbed to it, or the ‘perpetrator’ was so huge that they do not want to defame that person because they think highly of their work,” Los Angeles-based celebrity psychologist, Dr. Nancy Irwin, told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column. “Others don’t want to be labeled a ‘snitch’ or feel nobody will believe them because it is such a cliché. Sadly, the cliché does perpetuate, probably because the creative process in and of itself can be a seductive process, and the temptation is non-stop in Hollywood.”

Hollywood-based career strategist Suzannah Galland said she hears many horror stories from friends who are top actresses. These victims don’t name names “out of fear,” but she says code of silence can turn tragic.

“Two (friends) have told me of date rapes perpetrated by major male stars. In both cases, these women agreed to a friendly dinner,” she said. “One of these friends had no interest in a romantic relationship at all with the star that was pursuing her, and she made that clear to him. All the same she was in awe of the man’s talent, and happy to discuss possible roles with him. An alliance would have been hugely helpful to her career. So she was trusting when he invited her after dinner to stop by his hotel, where he had a stack of scripts to show her. Once the door was shut, he raped her. ’I never told anybody,’ she explained to me, ‘because he is who he is and I was ashamed.’”

Another friend confided to Galland that she was approached by an award-winning actor she found attractive. However, when she went back to his place to “discuss scripts,” things took an ugly turn.

“Even though she was willing to be romanced, that never happened. He beat her then raped her. She spent years in recovery, conflicted and ashamed,” Galland explained. “She made no public complaint.’”

According to Irwin, by not revealing the predators, celebrities are contributing to the problem and putting others at risk of becoming the next victim.

“I always encourage actors to file a complaint anonymously through the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) because they care about this issue deeply,” she said. “It is up to talent to set the boundary and disallow abuse. If this happens enough, and SAG disciplines the abuser, hopefully they will seek the professional help they need to halt this inappropriate and damaging behavior.”

SAG National Director of Affirmative Action and Diversity, Adam Moore, said that despite gains made over the years toward workplace equality, performers still often face workplace discrimination and sexual harassment on set or during auditions.

“Neither discrimination nor harassment is your fault. When you see or become a victim of discrimination or harassment, don’t ignore it and don’t pretend it did not happen -- let someone know,” Moore advised, adding that the issue is taken incredibly seriously by the union. “Have no fear that this will get out to the industry: your call is entirely confidential and nothing will be done without your express consent. Every action taken against this behavior means it is less likely to be repeated. You have a responsibility to yourself and your fellow Guild members to see that all performers are treated with respect in the job search and in the workplace.”

If SAG deems a complaint appropriate, the Guild sends a copy of their policy along with a letter advising the alleged perpetrator of the complaint, and demands that the production company involved investigate the concern and take immediate action to remedy any inappropriate conduct.

Someone might want to tell some of today’s top stars about SAG’s complaint process.

Megan Fox told British GQ that she was “heartbroken” over the number of legendary Hollywood directors that had tried to bed her since she found fame. Lisa Rinna claimed she missed out on a role in a prominent television series because she refused to give a producer “a quickie.” Gwyneth Paltrow recently told Elle Magazine that when she was just starting out it was suggested that a business meeting be finished in the bedroom. In an interview with People magazine, Charlize Theron divulged that in her modeling days, she was invited to a well-known director’s home for a casting call – only to find him in his pajamas mixing drinks. And in her best-selling book “Suck It, Wonder Woman!” Olivia Munn dished out a jaw-dropping supply of stories from sleeping with a famous director in her rookie days to visiting an agent’s home who had a collage of vaginas on his wall.

And it’s not just women.

"I can tell you that the No. 1 problem in Hollywood was and is and always will be pedophilia," 80’s sensation Corey Feldman told ABC's "Nightline" last August. "That's the biggest problem for children in this industry... It's the big secret."

Hollywood publicist Angie Meyer urges victims, famous or not, to come forward and name names.

“To set a precedent, just one person needs to come forward to ignite an investigation, and involve authorities,” she said. “In order for these perpetrators to become fearful of consequence – the ramifications must be so severe that they risk losing more than their reputations, job and any continuous Hollywood career.”

But former theatrical agent and founder of online casting service GotCast.com, Alec Shankman, said that as long as celebrities continue to their stories – even without exposing the culprit – they are still helping to curb the problem.

“Hollywood is a very small community and careers are very volatile, so often people feel that the risks and making waves in the community might outweigh the desire to speak out and name names,” he explained. “Unfortunately, it is unlikely that the behavior can be stopped entirely. Much like sexual harassment in the workplace, it is an ongoing issue. But as long as young, new talent are properly educated and informed about all of the legitimate ways to reach success, they will be more likely to avoid any of the less legitimate opportunities that might present themselves."

Deidre Behar contributed to this report.


Randy and Evi Quaid mug shots

Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department

Randy and Evi Quaid pressed their luck with a Santa Barbara, Calif., court – and lost.

The eccentric couple were sent to jail Monday by Superior Court Judge Frank Ochoa for missing multiple hearings in their

"They came to court this morning hoping that Judge Ochoa would forgive them for not showing up a couple weeks ago, but the judge said they showed disrespect by prior failures to appear and by flashing Randy's Golden Globe award in court the last time around," Santa Barbara District Attorney Arnie Tolks said, referring to the couple bringing to a hearing Randy's best-actor trophy for the 1988 miniseries

. "They both apologized to the court, but the judge obviously didn't take it lightly."

The Quaids posted bail of $100,000 each and left the jail facility in the afternoon after three hours in custody.

The pair originally were arrested in Marfa, Texas, in September 2009 after allegedly skipping out on a more than $10,000 bill at the exclusive San Ysidro Ranch in Santa Barbara.

