American News Broadcasting

“It’s A Wonderful Life” and Jimmy Stewart

2018-12-25T09:05:00.001-08:00

Special thanks to Amanda K Schalau for sharing this article!
Color Photos by Raymond Tharaldson

Just months after winning his 1941 Academy Award for best actor in “The Philadelphia Story,” Jimmy Stewart, one of the best-known actors of the day, left Hollywood and joined the US Army. He was the first big-name movie star to enlist in World War II.

An accomplished private pilot, the 33-year-old Hollywood icon became a US Army Air Force aviator, earning his 2nd Lieutenant commission in early 1942. With his celebrity status and huge popularity with the American public, he was assigned to starring in recruiting films, attending rallies, and training younger pilots.

Stewart, however, wasn’t satisfied. He wanted to fly combat missions in Europe, not spend time in a stateside training command. By 1944, frustrated and feeling the war was passing him by, he asked his commanding officer to transfer him to a unit deploying to Europe. His request was reluctantly granted.

Stewart, now a Captain, was sent to England, where he spent the next 18 months flying B-24 Liberator bombers over Germany. Throughout his time overseas, the US Army Air Corps' top brass had tried to keep the popular movie star from flying over enemy territory. But Stewart would hear nothing of it.

Determined to lead by example, he bucked the system, assigning himself to every combat mission he could. By the end of the war he was one of the most respected and decorated pilots in his unit.

But his wartime service came at a high personal price.

In the final months of WWII he was grounded for being “flak happy,” today called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

When he returned to the US in August 1945, Stewart was a changed man. He had lost so much weight that he looked sickly. He rarely slept, and when he did he had nightmares of planes exploding and men falling through the air screaming (in one mission alone his unit had lost 13 planes and 130 men, most of whom he knew personally).

He was depressed, couldn’t focus, and refused to talk to anyone about his war experiences. His acting career was all but over.

As one of Stewart's biographers put it, "Every decision he made [during the war] was going to preserve life or cost lives. He took back to Hollywood all the stress that he had built up.”

In 1946 he got his break. He took the role of George Bailey, the suicidal father in “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The rest is history.

Actors and crew of the set realized that in many of the disturbing scenes of George Bailey unraveling in front of his family, Stewart wasn’t acting. His PTSD was being captured on filmed for potentially millions to see.

But despite Stewart's inner turmoil, making the movie was therapeutic for the combat veteran. He would go on to become one of the most accomplished and loved actors in American history.

When asked in 1941 why he wanted to leave his acting career to fly combat missions over Nazi Germany, he said, "This country's conscience is bigger than all the studios in Hollywood put together, and the time will come when we'll have to fight.”

This weekend, as many of us watch the classic Christmas film, “It’s A Wonderful Life,” it’s also a fitting time to remember the sacrifices of Jimmy Stewart and all the men who gave up so much to serve their country during wartime. We will always remember you!

Postscript:
While fighting in Europe, Stewart's Oscar statue was proudly displayed in his father’s Pennsylvania hardware store. Throughout his life, the beloved actor always said his father, a World War I veteran, was the person who had made the biggest impact on him.

Jimmy Stewart was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985 and died in 1997 at the age of 89.

Color Photos by Raymond Tharaldson - Have a Wonderful Christmas!
Special thanks to Amanda K Schalau for sharing this article.

Farewell President George H. Bush!

2018-12-05T10:33:00.002-08:00

George H.W. Bush was a patriot who loved his country and served it throughout his life. He showed grace and compassion and now will shine among the thousand points of light for all eternity. Thank you Mr. President for your service and rest well among the heavens.

Rupert Murdoch could buy Fox regional sports networks back from Disney at a discount of billions

2018-10-27T11:09:00.003-07:00

by Alex Sherman

The front-runner to buy 22 regional sports TV networks from Disney is the same company that sold them in the first place.

“New Fox,” the company that will remain after Rupert Murdoch sells $71.3 billion worth of 21st Century Fox assets to Disney, is the leading contender to buy back the RSNs it “sold” to Disney as part of the larger transaction, according to people familiar with the matter. Those networks broadcast the games of 44 professional teams from Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association and the National Hockey League

Formal offers haven’t come in yet. As Sports Business Daily reported, Disney only recently sent out its bid book to prospective buyers. News that Fox was considering buying back the channels was previously reported by The Information.

But people familiar with the process, who asked not to be named because the negotiations are private, say New Fox is the most serious buyer for all the networks. That’s a cleaner outcome for Disney than selling the networks piecemeal, which would bring in smaller buyers and private equity firms.

Premium: Bob Iger Rupert Murdoch split

Getty Images

Disney is a motivated seller because it can’t get its larger deal for Fox done without divesting the networks. The Department of Justice forced Disney, which owns ESPN, to sell the networks to alleviate concerns about too much sports programming power in the hands of one company. In fact, the networks might never even change hands, depending on when Disney’s larger deal of Fox closes.

