Weekend Digest: The New Time Slot Edition

TV PREVIEW: NEW TIME SLOT
On this week’s TV edition of Talk Business & Politics with Roby Brock, which now airs at a new time – Sunday at 9:30 a.m. on KATV Ch. 7:

Cuban Flair: The Governor leads a delegation to Cuba. Arkansas Agriculture Secretary Wes Ward is our guest to talk about the trade trip to Cuba and its potential for Arkansas.

Sen. Tom Cotton weighs in on Syria, Cuba and presidential politics. What does Cotton think our Syrian strategy should be? What would have to change to earn his support for lifting Cuban sanctions? And, what’s his take on Rep. Charlie Collins’ efforts to draft him for President?

Our Talk Politics roundtable includes KATV’s Elicia Dover, GOP strategist Robert Coon with Impact Management Group, and TB&P contributor Jessica DeLoach Sabin. We’ll discuss the big stories of the week, plus the panel quizzes each other on everything from Oregon gun shootings to health care reform to the current state of the Presidential race.

Tune in to Talk Business & Politics with Roby Brock on KATV Ch. 7 Sundays at 9:30 a.m. following a new national politics show, “Full Measure” with Sharyl Atkisson.

BIG DATA: 20 MIND-BOGGLING FACTS EVERYONE MUST READ
“Big data is not a fad,” says Forbes.

We are just at the beginning of a revolution that will touch every business and every life on this planet.

But loads of people are still treating the concept of big data as something they can choose to ignore — when actually, they’re about to be run over by the steamroller that is big data.

Here are 20 stats that should convince anyone that big data needs their attention. Read them all here.

CHANGING THE FACE OF MAKEUP
A simple side project to develop a richer line of foundation has given rise to a company-wide campaign to break color barriers, reports Fast Company.

When the Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o became Lancôme’s first black spokesperson last year, fashion magazines and blogs welcomed the news as a sign that the legendary makeup brand is embracing women of color — especially those who have traditionally had trouble finding the right shades in drugstore aisles and department stores.

Behind the scenes, at the headquarters of L’Oréal Paris, Lancôme’s parent company, Nyong’o’s appointment signaled a broader effort by the cosmetics giant to stay ahead of consumer demand by placing diversity and globalization at the center of its strategy.

Read about the business strategy at this link.

AMAZON TO BAN SALES OF APPLE TV AND GOOGLE CHROMECAST
Fast Company has a scoop again. As the streaming wars heat up, Amazon is playing hardball: Effective October 29, the e-commerce retailer is banning sales of Apple TV and Google Chromecast units, according to Bloomberg.

Amazon’s reasoning is that Apple TV and Chromecast are not compatible with its streaming service, Prime Video. Bloomberg reports that third-party sellers have been told they must stop selling both products; new listings are no longer being accepted, and existing stock must be sold before the ban takes effect.

The PlayStation, Xbox, and Roku—all of which feature Prime Video—will still be sold on the e-commerce site. Amazon, of course, has its own streaming player, the Amazon Fire Stick, which directly competes with Chromecast and Apple TV.

For the full story on the hardball move, click here.

SELF-DOUBT IN AN EMPLOYEE
How do they overcome it?

You want to give a member of your team a stretch assignment, but she tells you she’s just “not ready yet” — she’d like to get more experience before taking it on.

You offer to make a valuable introduction for someone you mentor. He seemed excited about it at first, but doesn’t follow up. Later, you discover that he felt intimidated, like he’d have nothing to say.

As managers and mentors, we frequently encounter situations like these, when we come up against the limiting voices of self-doubt in the people we support.

So what do you do? Connect here for great advice.

SIX NUMBERS THAT EXPLAIN KEVIN McCARTHY, LIKELY THE NEXT HOUSE SPEAKER
Newsweek says, “Kevin McCarthy has been in Congress less than a decade, but he’s on track to assume the highest post in the House come November.”

He faces a challenge from Florida Representative Daniel Webster, a Tea Party-backed conservative, who announced shortly after Boehner’s news broke that he would run for the job.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the powerful House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is also set to run for the U.S. House’s top job.

How might McCarthy ascend to power? Find out at this link.

IS ‘SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE’ A FIX FOR HILLARY CLINTON?
According to The Washington Post, “The news that Hillary Clinton is expected to appear on “Saturday Night Live” represents a clear recognition by her campaign that she has an image problem with the American public that needs fixing — and fast.”

How important is fixing Clinton’s image problem to her campaign?

Examine the analysis by connecting here.

BERNIE SANDER’S CAMPAIGN HITTING FUND-RAISING MILESTONE
According to The New York Times, “Mr. Sanders reached a turning point on Wednesday night, when his campaign said that it had raised about $26 million since July — more than Mr. Obama took in for the comparable period in 2007 — and that it had saved enough since the spring to have more than $26 million in cash.”

And rather than benefit from million-dollar contributions through a “super PAC,” Mr. Sanders — who has called such fund-raising groups corrupt — has amassed a million online donations over the past five months, faster than Barack Obama did in his first, digitally groundbreaking campaign for president.

How’s he doing it and what’s next? Go to this link for the Bernie Sanders funding success formula.

IS HE GOING TO TANK?
GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump says, “I won’t stay in the race if I start tanking,” according to POLITICO.

Donald Trump — who has held a consistent lead in the field of Republican presidential hopefuls in recent months — says he won’t stay in the race if he starts bombing in the polls. “I’m not a masochist,” he said.

“Right now, I’m leading every poll, in most cases big,” Trump said Thursday in an interview with CNBC’s John Harwood. “If that changed, if I was like some of these people at 1 percent or 2 percent, there’s no reason to move forward. … If I tank, sure, I go back to the business. Why wouldn’t I?”

But Trump has no plans to tank.

Connect here to learn more about the Donald’s strategy to stay on top of the polls.

THE HARDEST PRONUNCIATION EVER AND WHO DID IT
By our count, it had 58 letters and a lot of crooked ones.

What TV guy pronounced this town in northern Wales was one the U.K.’s warmest locations and while the name of this particular village is sometimes shortened to “Llanfairpwllgwyngyll” or even “Llanfairpwll,” Britain’s Channel 4 News decided to use the full, 58-letter-long spelling for its Tuesday evening weather forecast.

And then he went for it — and absolutely nailed the pronunciation of “Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.”

Oh my, who did it flawlessly? You don’t want to miss this video. Diction Gold Medal at this link.

TRANSCENDING FOOTBALL
A pretty moving story from Saturday Down South.

The football web site reports on a letter sent from a college president of an athlete severely injured in the Georgia-Southern football game last week.

Ray Belton, the president and chancellor of the Southern University system, has expressed his deepest gratitude for the outpouring of support bestowed his student-athlete Devon Gales by Mark Richt and the University of Georgia.”

In an open letter to the Bulldogs on Wednesday, Belton reiterated Southern’s appreciation for Georgia’s hospitality and willingness to aid the Jaguars’ football program and Gales following his spinal cord injury suffered in last weekend’s game in Athens.

To find out how Gales is doing and what the latter said, go to this link.

DO PUFFY CLOUDS HAVE SHARP EDGES?
Those beautiful billowing cumulus clouds couldn’t have sharp edges now could they? They look like cotton balls floating in the sky.

A laser-based imaging technique let scientists see what happens to water droplets at the borders of cumulus clouds.

And so what was the finding? A surprising answer here.