Although they have since paid their outstanding bill, prosecutors say a crime was still committed.

Their lawyer, Robert Sanger, had no comment.

Summary: The eccentric couple, who missed multiple court hearings in their felony case, later posted bail and are free again


Often overlooked as a necessity to many, the calves are an essential component in building stronger and more proportional looking legs. Formally called the gastrocnemius, the calf muscle is located on the back of your leg between your knee and ankle.

The calf muscle has two heads called the medial head and the lateral head–diametrically opposed to the gastrocnemius and soleus. This muscle is primarily responsible for the plantar flexion of the ankle and the flexion of the knee. There's another muscle that's often mislabeled as being part of the calf muscle and that's the soleus. This muscle is located outside of the gastrocnemius, also assists in the plantar flexion of the ankle, and plays a significant role in most calf exercises.

Seated Calf Raise The seated calf raise works both the calf muscle and the soleus. To begin, sit on the machine and place your feet on the platform below. Make sure only your toes are on the foot platform while your heels are hanging off. There's an adjustable thigh pad that needs to be lowered until it's firmly positioned against your thighs. On top of the thigh pad there are two hand grips to hold on to while performing the exercise.

Once you are properly positioned, push up on your toes so the weighted lever is lifted off its rack. Then reach down to the side of you and pull the safety lever so that the rack is moved out of the way. Now slowly lower your heels as you begin to feel the weight on your calves as they become fully stretched. Next, push up on your toes as high as you can go and briefly pause at the top before returning back down. Repeat this movement for the desired amount of sets and repetitions.

Once finished, push up on your toes and then pull the safety lever back into its original position so you can rack the weight. Make sure you keep the movement slow and under control. Do not perform the repetitions at a fast pace as it could lead to ankle or calf injuries.

Standing Calf Raise Standing calf raises have a few variations but the most standard method of this exercise is using a standing calf raise machine. Adjust the shoulder pads to compensate for your height. Step up onto the foot stand with your toes and the balls of your feet on the foot stand, leaving your heels hanging off. Make sure your shoulders are firmly placed under the shoulder pads, your torso is straight and your knees have a slight bend.

To begin, push upward on your toes and momentarily pause at the top of your movement. Slowly return the weight down until your heels are hanging off the foot stand. Repeat this movement for the desired amount of sets and repetitions. Always keep the weight under control throughout the entire movement. Never lock your knees during this exercise as it could lead to injury. If you suffer any lower back pain then choose another calf exercise as this one places significant pressure on the lower back.

Dumbbells and barbells can be used instead of the machine for standing calf raises. The movement is performed the same but you have to find an elevated foot stand or an aerobics step to allow for your heels to hang off.

Leg Press Calf Raise The leg press calf raise involves the usage of a standard leg pres machine in which you push upward at a 45 degree angle. This exercise can be done with one leg or both legs. To begin, sit in the machine with your back and head against the back rest. Your upper body should make a 90-degree angle with your legs as you position sit down. Next, place your toes and the balls of your feet at the bottom of the foot platform. Push the weight up with your toes and release the safety levers which will place all of the weight on your feet and legs. Do not lock out your knees when pushing the foot platform as this could lead to possible knee injuries.

Slowly lower the weight until your heels are lowered and your ankles are bent. You will feel a significant stretch on the calves at this point. Repeat this movement for the desired amount of sets and repetitions. Always keep the weight under control as you slowly perform the exercise.

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More From DualFit.com: -- Interview: 2009 Fitness America World Champion Tiffani Bachus -- HIIT: High Intensity Interval Training -- 5 Shoulder Sculpting Exercises -- The Truth About Organic Foods

Summary:
By DualFit.com
Often overlooked as a necessity to many, the calves are an essential component in building stronger and more proportional looking legs....


NEW YORK — Facebook’s number two executive, Sheryl Sandberg, has become the first woman on the social-networking company’s board of directors.

Sandberg was lured from Google in 2008 to become Facebook’s chief operating officer. Besides being the first woman, she is the first executive other than founder Mark Zuckerberg on the board.

People had called for the company to add women to its board ahead of its initial public offering of stock in mid-May.

In announcing the move Monday, Facebook Inc. didn’t say whether that came in response to calls to add women. But as the second to Zuckerberg, she was a logical choice.

Sandberg has been largely responsible for building Facebook’s advertising business. She is also often serves as Facebook’s public face, appearing at conferences and important meetings, while Zuckerberg often prefers to stay in the background and focus on Facebook’s products.

Summary: Facebook’s No. 2 executive, Sheryl Sandberg, has become the first woman on the social-networking company’s board of directors. Sandberg was lured from Google in 2008 to become Facebook’s chief operating officer. Besides being the first woman, she is the first executive other than founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg on the board.


Lindsay Lohan Surrenders -- Begins House Arrest

is officially confined to her townhouse ... TMZ has learned the actress surrendered to authorities this morning and has begun to serve her house arrest sentence.

, Lohan arrived to the Lynwood Jail at 5:02 AM this morning to check in -- where she was fitted with an electronic ankle bracelet. She was quickly sent home to her pad in Venice, CA and we're told she'll spend roughly 35 days in confinement.

According to the booking sheet, 24-year-old Lohan was listed at 5'7" and 117 lbs.

The sentence stems from Lohan's legal troubles involving a necklace she allegedly stole from a Venice jeweler. Lohan pled no contest in the case.

In addition to the house arrest, Lohan was also ordered to complete 480 hours of community service – which includes a stint at the L.A. County morgue.

