Weekend Digest: The cancer cures, ‘Bad Moms,’ and funniest movie ever edition

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 in Northeast Arkansas on KAIT-NBC, Sundays at 10 a.m.:

In Session
Cong. Steve Womack. After a long summer recess, the Third District representative talks about Zika funding, the budget process, and Wednesday’s Commander-in-chief forum.

Talk Politics
Chris Cillizza with The Washington Post talks politics. Hillary Clinton and press access; Donald Trump and the electoral map. How does Cillizza see the race shaping up headed into the post-Labor Day home stretch?

Back to Business
Plus, we’ll go inside the numbers for a roundup of the week’s business news and more on our acquisition of The Northwest Arkansas Business Journal. 

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

A CLEANING START-UP WIELDING MOPS, BUCKETS AND 700 DATA POINTS
“On a Thursday night in October 2013, Simon Brooks packed his belongings and drove west toward Silicon Valley, thinking he was on his way to creating the next Scrabble app, a word game he called Gadzookery,” posts The New York Times.

“He had little to lose. Mr. Brooks owed more on his house in Louisville, Ky., than it was worth. His marriage was over and he had been working in restaurants and bars for two years, ever since the financial crisis forced him to leave his job as a mortgage broker.”

“I put my dogs and my bags in the car and drove to the Dojo,” Mr. Brooks said.

He was referring to Hacker Dojo in Silicon Valley, a community space for technology start-ups whose members (fees generally start at $125 a month) have round-the-clock access.

The hacker space proved to be the key to his new enterprise — just not in the way he had imagined.

“Mr. Brooks arrived with $12,000 and a rough version of his educational word game. He hoped to assemble a team at the Dojo to help him rebuild it but, once there, he found neither the developers he needed nor a room to rent. He wound up in motels instead.”

So how did his eventual volunteering to clean up restrooms lead to the creation of his start-up?

Follow this link to read the full story.

CANCER CURES COULD ALREADY EXIST IN BIG DATA
“A panel set up by Obama’s Cancer Moonshot program says we should make better use of existing research data,” reports Fast Company.

“Reuse, and recycle” is a famous saying of the environmental movement, but cancer researchers might learn a thing or two from that mantra as well.

That’s the gist of several recommendations that came out today from a blue-ribbon panel set up by the White House as part of President Obama’s Cancer Moonshot program. Its audacious goal is to move the needle closer to a cure and achieve a decade’s worth of progress in five years.

“Today’s full report, one of three that will come out this year, features 10 recommendations. They include lots of new research, such as on immunotherapy and causes of childhood cancers, as well as finding ways to minimize side effects of cancer treatments.”

“But pooling data is perhaps the biggest component, weaving its way through several recommendations. It would start with patients, through a network that lets them preregister online as candidates for clinical trials. In the process, they would submit cancer tissue samples to be genetically sequenced.”

For the full story connect here.

BAD MOMS TOPS $100 MILLION, TARGETS AUDIENCE HOLLYWOOD IGNORES
“Bad Moms crossed $100 million in domestic grossers over the weekend. It’s STX Entertainment’s first big hit on that scale, having now earned $103.78 million in North America alone. The Mila Kunis/Kathryn Hahn/Kristen Bell comedy more-than-doubled the $43 million total of The Gift, which was their first release last August and their previously biggest earner,” says Forbes.

STX’s mission statement was to score big hits with mid-budget, star-driven studio programmers that had fallen out of fashion at the major studios. As such, after a rocky first year, this is more than just a hit. It’s a proof of concept. Moreover, it represents a clear example of the value of a “nothing like this in the marketplace” multiplex offering.

Who is the target audience? Get the scoop at this link.

STARTUP DEVELOPS A SALES MODEL THAT WORKS IN EMERGING MARKETS
“As the heat continues to blister during this summer in New York, I think back to the first time I ever bought an air conditioner: fresh out of college. It was a daunting investment, but well worth the quality-of-life improvement. I stumbled through a few consumer report roundups online, asked the advice of friends and coworkers, and eventually found myself at a local hardware store, where the owner enlightened me to the complex world of BTUs, replaceable filters, and square footage calculations. Within 30 minutes I had a giant box on a dolly and 300 more points on my recently opened credit card,” according to Harvard Business Review.

This seemingly banal transaction speaks volumes to the power of how established retail has pervaded our everyday experience in the United States. A lot had to take place for this all to happen: I had a problem but knew a solution existed; I had access to information on my options; I had a physical destination to see my options in person; a trained employee was available to provide advice and recommendations; and I had a means of financing to bring this appliance into my life almost immediately.