Winning back the sports networks would be a coup for Rupert Murdoch, who could get the RSNs at a lower price than the value at which he sold them to Disney — a price that was driven up nearly $20 billion by Comcast’s rival bid for the bundle of Fox assets. There may also be beneficial tax benefits to Murdoch, related to tax-deductible amortization, one of the people said.

A declining asset that’s worth more to Fox than anyone else.

There are several ironies here.

First, while the DOJ forced Disney to sell the RSNs to get the larger deal done, the networks were never a crown jewel asset for Fox, Disney or Comcast. Fox was willing to sell them (and did). Disney took them because it wanted other assets from Fox (its studio, its stake in Hulu, Star India).

Meanwhile, Comcast saw the RSNs as an albatross and was equally willing to divest them, according to people familiar with the companies’ thinking.

Regional sports networks used to be huge value-adds for the cable industry. They carry exclusive broadcasting rights to local games, which come with devoted fan bases. About a decade ago, the networks began to hike carriage fees, knowing cable providers would agree to the higher prices rather than risk alienating customers by blacking out the networks. That led to a steady rise in the cost of cable for consumers. Residents of markets like New York or Los Angeles, which have multiple teams and a handful of RSNs, were paying fees up to $10 a month (baked into their monthly cable bill) whether or not they were watching the games.

In recent years, pay-TV providers, which have seen millions of customers cut the cord, have started to see RSNs differently. Providers have pushed to tier them onto packages that appeal just to sports fans while keeping costs lower for everyone else. This has decreased the value of the networks, which are no longer automatically part of everyone’s basic cable packages.

Several pay-TV providers have dropped regional sports networks, refusing to pay their high programming fees. For instance, SportsNet LA, which broadcasts L.A. Dodgers games, which hasn’t been carried by DirecTV for five straight years.

If Fox ends up with the sports networks again, part of the reason will be that no other large pay-TV distributor -- Charter, AT&T, Comcast or Dish -- saw value in owning the networks. While Sinclair Broadcast Group CEO Chris Ripley has discussed making an offer for the networks with private equity support, it would need quite a bit of help. Sinclair’s market capitalization is just $2.8 billion. The regional sports networks were valued at more than $20 billion, according to a Guggenheim Securities analysis.

It’s still unclear how much New Fox is willing to spend on the networks — or what Disney values them at. What is clear is that Disney needs to sell them.

Disney to divest regional sports networks post-deal.

The second irony is Murdoch can once thank rival Comcast for making him money if he ends up with the networks.

When Comcast and Disney were jockeying to buy Fox assets earlier this year, one thing was never in doubt -- Murdoch wanted to sell to Disney. Several times, Murdoch aligned himself with Disney’s bids against Comcast.

Yet, the competitive Comcast bids let Murdoch net $19 billion more for his bundle of assets.
Now, Comcast’s participation could help him get the sports networks at a bargain.

Disney originally agreed to buy the Fox assets for $52 billion. Comcast’s rival bids for Fox pushed the price up to $71.3 billion. In that process, it pushed valuation of the RSNs higher, as it did for all of the assets (including 39 percent of British TV provider Sky, which Comcast later agreed to buy).

Disney almost certainly won’t find a buyer that will pay that inflated valuation for just the networks. New Fox’s most likely competitor (barring a competitive bid from a company like John Malone’s Liberty Media) is a private equity firm -- and there’s little chance a leveraged buyout firm could win a bidding war for the RSNs and satisfy its limited partners that it would make a future return on the assets.

(Disney, by the way, will end up getting $15 billion back for selling its 39 percent stake in Sky and possibly about $20 billion for the RSNs, making that $71.3 billion Fox deal look more like $36 billion.)

It’s possible Google, Amazon or another technology company would eventually be interested in the networks for the sports rights. But that seems unlikely. The regional sports networks are tied to a legacy cable system that tech companies typically view as anathema. If Amazon or Google wants regional sports rights, they can just wait until current contracts expire and bid on them then.

The final irony is Fox’s decision to sell the RSNs to Disney may have actually convinced Murdoch that it was better off keeping them. In the months following Fox’s decision to sell, New Fox has clarified its focus, centering itself around news and sports. Netflix publicly praised the company for that decision last week.

It’s possible Fox has come to the conclusion owning the RSNs makes more sense than selling them, even if it didn’t think so 10 months ago.