Summary: Lindsay Lohan is officially confined to her townhouse ... TMZ has learned the actress surrendered to authorities this morning and has begun to serve her…


THIS OCTOBER, A ROMANTIC EPIC titled "The Piano," written and directed by a New Zealander named Jane Campion, will be the grand finale of the New York Film Festival at Lincoln Center. In November it will open all over the country. "The Piano," which is set in 19th-century New Zealand, has already made Campion the first woman to win the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and the reviews so far -- but for a cavil about its being too consciously an "art" film -- have been ecstatic. Vincent Canby of The New York Times, for instance, described "The Piano" as "a triumph . . . so good, so tough, so moving and, especially, so original." Yet when I asked a friend, like me a great admirer of Campion's work, what she wanted to learn from my interview with the film maker, she replied, "First, I want to know if she's sane."

I had expected curiosity about why Australia, where Campion went to film school and lives, has produced what seems to be an inordinate number of world-class directors: Bruce Beresford and Peter Weir and George Miller among them. Or why, given the hen's tooth scarcity of prominent female directors anywhere in the world, three -- Campion, Gillian Armstrong and Jocelyn Moorhouse -- emerged from a country associated with a certain cheerful misogyny. But why be curious about Campion's sanity?

"Because," my friend answered, "she's obsessed with lunatic women."

In truth, only the eponymous protagonist of Campion's first feature film, the extraordinary "Sweetie," is genuinely mad. The New Zealand novelist Janet Frame, whose autobiography, "An Angel at My Table," became Campion's second film, was only thought to be mad. Diagnosed in her early 20's as a schizophrenic and institutionalized, she was within inches of a lobotomy when her doctors decided that a woman who had managed to write and publish distinguished fiction while in the bin was probably not in need of a brain correction. Ada in "The Piano" isn't mad either, but her mulishness approaches sublimity. That Ada doesn't speak, for instance, isn't because she can't but because she will not.

Lunatic women? Except for the simultaneously hilarious and tragic Sweetie, no. But powerful women, which in some minds may add up to the same thing? Yes. Sweetie has a tornado's destructiveness, Janet Frame stayed sane in the midst of madness and Ada's will is iron. What roles!

If artists looked like their creations, the progenitor of "The Piano" would resemble a Bronte sister or George Eliot. Instead, Campion looks like a commercial for Fun and Sun in Australia. Her hair is very fair, her eyes are very blue and her speech -- typically antipodean in its narrow vowels and the upward curve of its sentences -- is spattered with self-mockery and great bursts of laughter. "Mum" and "Dad" are a big part of her conversation; so are her friends, whom one half-expects her to call, as do most of the residents of her part of the world, "mates."

On a day in mid-June of this year, Campion was a month away from having won the Palme d'Or. She was two weeks away from giving birth to her first child, a son whose presence was already inescapable in the Sydney apartment she shares with her husband, Colin Englert, a television producer and director. The baby's crib was set up in Englert's small office, and Campion lifted her billowy white shirt once to stare at her swollen belly. "Is he kicking?" her visitor asked. "Mmmmm," she answered, lost for a moment in that curious bubble that encloses the pregnant.

Campion was, in brief, at the pinnacle of her particular world, at a place where the professional and the personal were about to meet in blessed convergence. And although she'd done her share of interviews, she wasn't yet weary of the same old questions because she hadn't yet heard them all. Chatty, spontaneous (once, she unexpectedly kissed my cheek), Campion in June of 1993 was, to an interviewer, equivalent to an unplowed field.

CAMPION WAS BORN 39 YEARS AGO, TO parents whom she describes as having had "a strange life compared to most New Zealanders." They had a strange life compared with almost everybody's.

"My mother was an heiress, but an orphan at the same time, so she was brought up by different people and finally given her inheritance," she said. "She and my father met at university, then went to England to study at the Old Vic. When they came back, they started the first official touring company in New Zealand. It wasn't a financial success at all, and so they just started working in other established theaters. Mother retired when she had the three of us, but Dad's still doing a lot of things, like opera."

At Victoria University, where she majored in anthropology, Campion was interested in acting. "But I felt I had to distinguish myself from the family. You know? Besides, I thought acting quite frivolous. Now I'm grateful that I was raised in an atmosphere which had some sort of gaiety to it. But at the time, I thought that these people were . . . insincere.

"After that, the thing was to try and travel and take a look at where I came from, along with the rest of Europe. You know?"


By Mark Lebetkin The Active Times

Can yoga make you smarter? It’s not as much of a stretch as you think.

A recent study out of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign tested this idea on 30 female college students and found that just 20 minutes of yoga enabled them to better complete mental tasks that involve the speed and accuracy of their working memory and other important measures of cognitive performance.

In fact, as a brain booster, yoga outperformed an intense bout of aerobic exercise, which has already been shown to have positive effects on the brain.

“It appears that following yoga practice, the participants were better able to focus their mental resources, process information quickly, more accurately and also learn, hold and update pieces of information more effectively than after performing an aerobic exercise bout,” said lead researcher Neha Gothe in a press release.

Although there may be many reasons for the results, Gothe believes that yoga's focus on mindfulness may be an important factor. “The breathing and meditative exercises aim at calming the mind and body and keeping distracting thoughts away while you focus on your body, posture or breath," she said. "Maybe these processes translate beyond yoga practice when you try to perform mental tasks or day-to-day activities."

This is a reverse triangle pose. Start the same way, but when you bend your torso to the right, bring your left arm down instead of your right. Either grip your shin, or rest your left hand on a block or the floor if you’re flexible enough. Lift your right arm vertically, and either look up at your right thumb, or straight ahead (that is, behind you) if you're less advanced. Hold for up to one minute, then switch sides.

