Weekend Digest: The phone-charging plant, funny President, Lucifer label, and best of Prince edition

SUNDAY TV PREVIEW
On this week’s TV edition of Talk Business & Politics, which airs Sundays at 9:30 a.m. on KATV Channel 7 in Central Arkansas and now in Northeast Arkansas on KAIT-NBC, Sundays at 10 a.m.:

• Rep. Bruce Westerman
Congress is without a budget as another deadline approaches. Plus, Puerto Rico, national debt and women in the military are occupying Congress. We’ll go one-on-one.

• A good jobs week in Arkansas
A $1.3 billion paper mill; hospital expansion in Northwest Arkansas; and telecom jobs in Paragould in Little Rock. AEDC executive director Mike Preston talks business.

• Roundtable
With health care in the rear view mirror, policy makers turn their attention to highways and education. TB&P contributors Frank Scott and Steve Brawner join our roundtable.

Tune in to Talk Business & Politics in Central Arkansas on KATV Channel 7, Sundays at 9:30 a.m. and now in Northeast Arkansas on KAIT-NBC, Sundays at 10 a.m.

HOW MUCH DID THE ‘ICONIC NIKE SWOOSH’ COST PHIL KNIGHT?
Marketplace posts, “Phil Knight has held many jobs in his life. He was in the Army Reserves, he was a professor of accounting and a CPA.”

But his biggest accomplishment might be what millions of people around the world put on their feet. The company he started with his running coach, Bill Bowerman, out of the back of his car in 1964, had a couple of other names. In the beginning Knight was a distributor for Japanese brand Onitsuka Tiger. The company was also called Blue Ribbon at one point.

Now, it’s the $30 billion dollar company known around the world as Nike.

“Knight’s new memoir is called ‘Shoe Dog,’ which he said means, simply, shoemaker.”

So how did he commission the Nike swoosh? Find out here.

COULD YOUR HOUSE PLANT CHARGE YOUR PHONE?
“Soon” says Mashable.

“When Mother Nature came up with photosynthesis, she likely wasn’t expecting any USB cords to be involved. Alas, there’s no stopping progress.”

A European startup company is currently developing an intriguing gizmo that will let you charge your phone with your potted plant. The system, called Bioo Lite, harnesses the power of photosynthesis and generates electricity using only water, soil and any common house plant. (We might have suggested the name Power Plant, but hey — nobody asked us.)

But, if you ask us, you can read on to learn more about Bioo Lite, at this link.

THE TOP 5 TED TALKS ON THE INTERNET OF THINGS
“The Internet of Things (IoT) is a concept that has generated as much skepticism as it has hype in recent years,” says Computing.

Computing’s Internet of Things Business Summit, to be held on 12 May in central London, will cut through the buzzwords and explain exactly where and how businesses can benefit, and how to avoid the pitfalls.

But for now, have a look at our list of the top TED Talks on the topic, from a variety of technology luminaries.

The list is here.

THE BUFFETT QUIZ
“Do you really know Warren’s world?” asks Bloomberg.

“Six hours of fielding investor questions may sound like torture, but for Warren Buffett, it’s all in a day’s work at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting.

Sure, lots of us recognize the trademarks of Warren’s World – the cherry coke, the See’s Candies, the Geico gecko. But staying on top of a decentralized $360 billion company is something else entirely. It’s a challenge fit for, well, Warren Buffett.”

Luckily, while Berkshire has a fascinating – and fascinatingly lucrative – business, few can really hold forth on, say, super-cat reinsurance policies. So here is a little test to see how much you know about this icon of corporate America and the company he built. Get enough of these 12 questions right, and you will definitely be a superstar at the next office party.

Ready? Then go.

THE FIRST ALT-COMEDY PRESIDENT
Mr. Obama, of course, reports The Washington Post.

“For a long time, presidential humor was predictable as a knock-knock joke. Then along came President Obama, dropping the word “heezy,” mimicking viral memes, and quipping that he and Joe Biden are so close, they’d probably be denied service at an Indiana pizza joint.”

Obama, who will take the stage at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner on Saturday to deliver the traditional joke-filled monologue — the eighth and final of his administration — has a comic sensibility that’s edgier and more pop-culture-influenced than we’re used to hearing from politicians.