Disclosure: Comcast is the owner of NBCUniversal, parent company of CNBC and CNBC.com

Inspirational Sales Video Must Watch by Grant Cardone

2018-10-06T13:43:00.003-07:00

Inspirational Sales Video Must Watch by Grant Cardone

2018-10-06T13:43:00.001-07:00

5 Lessons To Live By - Dr. Wayne Dyer (Truly Inspiring)

2018-10-06T09:19:00.001-07:00

15 Years Ago Today We Lost This mega Star!

2018-09-12T07:39:00.004-07:00

Raymond Tharaldson

15 years ago today Johnny Cash left his home here on earth to join June in their new home on the other side. I had the honor of meeting him and his amazing family on several occasions. His concerts felt more like a family jam session than the over produced flash and bang of today's music events. His persona was overwhelming and yet you felt like part of an extended family in his presence. I took this image at the end of his concert. It was the last frame of film I had left on the roll. Long live Johnny Cash!
https://www.facebook.com/JohnnyCashIsAlive/…

Alan Jackson - "Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning ?" -

2018-09-11T07:17:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday America!

2018-07-04T20:13:00.001-07:00

Booyah Productions: Clean the World and Motivational Speaker Shane Joh...

2018-05-09T07:05:00.001-07:00

Booyah Productions: Clean the World and Motivational Speaker Shane Joh...: PRESS RELEASE: Program aimed at offering guidance and aid to struggling veterans across the country ORLANDO, Fla., May 9, 2018...

Hotel magnate, Gary Tharaldson, reveals his two biggest secrets to success

2018-04-18T06:15:00.001-07:00

Gary Tharaldson shares tales of his business career during a talk at Minnesota State University Moorhead on Monday, April 16. Dave Olson/The Forum

By Dave Olson

MOORHEAD—Successful entrepreneur and hotel magnate Gary Tharaldson shared stories from his business career during an event at Minnesota State University Moorhead on Monday, April 16, wowing his audience with tales of how a boy who grew up near Dazey, N.D., on a farm that didn't have running water built a company that was sold to its employees in 1999 for about $1 billion.

About 15 years later, those employees walked away with about $600 million when they sold the company, providing many with a significant retirement fund, according to Tharaldson.

He said creating the employee stock ownership plan that made that possible is one of his proudest accomplishments in a career that is still going strong and is now chronicled in a book titled, "Open Secrets of Success: the Gary Tharaldson Story," which is available on Amazon and was written by Patrick J. McCloskey.

Tharaldson said the book reflects his long-held practice of answering questions anytime people ask him how he has gotten to where he is.

When it comes to building hotels, Tharaldson's formula is simple: he teams only with high-quality brands like Marriott and only builds in areas where demographics almost guarantee success.

To help ensure that, he said he determines who the major competitors are in a community and then builds hotels with about 20 percent fewer rooms, which he says usually results in higher occupancy rates and above-average profit margins, usually around 40 percent.

"I stack the deck for myself," Tharaldson said, adding that success comes in many forms and for him it's not necessarily making lots of money.

"If you're truly doing what you love to do, then you're successful," he said.

Asked what he feels are his three strongest talents, Tharaldson listed attitude and a willingness to learn, as well as adopting a common sense approach to most things.

When he struggled to come up with a third talent, his wife, Connie, supplied the rest:

"He never gives up," she said. "He finds a way to keep going and never, ever, gives up."

Tharaldson told the audience, which was mainly MSUM students, that a major part of what has made his hotels successful is the fact employees were given a stake in whether the business succeeded or not.

"They acted like owners. They took pride in everything they did, knowing someday there would be a payday," Tharaldson said.

FRANCE 24 Live – International Breaking News & Top stories - 24/7 stream

2018-04-14T09:12:00.001-07:00

Successful Businessman Gary Tharaldson launches his book "Open Secrets of Success"

2018-03-10T17:01:00.003-08:00

BOOK SIGNING:

Tuesday, April 3 at 4:30 PM - 7:30 PM CDT

13th Ave S, Fargo, ND 58103-3301, United States

"This is a phenomenal story of Gary Tharaldson's incredible accomplishment. Starting with nothing, he built over 400 hotels by himself, no partners-more than any single individual worldwide. What an inspiration to young people across the country!" -- Rudy Ruettiger, motivational speaker and subject of the 1993 film "Rudy," ranked among the top inspirational movies by the American Film Institute. "Gary is so down-to-earth, he's actually subterranean. I was one of the fortunate ones because Gary shared everything with us: his building costs and operating numbers, which were tops in the industry, and how he produced them." -- Bruce White, Chairman, Founder and CEO of White Lodging.

You can order your copy on Amazon by clicking on the link below:

https://www.amazon.com/Open-Secrets-Success-Tharaldson-Story/dp/0998872857

Mission Complete, We Carry On!