Start on all fours. Hands should be shoulder distance apart with fingers spread and legs should be hip distance apart. Tuck your toes under and begin to lift your knees off the ground. When you knees are lifted about 12 inches, press your chest towards your legs and straighten your legs and arms as much as possible. Initially, you may not be able to reach full extension due to tight shoulders or hamstrings. If this is the case, allow the legs to stay slightly bent, keeping the chest moving toward your thighs. If your shoulders are tight, try turning your fingers slightly to the sides to create a little more space. Hold for up to one minute, relax in child’s pose, then repeat.

Kneel with your legs hip-width apart, shins and top of feet flat on the floor. Your thighs, back and neck should form a straight line perpendicular to the floor. Place your palms against your lower back, and slowly begin to arch your upper back, keeping your lower back as straight as possible. Reach back with one hand and hold onto that foot's heel; then rotate slightly and do the same with the other hand, so that you’re now propping yourself against your feet. Don't bend your head back all the way, or you could cut off circulation and make yourself dizzy and nauseous. Use your neck muscles to keep your head from tilting too far, and tuck your chin if necessary. Hold for up to one minute, relax in child’s pose, and then repeat one more time.

Start from a kneeling pose, sitting on your heels with your legs and feet together, back and neck straight, and rest your arms over your knees. Reach back and lightly grip your heels with your thumbs on the outside. Exhaling, bend your torso over your thighs so that your forehead touches the mat; and then, inhaling, lift your hips so that your weight is resting lightly on the crown of your head. Concentrate on holding the position for up to two minutes.

This 12-part sequence is to be done continuously, at a natural pace. Begin in mountain pose. Press your palms together in a prayer position and lift your arms over your head into upward salute (urdhva hastasana), arching your back slightly. Bend forward into standing forward bend (see above). Then, arch your torso slightly away from your legs and lift your head so it’s facing forward.

From the previous pose, bring one leg back into a lunge, and then bring the next foot back so that your feet are hip-width apart. Your palms should be flat on the ground, hands facing forward, wrists bent 90 degrees. Straighten your back so that you’re in plank pose -- legs, spine and neck should form a line. Bend your arms to lower your body into four-limbed staff pose (chaturanga dandasana) and touch your knees to the ground.

From four-limbed staff pose, lower your pelvis to the ground and arch your torso upward so that you enter upward-facing dog (urdhva mukha svanasana). Roll back into downward-facing dog on an exhale.

On an inhale, step one foot forward between your hands into a lunge and perform the first three poses in reverse: standing forward bend, upward salute, and mountain pose. Repeat the sun salutation sequence once or twice more.

A true lotus pose, with each foot on top of opposing thigh and knees to the ground, is difficult, if not impossible, for most beginners -- and can cause injury if done incorrectly. Instead, sit cross legged, straighten your back, place your hands on your knees with palms up and thumb and forefinger together. Close your eyes and focus on deep breathing. Hold for four minutes.

For the complete list of Yoga Poses That Make You Smarter, go to TheActiveTimes.com.

Note: The sequence of poses is the same, but the poses themselves may be slightly modified from those used in the study. As with all poses, it's best to practice these with a certified yoga instructor before trying them on your own. If you have any injuries, check first with your instructor or a physical therapist.

More Stories from The Active Times: -- 12 Yoga Poses Anyone (Even You!) Can Do -- Our 4 Favorite Yoga Apps -- The 12 Most Amazing Places You’ll Ever Do Yoga -- Yoga For Runners: 8 Perfect Poses

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Summary:
By Mark Lebetkin
The Active Times
Can yoga make you smarter? It’s not as much of a stretch as you think.
A recent study out of the University of Ill...


A top House Democrat has a plan for getting unemployment benefits extended, despite Republican opposition: Hold the Farm Bill hostage.

“Under no circumstances should we support the farm bill unless Republicans agree to use the savings from it to extend unemployment insurance,” Rep. Chris Van Hollen told the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent last Friday. Members of the House and Senate are currently negotiating a final version of the Farm Bill in conference committee.

Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

The House has already missed the deadline for avoiding a lapse in unemployment benefits, which will expire on Dec. 28. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has indicated that reinstating the lifeline for jobless Americans will be at the top of the agenda when the Senate reconvenes next year. House Republicans won’t extend the safety net program without a price, however. On Wednesday, Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, made clear he would only bring an extension to the floor “as long as long as it’s paid for and as long as there are other efforts that will help get our economy moving once again.”

That’s where Van Hollen’s plan comes in. He would insist that unemployment insurance be “paid for” with the cuts already baked into the 2013 Farm Bill, a sweeping piece of omnibus legislation which covers farm subsidies, food stamps, and a host of other crucial nutrition and agricultural programs. The Senate Farm Bill would save an estimated $24 billion over the next decade, whereas extending emergency unemployment insurance for another year would cost $25 billion.

Nonetheless, Van Hollen believes holding up the Farm Bill provides the Democrats with “a potential pressure point,” because the law subsidizes dairy production, keeping milk prices far lower than they otherwise would be. The House passed a temporary Farm Bill extension on Wednesday to prevent dairy prices from skyrocketing, but Reid has said there will be no stopgap measures coming out of the Senate.

If Congress did fund balancing an unemployment insurance extension with cuts out of the 2013 Farm Bill, that could mean that aid for the jobless came at the expense of billions in cuts for food stamp recipients. One of the hot points of contention in the Farm Bill conference committee has been over the size of potential cuts to the food stamp program: Whereas the Senate version of the bill cuts $4.1 billion over the next decade, House Republicans want to slice as much as much as $39 billion.

A spokesperson for Van Hollen said the representative would not support a Farm Bill which includes unacceptably high food stamp cuts, even if the money from those cuts went to fund unemployment insurance. In recent weeks, more and more Democrats have expressed a willingness to kill the Farm Bill outright in order to prevent further cuts to food stamps.