The thing is, for millions of people, this model doesn’t exist — and those people are my customers.

Curious? Go to this link to find out exactly what model the author uses and what his product is.

WHAT ARE THE UNDECIDED VOTERS WAITING FOR?
A very good question posed by The Los Angeles Times.

“As the presidential campaign moves into its final stretch, about 7% of voters (depending on which poll you read) say they’re still undecided between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump — more than enough to swing the election either way,” says The Times.

“After all the noise and drama of the last few months, what are these people waiting for?”

They don’t much like either of the candidates. They’re struggling to decide which is the lesser of two evils. And they’re not finding it an easy choice.

Click here for the complete story.

WHY THE POLLS ARE TIGHTENING UP
“Maybe Hillary Clinton isn’t going to be elected president after all. That’s a thought that’s evoking glee in some, nausea in others, terror in some and relief at the removal of an increasingly tedious figure from public view in still more,” reports the Washington Examiner.

The thought is prompted by the CNN/ORC poll showing Clinton trailing Donald Trump in a four-candidate matchup by a 45 percent to 43 percent margin. Clinton’s lead in the RealClearPolitics.com average of recent polls is down from 7.6 percent on Aug. 9 to 2.4 percent today. The fivethirtyeight.com website has Trump’s chances of winning up to 33 percent.

“The CNN/ORC poll has been criticized for having more self-identified Republicans than Democrats. Since random sample polling was invented in 1935, there hasn’t been a presidential election in which self-identified Republicans outnumbered self-identified Democrats. The closest was in 2004, when the exit poll showed both parties with 37 percent.”

For the full story and analysis click this link.

MERRICK GARLAND MIA ON CAMPAIGN TRAIL
“For months, Democrats touted the GOP’s Supreme Court blockade as a major political liability that would help turn the Senate majority in their favor. But for all their tough talk, Merrick Garland has basically disappeared from the Senate campaign trail,” posts POLITICO.

The air wars over Garland have largely gone silent, with no Senate Democratic candidates having run television ads invoking the unprecedented Republican blockade of Garland. And some Senate Republicans have actually turned the tables, using the court to motivate their own base.

“After plowing hundreds of thousands of dollars into Supreme Court-themed advertisements in the spring, well-financed outside groups propping up Senate Democrats have also long stopped doing TV buys calling out Republicans for obstructing Garland’s nomination — now numbering 176 days and counting.”

So is Garland’s nomination now a total dead issue on the campaign trail? POLITICO has the story at this link.

OBAMAS TALK LEGACY IN DUAL MAGAZINE INTERVIEWS
“Essence and InStyle magazines are both hitting newsstands with cover stories on the Obamas,” posts The Hill.

“Essence features President Obama and first lady Michelle for a special October issue. The publication — owned by Time Inc. — spoke to the first couple about their nearly eight years in the White House and what’s next for the family.”

“InStyle is featuring a first lady on its cover for the first time with its story on Michelle Obama for its October issue.”

For a sneak peek at these two cover story issues, go to this link.

WHAT’S THE FUNNIEST MOVIE EVER MADE?
Business Insider has posted a take on why a filmmaker genius says his 1974 western parody classic deserves the comedy movie crown. We won’t give away the movie here, but we’ll tell you who the 90-year-old filmmaker is. Why it’s Mel Brooks of course.

Go inside for a delightful read on why Brooks ranks his movie as the funniest movie ever made.

DUELING WITH WAX BULLETS
“In the first decade of the 20th century, the age-old custom of pistol dueling was briefly resurrected as a non-lethal sport, even making it into the 1908 Olympics as a side event,” posts Retronaut.

To accurately simulate the conditions of a duel, opponents would use real dueling pistols and gunpowder. The bullets, however, were wax.

Man, that could take an eye out. For more on this outrageous custom and photos to prove it, “fire” here.

CHEERLEADER DIAGNOSED WITH LEUKEMIA GETS SPECIAL SURPRISE
Mashable says, “If you think The Bachelor has given roses a bad rap, consider the flower’s good name restored.”

When a high school football team heard that one of their cheerleaders was diagnosed with leukemia, they paid a beautiful tribute to her by dropping orange roses at her feet as they entered the field for a game.

“Ashley Adamietz, a student at Foothill High School in Palo Cedro, California, appeared speechless as player after player presented her with a rose – orange, the color of leukemia awareness.”

For more on this heart warming story, plus a video of it all, go to this link.