2018-03-10T16:31:00.001-08:00

Dow surges 200 points after strong jobs report

2018-03-09T07:39:00.003-08:00

Getty Images

by Fred Imbert | Alexandra Gibbs

U.S. stocks traded higher on Friday after the release of stronger-than-expected employment data.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 200 points, with Intel as the best-performing stock in the index. The S&P 500 gained 0.8 percent, with energy as the best-performing sector. The Nasdaq composite advanced 0.9 percent. The Nasdaq 100, which is made up of the 100 largest companies in the Nasdaq composite, reached an all-time high.

The U.S. economy added 313,000 jobs in February, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economists polled by Reuters expected a gain of 200,000.

Wages, meanwhile, grew less than expected, rising 2.6 percent on an annualized basis. Stronger-than-expected wage growth helped spark a market correction in the previous month.

"As far as the market is concerned, you couldn't have scripted it any better," said JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade. But "it still remains a mystery how you can create these many jobs and not have wages go up more."

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange shortly after the opening bell in New York.

The moves Friday came after Wall Street finished on a positive note on Thursday, following more developments concerning tariffs.

President Donald Trump signed two declarations on Thursday, which would implement tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. The tariffs are expected to take effect in 15 days and will put a 25 percent charge on steel, and 10 percent on aluminum. Canada and Mexico however are exempt.

"I'm glad to see Canada and Mexico was spared in the latest tariff initiatives," said Peter Boockvar, chief investment officer at Bleakley Advisory Group, in a note. "But, 75% of our trading partners were slapped. I get that China was the real target here but we import 13% of our steel from Brazil, 10% from South Korea, 5% from Japan, 4% from Germany and 3.5% from Taiwan to name some others."

Friday also marked the nine-year anniversary of the bull market. It also marks the "Haines Bottom." Before the open on March 10, 2009, CNBC anchor Mark Haines called the bottom of the financial crisis on air.

On March 9, 2009, the S&P 500 closed at 676.53. Since then, the S&P 500 is up around 300 percent.

"I Can Only Imagine": A Tribute to Billy Graham.

2018-03-02T17:30:00.001-08:00

Billy Graham, America's pastor, has died

2018-02-21T05:36:00.002-08:00

Photo: Larry W. Smith, Getty Images)

by Cathy Lynn Grossman, Special for USA TODAY

The world's best-known evangelist, the Rev. Billy Graham, has died. He was 99.

From the gangly 16-year-old baseball-loving teen who found Christ at a tent revival, Graham went on to become an international media darling, a preacher to a dozen presidents and the voice of solace in times of national heartbreak. He was America's pastor.

Graham retired to his mountain home at Montreat, N.C., in 2005 after nearly six decades on the road calling people to Christ at 417 all-out preaching and musical events from Miami to Moscow. His final New York City crusade in 2005 was sponsored by 1,400 regional churches from 82 denominations.

Presidents called on Graham in their dark hours, and uncounted millions say he showed them the light. He took his Bible to the ends of the Earth in preaching tours he called "crusades." Even now, anywhere a satellite, radio, TV, video or podcast can reach, his sonorous voice is probably still calling someone to Christ.

Though Graham's shoes could likely never be filled, his son, Franklin, has taken over in some aspects—leading The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and becoming a confidant of President Donald Trump, including speaking at his inauguration.

But Franklin's message has swayed from his father's, leaving a mixed legacy for the Graham name.

Franklin has mocked both Islam and LGBT rights. He uses his following on social media to raise funds for "persecuted Christians," boycotts businesses that use gay couples in advertisements and blasts the separation of church and state as as the godless successor to Cold War communism.

But his father's words for years offered peace and perspective.

On the National Day of Prayer and Remembrance following the 9/11 attacks, Billy Graham spoke of the "mystery of iniquity and evil," of "the lesson of our need for each other" and, ultimately, of hope.

"He was so real, he made Christianity come true." observed Susan Harding, an anthropologist at the University of California-Santa Cruz. "He was homespun, historical and newsworthy all at once. He could span the times from Christ to today, from the globe to you, all in one sentence."

Grant Wacker, a Duke University professor of Christian history, says Graham represented, "what most decent churchgoing people thought and ought to think."

His reputation was untouched by sex or financial scandals. When anti-Semitic comments came to light as transcripts of conversations with Richard Nixon surfaced, Graham was promptly and deeply apologetic.

He never built a megachurch, set up a relief agency, launched a political lobby or ran for office. Yet he redefined American Protestant life by popularizing Christianity's core message — Christ died for your sins — downplaying denominational details and proclaiming the joys found in faith.

Graham was, however, drawn to power. Eventually, he met, prayed with, comforted and joked with 12 U.S. presidents, and Graham learned to walk a tightrope.

He found a fine balance that allowed him to become America's pastor, Democrat or Republican. North or South.

When President Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky came to light, Graham called for forgiveness.