“Congressman Van Hollen believes the cuts to the food stamp program proposed by House Republicans are far too damaging, and will oppose the final farm bill package if those cuts are too deep,” a spokesperson for Van Hollen told msnbc via email. “But if the Farm Bill is acceptable on its own merits, he believes the savings from cuts to agricultural subsidies and other parts of the bill should go to extend unemployment compensation. Why wouldn’t we reinvest all of those savings to help families trying to make ends meet?”

The Farm Bill conference committee has not yet released a final version of the bill, but the latest reports say the law will likely include about $8 billion in cuts to the food stamp program and LIHEAP, a subsidiary program which provides energy assistance to low-income families. Those cuts may prove unacceptably high to some Democrats. In June, some House Republicans voted against a version of the bill that would have cut $20.5 billion out of food stamps, because those cuts were not large enough.

Summary: The former head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee says Democrats should block the farm bill unless they get unemployment insurance extended.


Humans have been fascinated by this unpredictable, eerie light show for centuries. But itâs amazing how little we know about the science behind it.

The thermometer on the car is reading -22C. Outside, we are standing in snow up to my knees. We’re in a region called Inari in Finnish Lapland, inside the Arctic Circle, the nearest town is some kilometres to the south of us. You would be forgiven for thinking you were in Narnia, next to a frozen lake and surrounded by snow-topped pine trees. I can see more stars then I have ever seen before and some of the constellations such as Cassiopeia are difficult to spot, the sky is so free from light pollution. Which is supposedly the ideal place to do what I am doing; I’m one of a small group of people in search of the Northern Lights.

Our group is just one of many tours in this part of the world, eager to see the lights in all their glory. This type of tourism has become big business, several thousands of people choose to chase the lights every winter. Tour companies in regions such as Scandinavia and Alaska battle to find spots they say offer the best chance to see the elusive show. There are also cruises, and even chartered commercial flights, which travel to Arctic airspace to glimpse the phenomenon from above the clouds.

Humans have been fascinated by this unpredictable, eerie light show for centuries. It features in cave paintings in France thought to date back 30,000 years. Aristotle was captivated by the lights, calling them "jumping goats". Galileo described them as the dawn of the north, helping to coin the term aurora borealis. Europeans in the Middle Ages believed that the lights signified famine or war, while Native Americans saw them as gods dancing above the sky.

In this part of the world you don’t just find tour groups or trips with “hunters” chasing breaks in the cloud, more die-hard astronomy fans and photographers hire their own vehicles to chase the lights away from the tourists. “There is this sort of mystical quality to it, it really does pull you in," says astronomer and presenter of the Sky at Night, Pete Lawrence, who has photographed the lights around the world. I see what he means: on the horizon, I see a faint white haze starting to build, appearing initially like the Milky Way on a clear night. The beginning of the aurora slowly changes colour and form, taking over larger parts of the sky as the tour group eagerly set up their cameras.

But for such a well-known phenomenon, it’s amazing how little we know about the science beyond the basics. Thanks to work by Norwegian physicist Kristian Birkeland at the turn of the 20th Century, what we know is that auroral activity coincides with sunspots – darker, cooler regions of intense magnetic activity on the Sun’s surface. Birkeland said that currents flowing through the gas of the upper atmosphere caused the light show; in the same way that our modern-day neon lights work. “[Aurora] occur where energised particles coming from the sun interact with the Earth’s magnetic field,” says Lawrence.

What we also know is that aurora are inextricably linked with the activity of the Sun, and that solar activity appears to go through 11-year cycles. When it is at its most active, the so-called solar maximum, there are more sunspots present, and therefore more flares releasing powerful bursts of energy into space, as well as sprays of hot ionised gases, or plasma, that scientists call the solar wind. In theory, this should lead to bigger and brighter displays; however, it’s not quite that clear-cut. At the moment we are heading towards the peak of the current cycle, and Nasa had predicted that the northern lights would be the brightest and most intense for 50 years. But as it’s turned out this is a weak solar maximum, according to Mark Lester, who studies Solar Terrestrial Physics at the University of Leicester. And it’s not as simple to say we see less aurora during a solar minimum, either. There are two large, shifting ovals of auroral activity around the geomagnetic poles – one in the northern hemisphere, the other in the southern hemisphere (where the Southern Lights, or Aurora Australis can be seen). During a solar minimum what you get is aurora at a contracted aurora oval, so not at the place you imagine it to be at,” says Lester.


Airbnb Inc. is poised to join the 11-digit club.

The company, which was created nearly six years ago as a way to help people find spare rooms and couches to sleep on, is in advanced talks to raise more than $400 million in capital, a round of financing that would value it at more than $10 billion, people briefed on the matter said Thursday.

Such a valuation would surpass that of Hyatt, the 57-year-old hotel stalwart, and make Airbnb the latest technology startup firm to gain an eye-popping net worth. Investors hungry for a piece of the fastest-growing startups have opened their wallets, hoping to get even a small piece of the action before what they hope will be a giant payday.

But Airbnb, a centerpiece of what has become known as “the sharing economy,” is also drawing increasing scrutiny from regulators concerned about safety, rental laws, and tax collections. The company has become a point of contention among landlords, too.

Leading the potential new fund-raising round is TPG Growth, the investment firm that already has a stake in the car-ride service Uber, the people briefed on the matter said. Other prospective investors include the Dragoneer Investment Group and T. Rowe Price, one of these people added.

The discussions, which were first reported by The Wall Street Journal, may still fall apart, these people cautioned.

Despite murmurs of a new technology bubble, valuations appear to be rising unchecked. Last month, Facebook — itself worth nearly $170 billion — paid more than $16 billion for the messaging service WhatsApp, a bid that some analysts have described as reasonable given the acquired company’s growth prospects. Dropbox, a provider of online storage, has been appraised at about $10 billion, while Palantir, a data analysis firm, has raised money at a $9 billion valuation.