He might not be the first truly post-racial president after all — but Obama is arguably the first postmodern humorist to hold the office.

Laugh some more, at this link.

HAS THE GOP RACE PERMANENTLY SHIFTED TO TRUMP?
“For most of the year, the GOP primary could best be explained as a sort of collective action problem.  Donald Trump seemed to have 35 percent to 40 percent of the Republican electorate locked down, but had difficulty expanding his coalition,” says Real Clear Politics.

“The expectation was that he would perform well so long as it was a multi-candidate field. But as the field narrowed, the anti-Trump forces could be expected to mount a late comeback.”

The upshot of this, however, was that the non-Trump candidates were incentivized to continue splitting that vote: The (reasonable) expectation was that the one who found himself (apologies to Carly Fiorina) as the last man standing would have a very good chance of becoming the nominee. So the field winnowed much more slowly than people expected.

Then what happened, despite states like Arkansas, Virginia and Texas? Go to this link for the full story and analysis.

‘LUCIFER IN THE FLESH’
In a stunner, POLITICO reports this from former Speaker of the House, John Boehner.

“I have Democrat friends and Republican friends. I get along with almost everyone, but I have never worked with a more miserable son of a bitch in my life,” former House Speaker John Boehner said of GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz.”

The former House speaker also says that he would vote for Trump, and called the two of them “texting buddies.”

And about that “Lucifer” comment … go to this link for the complete story.

THE GREATEST JOB YOU NEVER WANT TO HAVE AGAIN
What is it?

“The strange lives of the most wired people in new media: campaign embeds,” reports POLITICO Magazine.

“On June 1, after selling her 2002 Toyota Sequoia and handing over her apartment keys, Betsy Klein loaded a rental car with 60 pounds of luggage and 80 pounds of camera gear and drove to Des Moines. That was the last day she had a permanent address.”

Since then, she has traveled more than 100,000 miles, laden with equipment and a handful of changes of clothes, as she tracks Ted Cruz’s campaign for CNN. Klein, 25, is a network campaign embed – a special breed of TV reporters who supply near-constant streams of video, sound, stories and tweets about the candidates they cover. For anyone wondering what life at the cutting edge of 2016 media looks like, the network embed is it.

What do they do? What is their “frenetic pace”? Find out, at this link.

THE WORLD’S LONGEST-SERVING PRESIDENT JUST WON A SIXTH TERM WITH 99% OF THE VOTE
What the …? Now wait a minute. Six terms maybe. 99% of the vote? Come on.

Teodoro Obiang Nguema has never received less than 97 percent of the vote in an election. On Monday, with partial results indicating that 99.2 percent of the vote has gone in his favor, Equatorial Guinea’s leader was surely all set for another seven years in a seat that has no doubt molded to his figure.

How could that be, and what’s the full story? Go to this link to learn how he triumphed over six candidates.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE PRINCE SONG?
We’ve lost one of the greatest. His library of songs are too many to mention.

Rolling Stone asked its readers to pick the Top 10.

The loss of Prince shook the music world and his life and message continues to inspire millions around the globe. Over his lifetime, Prince released nearly 40 albums and dominated the Eighties with his innovative fusion of rock, funk, pop and R&B, all with a sense of humor, unique perspective and deliciously unhinged style of writing and singing. We asked our readers to vote for the best of Prince’s many songs. Here are the results.

Catch the list at this link.

THE THINGS YOU CAN’T BUY IF BOYCOTTING TRANS-FRIENDLY BUSINESSES
OK what does that mean?

“More than a half-million people have signed on to boycott Target for its transgender-friendly bathroom policy. But why stop there?”

The American Family Association (AFA), a fundamentalist Christian nonprofit that is considered a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), claims to have gathered more than 517,000 signatures on its petition.

“Target’s store policy endangers women and children by allowing men to frequent women’s facilities,” the boycott pledge reads. “Until Target makes the safety of women and children a priority, I will shop elsewhere.”

The Daily Beast responds, “First of all, there is no evidence to suggest that transgender people are a danger in restrooms, nor that anti-transgender legislation protects the safety of women and children.”

For more on this story, go to this link.