Clinton told Peter Boyer of The New Yorker, "He took sin seriously. But he took redemption seriously. And it was incredibly powerful the way he did it."

Former president George W. Bush has said it was a conversation with Graham that turned him from his drinking ways when he was young.

"I've never called him on a specific issue but his influence is bigger than a specific issue, as far as I'm concerned. He warms your soul," Bush told an ABC 20/20 special on the preacher and politics.

Graham emphasized the joy to be found in belief, in contrast to evangelists such as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson who routinely issued glowering condemnations of politicians or blamed natural disasters on modern culture. However, Graham did take an uncharacteristically political stand before the 2012 presidential election. He authorized full page ads in major newspapers in October urging people to vote for politicians who opposed same-sex marriage on "biblical principles."

He brought to the microphone a "corny but effective humor," Wacker says, which made him a convivial talk-show guest. Graham logged more than 50 radio or television interviews with Larry King alone. YouTube has a tape of Woody Allen interviewing the evangelist, who draws almost as many laughs as the caustic, agnostic comedian.

The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association he founded, now led by his son, Franklin, used every communications innovation possible to carry the Gospel to any willing heart on Earth. More than 214 million people in 195 cities and territories heard God's call in Graham's voice and witnessed him deliver the Gospel in person or by satellite links. His projects included founding Christianity Today magazine in 1956 and writing more than 30 books.

High among his numerous honors: The Congressional Gold Medal awarded to Billy and Ruth in 1996, the Presidential Medal of Freedom awarded to him in 1983, and the Templeton Foundation Prize for Progress in Religion in 1982. He even has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

"Fundamentalists saw him as excessively liberal, and liberals saw him as too literalist in talking about sin and salvation. His wonderful balance between them is critical to his legacy," says John Wilson, editor of Books & Culture, a sister publication of Christianity Today magazine.

Graham's last decades were slowed by illness and injury. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1989, felled by broken bones, bouts of hydrocephalous and rounds of pneumonia.

Age, illness and bone-breaking falls had left him struggling to deliver 20-minute sermons.

Graham's last crusade, in June 2005 in New York City, drew 242,000 people to Flushing Meadows; 8,786 made a new commitment to Christ and thousands more renewed or rejoiced in their faith.

Then he retired to his Montreat, N.C., mountaintop log cabin home (where his five children grew up mostly without their traveling father) to spend his days with his beloved wife, Ruth. They shared Bible study, devotions and an endless recycling of the movie musicals she loved to watch. Those were bittersweet days, with Ruth bedridden and Billy relying on a walker. Their frequent prayer was, "Help me, Lord."

At her funeral in June 2007, Graham called Ruth the finest Christian he ever knew.

Graham lived through the explosion of religious diversity in America, the rise of the human potential movement and the trend to personalized spirituality. He also lived to see many tire of lonely seeking or a high-minded hopscotch from church to church, religion to religion.

Yet he remained steadfast in his response. In 1996, when he and Ruth were awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, he once more shared his faith in God with some of the most powerful men on Earth:

"As Ruth and I receive this award, we know that some day we will lay it at the feet of the one we seek to serve."

Mark Levin's new Fox News program to launch Sunday night

2018-02-20T15:59:00.002-08:00

By Joe Concha

Fox News announced Tuesday it will launch the first episode of conservative commentator Mark Levin's new weekend program, "Life, Liberty & Levin," on Sunday at 10 p.m., according to a network release.

"Hosted by nationally syndicated radio talk show personality Mark Levin, the hour-long show will explore the fundamental values and principles undergirding American society, culture, politics, and current events, and their relevance to the nation’s future and everyday lives of citizens," reads the release.

The first episode will feature an interview with Walter Williams, an economist and George Mason University professor.

“Mark’s passion for the principles found in the Constitution and success in talk radio has made him a distinct figure in the media landscape. We look forward to adding this spirited program to our weekend lineup," Suzanne Scott, Fox News president of programming, said in a statement when the network first announced Levin had been signed to host the weekly offering.

Levin also hosts a syndicated radio program that airs on more than 300 stations across the country and on Sirius XM on weekdays, and he launched the subscription-based "Levin TV" online in 2016.

The self-described constitutional conservative is a former chief of staff to Ed Meese, an attorney general during the Reagan administration
Levin has authored seven books, including the New York Times best-seller "Rediscovering Americanism and the Tyranny of Progressivism," released earlier this year.

Fox News, CNN and MSNBC have beefed up their programming on weekends in recent years after largely airing repeats of weekday shows or offering up specials or documentaries in the Saturday and Sunday prime-time hours.

Small-business confidence hits record high in 2018 after Trump tax-reform win

2018-02-20T05:33:00.003-08:00

by Kate Rogers
Small-business confidence is surging in 2018 as optimism rises among small-business owners about the newly enacted tax-reform package, according to the latest CNBC/SurveyMonkey Small Business Survey, released Tuesday.