“We’re seeing valuations go nuts,” said Jim Ellis, a lecturer at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business.

Even so, Ellis conceded that many of the companies now in the limelight were a far cry from those that rose and fell during the dot-com bubble. Many now have business models that can lead to sustainable revenue and profits.

Airbnb appears to be one of them. Founded in the summer of 2008, the company has since become one of Silicon Valley’s most celebrated — and one of its most disruptive. Its marketplace lets people rent out their homes, from couches to entire houses, drawing an estimated 11 million guests in more than 34,000 cities.

Summary: Airbnb is close to joining a rarefied group of startups: the 11-digit valuation club. The couch-surfing company is close to raising more than $400 million in a new round of financing, a person briefed on the matter said Thursday. The fund-raising effort would value the six-year-old Airbnb at more than $10 billion. Leading the round is TPG, which has already taken stakes in other Silicon Valley darlings like the car-ride service Uber.


Every Friday, The Broadsheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the most powerful women in business, features an exclusive interview. Today, Caroline Fairchild speaks with former NBCUniversal exec Lauren Zalaznick about the future of her career and of the media industry. You can sign up for The Broadsheet here.

CF: Why did you recently decide to join Refinery29 (a fashion, beauty and lifestyle website) as an official advisor?

LZ: I have been drawn toward the intersection of not only great audience and content, but where audiences and content meet data and technology. Whether it’s the Shazam board that I joined officially as a director or Refinery29 which is a formalization of an advisory relationship, it’s because it is a business that is healthy, really growing like wildfire and really needs a supercharge or super focus around either high customer growth or high monetization growth.

The stuff I really love is bridging the gap between the new audiences and where they live and the content that still has to be pretty extraordinary to reach specific audiences and breakthrough.

CF: How do you help those companies achieve that?

LZ: What has come into play very recently is people looking for organizational strategy. Whether you are growing your company from 12 to 50 employees, or 50 to 250 or 250 to 1,000, the question is always how do you keep the window open for creativity, growth and monetization without an immediate change in culture and chokehold on growth. Organizing for growth is something that I think is a real experience that I love, and love to bring to new companies. It’s also an overlooked one. Everyone talks about strategy and your sphere of contacts and influences, but organizational growth is a basic necessity that is underserved and underutilized.

CF: So what does the future look like for you?

LZ: In my heart of hearts, I just can’t get enough of this thing called media. What propelled me to leave the best job in media [referring to her 12-year stint at NBCUniversal] was to be able to dive into and check myself to see if I have a preference for small businesses. The first ten years of my career, I was absolutely not drawn to any sort of traditional job. The next 15 [were with] a big, huge media company with NBCU, but every day of my life for all those years it was amazing to me that I got a paycheck every two weeks. I have no judgment that a startup is better or worse than a big company. In choosing the next path, it is more about who I will get a real kick out of working with rather than what environment I want.

CF: What do you see for the future of the media industry?

LZ: The challenge is that the great media companies today are going to remain the great media companies of the future, but they are going to be joined by the emerging great media companies of today. The great middle is what is going to suffer the most.

If you look at post-World War II, that was wave one with the ride of the private media company, meaning the rise of broadcast. Then 30 years later you see wave two with as the rise of programmatic and distribution cable. Now, about 30 years later again, we are seeing the rise of wave three. Every so often there is a forest fire and the greatest trees stands and the middle is wiped out. Then, a thousand different species erupt from the forest floor. That is how I see the media ecosystem right now.

CF: Speaking of all the new small media players, why did you decide to launch you own weekly newsletter?

LZ: LZSunday Paper grew out of NBCU where I initiated a council of women from many different industries like banking, retail, beauty, media, finance and digital for a conversation about how to tackle the changing landscape and the changing audiences through… marketing and advertising to women. When I left NBCUniversal, it was important to me to keep that dialogue going with this, in my view, to expand the community of women in business outside of the corporate guardrails and bring in a little pop culture, high culture, fascination and humor to it. In the past year I have been working on [the newsletter], it continues to evolve thematically and features of the newsletter have changed but the main point is to keep a very consistent and open dialogue with a very tight, smart and engaged group of business people.

CF: What does the newsletter add to the ever-growing media landscape?

LZ: I’m not a journalist, so I am not going to report as a primary source person. It is about offering a different lens. If you look at majorities, you are going to get majority stories. If the majority of CEOs of banks are men and the top of business you going to write about the decision makers and influencers in banking, you are going to write about those men. That’s not underserved. Everyone needs to know what is happening at the tops of their industry. What is underserved is not so much reportage on what these women are doing in these industries, but the different voices that emerge around very popular stories… If you want to see how the other half thinks, this is a pretty good window into that.

Summary: The former NBCU exec talks about her recent appointment at Refinery29 as well as what the future looks like for the media industry.


Ian Hamilton FinlayInverleith House and Ingleby Gallery

Cai Guo-Qiang: Life Beneath the ShadowFruitmarket Gallery

Edinburgh is so claustrophobic at festival time: the crowds, combined with the ever-present danger that a mime artist will appear from nowhere and block your path (I live in fear of mime artists), contrive to make the casual visitor feel shifty, exhausted, oddly hunted. You find yourself looking in vain for a park bench on which to sleep. What a relief, then, to journey out of town to Inverleith House, which sits on the edge of the lush Botanic Garden.

Here, you can see Sentences, the first major exhibition of new work by Ian Hamilton Finlay since 1972 - a show which, for all that it is sharp as a tack, also happens to be tranquil, reflective and very charming. It will make you think; it will make you smile. But most of all, it will act as a balm. I hereby recommend it to harassed fringe directors, their frazzled front rows and the big woman in a hat who elbowed me out of the way at the Scottish National Gallery.

Hamilton Finlay is one of those artists who defy categorisation. Is he a gardener or a poet, a philosopher or a funny kind of sculptor? I find it impossible to say, though he is probably best known for a garden: Little Sparta, which lies 25 miles to the south west of Edinburgh, in the Pentland Hills (a classical garden in a wild setting, Little Sparta references everything from the French Revolution to the Second World War; Sir Roy Strong has called it the only 'really original' garden to have been created since 1945).

What I can tell you, however, is that he works with words to sublime effect, an almost mystical talent that Sentences celebrates in unambiguous fashion. In four empty rooms, the writing is literally on the wall, in red and blue, silver and green. This is more stirring than it sounds: in these airy, white spaces, it is as if a voice - wry, but authoritative - is addressing you from far, far away.

Given the sentences in question, it is apt that you can see the Pentlands from the windows at Inverleith House, dark and brooding beyond the lush, tamed landscape of the Botanic Garden. Hamilton Finlay is much concerned with the interplay between order and disorder, between nature and cultivation. He announces this in the aphorisms, warm and witty, that adorn some of the walls at Inverleith House. 'Superior gardens are composed of Glooms and Solitudes,' says one. 'Certain gardens are described as retreats when they are really attacks,' says another. Or, my favourite: 'Classical gardens deal in grave generalisations, modern gardens in fussy particulars.'

But there is more to this exhibition than mere clever talk. Hamilton Finlay first made his name in the 1960s, producing concrete poetry, an art form in which words and image have a kind of symbiotic relationship. There are good examples of this here: a waterfall of inverted commas that begins with the word 'fountain' and ends with the word 'pen'; or the word 'daisy', repeated in a green chain that is punctuated only by the words, in fierce red: 'Mower is less.'

Still, as Hamilton Finlay would put it: too much chatter sprains the soul. I cannot do justice to this beautifully piercing show on paper. Only by standing in the middle of it will you be able to feel its quietly prayerful effect.

Thanks to the artist's 80th birthday, however, Sentences is not the only display of Hamilton Finlay's work this August; if you have the energy, take yourself out to the Ingleby Gallery in Carlton Terrace for more (the star turn here is an elegantly carved limestone plaque that reads: 'We worship groves and their very silences.') Better still, take advantage of the fact that, until 10 September, coaches are running from the Botanic Garden to the ordinarily inaccessible Little Sparta. In this miniature kingdom - a mettlesome rival to the Athens of the North - is a bird table shaped like an aircraft carrier; a pair of gateposts decorated with what at first look like pineapples, but are in fact hand grenades; and, most deliciously of all, a gravestone in a copse of sycamores that reads: 'Bring back the birch.' In the hands of some, Little Sparta, elliptical and jokey, might have ended up being so much whimsy. Hamilton Finlay, though, has a sage-like quality, not to mention a capacity for hard graft - next year, he will have tended his kingdom for 40 years - that renders it quietly, unsettlingly, profound.

Cai Guo-Qiang, a Chinese artist, opened the Edinburgh Art Festival with Black Rainbow, an arch of fireworks over the castle designed to be seen in daylight. He also has work on display at the Fruitmarket Gallery. So far as I can make out, he is keen on ghosts (one of his installations features a video camera trained on some plantain trees - the idea being that, during the night, a spook may visit since these plants have an affinity with female spirits). Upstairs at the Fruitmarket, is a series of spectral portraits, drawn in gunpowder which was then lit. The effect is lovely and rather Turin Shroud-like.

Even so, it is strange that Guo-Qiang has done portraits of Scottish figures of whom no known likenesses exist. Conan Doyle is one thing, the Lady of Lawers quite another - a situation that is only made more futile by a lack of labels in the gallery. Who or what was Bald Agnes? And which one of these ghoulish outlines is hers? When I visited, the only clue was contained in a folder of photocopied sheets, and this was already in use. Grrr.

· Coach trips to Little Sparta run from the Botanic Garden on Wednesdays and Saturdays until 10 September (0131 248 2983)

Summary: Art: Poet, philosopher, sculptor or gardener - Ian Hamilton Finlay defies categorisation, but his work is a balm for frazzled festival-goers, says Rachel Cooke.


Destination Maternity DEST is the latest U.S. company hoping to jump on the tax inversion bandwagon.

There has been a spate of inversions lately as U.S. corporations seek to use M&A with foreign companies to lower their tax rates by moving their headquarters overseas to friendlier tax locales. Last month, Medtronic MDT announced a $42.9 billion merger with Ireland’s Covidien, and much of the deal’s rationale had to do with giving the medical device manufacturer an Irish address. Walgreen WAG last week admitted it was considering relocating its home office to Switzerland if it exercises its option to buy the remain 55% of European drugstore chain Alliance Boots that it doesn’t already owned, a move that could drastically lower its bill from Uncle Sam.

Destination Maternity, which operates 578 of its own stores in North America along with 1,328 spaces in department stores, disclosed on Wednesday that it has made two non-binding written proposals to buy Mothercare, a struggling UK retailer specializing in items for expectant mothers and general merchandise for children, the latest of which was valued at about $453 million. Both offers were rejected by Mothercare’s board, and Destination Maternity in a statement on Wednesday announcing its offers said Mothercare “has refused to engage” in talks.

Destination Maternity CEO Ed Krell said there is “a compelling strategic rationale” for combining the two companies. For example, Mothercare could sell Destination Maternity’s popular brands in its UK stores, and allow Destination Maternity to use Mothercare’s excess retail space.

But for Destination Maternity, one of the biggest advantages of the deal likely has to do with how it would structure the deal: under its most recent overture to Mothercare, made on June 1, the merger would call for the creation of a new UK holding company that would be listed on a U.S. exchange, a move likely to lower its taxes.