The CNBC/SurveyMonkey Q1 Small Business Confidence Index saw an increase of five points, from 57 to 62, a record high and the largest quarter-to-quarter move the index has seen since CNBC and SurveyMonkey began measuring last year. This is the first survey since President Donald Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into law on December 22, 2017.

In the Q4 survey, small-business owners were split evenly on the core question about the effect that tax policy would have on their business. Opinions have shifted significantly: Twice as many now expect changes in tax policy to have a positive rather than negative effect on their businesses. Forty-six percent of those surveyed say tax policy changes will have a positive effect, up from 38 percent in the fourth quarter. The number of those saying tax policy changes will have a negative impact fell sharply, from 36 percent in the fourth quarter to 23 percent in the most recent survey.

Half of small-business owners are now expecting to see tax cuts in 2018.

Confidence rose among almost all demographic groups, with the largest increases coming from companies with five to nine employees, and small-business owners ages 35–44 and 55–64.

The CNBC/SurveyMonkey data underscores other polling from advocacy groups, including the
conservative lobbying group the National Federation of Independent Business. Its latest monthly optimism report for January 2018 showed the second-highest level of sentiment since Trump took office. The report also had its highest yearly average ever in 2017.

"These numbers are historically high," Juanita Duggan, president and CEO of the NFIB, told CNBC.

"This shows small-business owners are more than just optimistic, they are ready to grow their business."

The National Small Business Association, a nonpartisan lobbying group, also recently released its Year-End Economic Report for 2017, which found that more than half of small-business owners feel the national economy is doing better than it was just six months ago. This is compared to 43 percent who reported the same in December 2016, and only 20 percent in December 2015. In addition, 59 percent said they anticipate economic expansion in the next year, and more than one-third of small-business owners said they felt very confident about the future of their own business, the highest level in more than a decade.

"I think the jump in optimism isn't just due to tax reform, but largely due to the economy doing better," said Molly Day, vice president of public affairs for the NSBA. "Certainly, the tax-reform piece is helpful, but in reality I think small businesses are just now starting to digest what it means for their business."

Health care and hiring remain big challenges

Despite the optimistic outlook, challenges remain on Main Street. Small-business owners are looking to Washington for progress on additional issues, including health-care reform. CNBC and SurveyMonkey found that 30 percent of business owners say they want Congress to tackle health care, with 2 in 10 now reporting the cost of employee health care as the most critical issue facing their business. The NSBA's data also found the cost of health insurance to be the most significant challenge to the future growth and survival of small firms.

"I think that because of the cost of health care, hiring among the smallest businesses won't be changed significantly," Day said. She added that in the NSBA's opinion, tax reform isn't done.

"There was a tax cut, but very little was accomplished in terms of small-business parity with larger businesses," Day contended. "Complexity wasn't touched at all, and the administrative burdens of health care are actually a bigger problem for small firms than the financial cost of taxes."

She added: "The growing debt is still a major concern for small-business owners."

Another key area of concern for small businesses is finding skilled labor. In the NFIB's data, the quality of labor is now the top issue. Hiring is challenging, and more businesses are raising wages in order to hang on to the workers they have. The NFIB reports worker compensation is at its highest
level since 2000.

The CNBC/SurveyMonkey online poll was conducted Jan. 29 through Feb. 5, 2018, among a national sample of 2,080 self-identified small-business owners ages 18 and up, across a wide swath of industries. Respondents were selected from the nearly 3 million people who take surveys on the SurveyMonkey platform each day using its online polling methodology. Responses have a margin of error of +/- 3.5 percentage points.

The Small Business Confidence Index is calculated on a scale from 0–100 and is based on the responses to eight key questions. A zero indicates no confidence, and a score of 100 indicates perfect confidence.

Booyah Productions: FLASH BACK: Booyah Mortgage & Booyah Productions J...

2018-02-16T08:41:00.001-08:00

Booyah Productions: FLASH BACK: Booyah Mortgage & Booyah Productions J...: BOOYAH PRODUCTIONS 2017 All Rights Reserved FLASH BACK: A year ago today Booyah Mortgage & Booyah Productions President Sha...

YouTube to start labeling videos posted by state-funded media

2018-02-02T15:20:00.002-08:00

YouTube will now add a label to videos that come from state-funded media outlets, the Google-owned company announced on Friday.

by Hadas Gold

A notice will appear under the videos for any outlets that received some level of government or public funding. It will also include a link to the Wikipedia article about that broadcaster for viewers to glean more information about the news source.