Summary: Is this a tax inversion boom?


SAN FRANCISCO — The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, an early investor in Boston-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s drugs to treat the chronic lung disease, caught the attention of other patient advocates in November, when it disclosed that it had made $3.3 billon by selling its royalty rights.

Speaking before a small group of venture capitalists and biosciences entrepreneurs here Sunday night, foundation president Robert J. Beall said his group is plowing the proceeds into new disease-fighting alliances with drug makers ranging from Pfizer Inc. to Shire PLC and expanding a Bedford, Mass., lab where scientists use cell lines from cystic fibrosis patients to test compounds that could become medicines.

“That’s what the monetizing allows us to do,” said Beall, who outlined plans to boost employment at the Bedford lab to 20 employees from 13 in the coming months. “We’re trying to create collaborations. We think the life expectancy of cystic fibrosis patients can be increased by decades.”

The voices of patients and their advocates are growing louder at life sciences industry events like the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, which opened here Monday. While curing and treating patients has always been the focus of the booming business of drug and medical device makers, the patients themselves were conspicuously absent when drug executives in suits and ties gathered in the past.

Now, with the emergence of the “venture philanthropy” model pioneered by Beall’s foundation, and the growing role of patients in lobbying companies, regulators, and lawmakers for more treatment options, patients are becoming a factor to be reckoned with in the biopharmaceutical business.

The backlash from health insurers on expensive prescriptions will be an unavoidable topic at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.

Like other companies, venture capital firm Polaris Partners of Boston, which hosted a panel of patients, advocates, doctors, and entrepreneurs to talk about patient perspectives as the J.P. Morgan conference got underway, has been seeking out and working with patients who can advise, inspire, and advocate for its portfolio of biotechnology start-ups.

“We hope to be able to convert our knowledge of patient needs into benefits for the companies and the patients,” said Walter M. Capone, president of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation. Capone said his group has assembled a tissue bank to do genomic analyses and is using the results to help two companies perform clinical trials with experimental drugs.

Critics have suggested the increasing patient role in funding, developing, and marketing drugs raises some concerns and potential conflicts, particularly when venture philanthropy investors profit from higher drug prices that patients must bear. (The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation has said it was not part of Vertex’s decision to price its Kalydeco drug at $300,000 a year, though its investment clearly benefited.)

But for many patients and businesses, the benefits of greater patient involvement — and the increased visibility of patients telling their stories — are self-evident.

Martha Rhodes, a former New York advertising executive who suffered from treatment-resistant depression, told the Polaris group she has been able to manage the disease and transform her life through transcranial magnetic stimulation, a technique marketed by Polaris-backed Neuronetics Inc. of Malvern, Pa. Rhodes said she has no financial stake in the company.

“This therapy has the potential to save millions of lives of patients who don’t respond to traditional drugs,” she said.

Another patient advocate, Chris Garcia, a global business consultant based in Los Angeles, told the audience that his acne scar treatment from Polaris-based Suneva Medical Inc. in Santa Barbara, Calif., has been a boost to his career.

“Having a clear face with fewer scars played a big role,” Garcia said. “It gives you the confidence that’s important to success in business.”

Polaris venture partner Amy Schulman said the patient perspective is becoming increasingly important in guiding the efforts of investors and entrepreneurs.

“The human dimension underlies all our science and all our business,” she said.

Summary: With the emergence of the “venture philanthropy” model pioneered by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, and the growing role of patients in lobbying companies, regulators, and lawmakers for more treatment options, patients are becoming a factor to be reckoned with in the biopharmaceutical business.


An 18-year-old English man who lured a 14-year-old boy to his house and slit his throat retained a chilling calm in his emergency call to police, newly-released tapes of the call reveal.

Lewis Daynes called police on February 17 last year, only hours after cutting the throat of 14-year-old Breck Bednar. The two had met online.

In his call to police, Daynes' voice remains level as he asks for officers and forensic team to be dispatched to his Essex address, saying that he had "an altercation" with a friend, and that only one of them had come out of it alive.

When the operator asks if he is telling them that he's killed somebody, he tells her, in a level voice, "Yes, I am," before giving them his name and address.

Daynes claimed that Bednar had come to stay the night with him, feeling depressed and suicidal. When he attempted to comfort him the next morning, he said, Bednar had rushed him with a pen knife.

"I grabbed the knife and stabbed him in the back of the neck, I believe somewhere near the brain stem," he says on the call.

"I don't remember exactly what happened but the fight ended with me cutting his throat."

But this wasn't the real story. Daynes had lured Bednar to his home after months of online manipulation, and had perpetrated similar patterns of behaviour with other boys.

"He used his substantial computer expertise and his knowledge of the world of social media, to control everyone he came into contact with in his virtual world," lead investigator Detective Inspector Anne Cameron said.

"He controlled access to this world jealously and spent a great deal of time building up his online person - pretending to be an entrepreneur in order to influence, coerce and control vulnerable teenage boys to exploit them.

"Daynes has shown no remorse whatsoever for his actions. His actions provide a warning to all of us about the dangers of online predators who can come in many forms."

Police found duct tape that Daynes had used to restrain his victim before the killing in a bin bag in his house. Daynes had also submerged his computer in water to destroy evidence of his online life.

Sickeningly, he had sent pictures of Bednar's corpse to two other boys before making the emergency call.

Daynes, who had initially pleaded not guilty, changed his plea on the morning of the trial. He was sentenced yesterday to life in prison.

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Summary: An 18-year-old English man who lured a 14-year-old boy to his house and slit his throat retained a chilling calm in his emergency to call to police, newly-released tapes of the call reveal.