"News is an important and growing vertical for us and we want to be sure to get it right, helping to grow news and support news publishers on YouTube in a responsible way," Geoff Samek, senior product manager for YouTube News wrote in a blog post published on Friday. "This work follows a series of changes we made throughout 2017 to better surface authoritative news content."

Company spokespeople said some labels will appear as soon as Friday, but added that the initiative is still new and developing.

In an example on the YouTube blog, a video from Radio Free Asia -- which is funded by the US' agency, the Broadcasting Board of Governors -- includes a note with an information symbol under the video but right above the title. "RFA is funded in whole or in part by the American government," it states.

Other outlets affected include PBS and the Russian-funded network, RT.

Spokespeople for YouTube said they consulted with third-party groups to draw up the list of outlets that will receive the label. It's not clear yet whether videos from certain shows such as Sesame Street, which airs on PBS, will also be labeled on YouTube.

The spokespeople also defended its decision to direct users to Wikipedia articles about the various broadcasters. Though Wikipedia articles can be edited by anyone, the spokespeople said they trust Wikipedia's editors to present an aggregate of information about the various outlets and their funding.

YouTube, along with other internet and social media companies, have faced increasing criticism over the past year for how they selectively filter content that comes from questionable sources, and those that promote propaganda or conspiracy theories.

A spokesperson for PBS pushed back YouTube's latest move, saying labeling "PBS a 'publicly funded broadcaster' is both vague and misleading."

"PBS receives a small percentage of its funding from the federal government; the majority of funding comes from private donations," the spokesperson said. "More importantly, PBS is an independent, private, not-for-profit corporation, not a state broadcaster. YouTube's proposed labeling could wrongly imply that the government has influence over PBS content, which is prohibited by statute. If YouTube's intent is to create clarity and better understanding, this is a step in the wrong direction. We are in ongoing discussions with YouTube on this issue, but we have yet to reach a satisfactory solution."

For RT, which has 2.2 million subscribers on its YouTube channel, the label is the latest in a series of obstacles the network faces in the United States as concerns grow over Russia's meddling in American politics.

In November, the Department of Justice forced RT to register as a foreign agent after the broadcaster was singled out in a intelligence community report issued early last year about Russia's attempts to influence the 2016 US election.

RT furiously protested DOJ's decision and in retaliation, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed amendments into law, passed by the Russian parliament in November, that will list foreign media outlets in Russia as "foreign agents," which could open foreign media outlets up to harsh audits and possible closure. Russian officials also sent letters to news organizations in Russia that are backed by the US government, warning them of possible "restrictions."

RT did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment.

Part of Russia's new restrictions might include labeling content from American government-funded outlets like Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty and Current Time television as coming from a "foreign agent."

The BBG did not immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the new YouTube label.
CNNMoney (New York)

Apple breaks record for biggest ever company profit despite iPhone sales fall

2018-02-01T17:53:00.001-08:00

by James Titcomb
Apple has posted the biggest quarterly profit of all time despite a fall in iPhone sales.

The world's biggest company posted profits of $20.1bn (£14bn) in the crucial final three months of the year, breaking its own record set two years ago.

It came after the release of the £999 iPhone X in November, the biggest update of the handset to date, as well as the release of the iPhone 8 in September.

Although Apple sold 77m iPhones in the three month period, a 1pc fall from last year, the higher price of the new handsets meant revenues from selling iPhones increased.

“iPhone X surpassed our expectations and has been our top selling iPhone every week since it shipped in November,” Cook said.

The company’s revenues grew 13pc to $88.3bn, also a record. The $20.1bn profits were up 12pc, from $17.9bn a year earlier.

Sales of the iPad increased marginally, while those of Apple's Mac computers fell. Sales of "other products" - a group that includes the Apple Watch and Apple TV - were up 36pc.

Shares initially fell in after-hours trading as Apple disappointed investors with its guidance for the next quarter, but rebounded soon after. The company said it expected revenues of between $60bn and $62bn, below expectations.

"We’re thrilled to report the biggest quarter in Apple’s history, with broad-based growth that included the highest revenue ever from a new iPhone lineup," Mr Cook said. He added that 1.3bn Apple devices are now in use, up from 1bn two years ago.

Cook said there had been a record year for the App Store, with augmented reality apps a particular area of growth. Sales of the new Apple Watch Series 3 were double those of the Series 2 last year.

Apple is the world's biggest company and is often tipped to be the first to break the one-trillion-dollar value mark, but shares have wavered in recent weeks amid fears that it may be cutting back iPhone X production.

The new handset, which boasts a bigger screen, no home button, and facial recognition technology, was well received by reviewers but costs up to £1,249 for its most expensive version. Apple said the decline in iPhone sales was largely due to the quarter being a week shorter than last year.

Nearly 46 Million Viewers Watch President Trump's State of the Union Address

2018-02-01T04:32:00.002-08:00

Source: Nielsen

2018 State of the Union Address

Sum of networks live + same day

Jan. 30, 2018 Rating Number of Viewers

All Households 26.9 32,168,000

Persons 2+ 14.9 45,551,000

Persons 18-34 6.0 4,166,000

Persons 35-54 15.5 12,374,000

Persons 55+ 29.4 26,620,000

2018 Networks Included: ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, Estrella, Telemundo, Univision, CNN, FOX Business, FOX News, MSNBC and PBS.
Below is a historical look at past State of the Union addresses.

Historical State of the Union Addresses

Jan. 30, 2018	Rating	Number of Viewers
All Households	26.9	32,168,000
Persons 2+	14.9	45,551,000
Persons 18-34	6.0	4,166,000
Persons 35-54	15.5	12,374,000
Persons 55+	29.4	26,620,000

Date	Networks	Combined Household Rating	Combined No. of Households	Combined No. of Viewers	President
2/28/2017*	ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, UNI, PBS, CNN, Fox Business Net, FOXNC, MSNBC, and NBC Universo	28.7	33,857,000	47,741,000	Trump
1/12/16	ABC, Al Jazeera America, Azteca, CBS, CNN, FOX, FOX Business Network, FOX News Channel, Galavision, MSNBC, NBC, NBC Universo, Univision^	19.6	23,040,590	31,334,349	Obama
1/20/15	ABC, Al Jazeera America, Azteca, CBS, CNN, Fox, Fox Business Network, Fox News Channel, Galavision, MSNBC, MundoFox, NBC, Univision^	19.9	23,137,483	31,710,349	Obama
1/18/14	CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX, Azteca, Fox Business, Fox News Channel, CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, Al Jazeera America, Galavision, Mun2, UNI^	20.7	23,949,843	33,299,172	Obama
2/12/13	FOX, ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, Azteca, UNI, MFX, CNBC, CNN, Fox Business, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, Current, Centric, GALA	21.8	24,767,047	33,497,607	Obama
1/24/12	ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, TEL, TF, UNI, CNBC, CNN, FBN, FOXNC, GALA, MSNBC and MUN2	24	27,569,423	37,752,613	Obama
1/25/11	ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, TEL, UNI, CNN, Centric, CNBC, FOXNC, and MSNBC	26.6	30,871,688	42,789,947	Obama
1/27/10	ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, TEL, UNI, CNN, BET, CNBC, FOXNC, MSNBC	29.8	34,182,725	48,009,595	Obama
2/24/2009*	ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNBC, CNN, FOXNC, MSNBC, TELEMUNDO, UNIVISION	32.5	37,185,000	52,373,000	Obama
1/28/08	ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, FOXNC, MSNBC, TELEMUNDO^, UNIVISION	24.7	27,702,000	37,515,000	G.W Bush
1/23/07	ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, FOXNC, MSNBC, TELEMUNDO, UNIVISION **	29.6	32,968,000	45,486,000	G.W. Bush
1/31/06	ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, FOXNC, MSNBC	26.9	29,578,000	41,699,000	G.W. Bush
1/31/06	TELEMUNDO, AZTECA AMERICA, TELFUTURA, TELEMUNDO	8.4	950,000	1,480,000	G.W. Bush
2/2/05	ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, FOXNC, MSNBC	25.2	27,699,000	38,382,000	G.W. Bush
2/2/05	TELEMUNDO, TELEFUTURA	6	660,000	1,050,000	G.W. Bush
1/20/04	ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, CNBC, FOXNC, MSNBC	28	30,286,000	43,411,000	G. W. Bush
1/28/03	ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, CNBC, FOXNC, MSNBC	38.8	41,447,000	62,061,000	G. W. Bush
1/29/02	ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, CNBC, FOXNC, MSNBC	33.6	35,547,000	51,773,000	G.W. Bush
2/27/2001*	ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, FOXNC, MSNBC	27.6	28,201,000	39,793,000	G.W. Bush
1/27/00	ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, FOXNC, MSNBC	22.4	22,536,000	31,478,000	Clinton
1/19/99	ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, FOXNC, MSNBC	31	30,700,000	43,500,000	Clinton
1/27/98	ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN, CNBC, FOXNC, MSNBC	37.2	36,513,000	53,077,000	Clinton
2/4/97	ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN	28.4	27,600,000	41,100,000	Clinton
1/23/96	ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CNN	29.6	28,400,000	40,900,000	Clinton
1/24/95	ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN	29.5	28,100,000	42,200,000	Clinton
1/25/94	ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN	32.9	31,000,000	45,800,000	Clinton
2/17/1993*	ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN	44.3	41,200,000	66,900,000	Clinton

Deborah Flora: How to Identify Your Core Beliefs

2018-01-31T18:53:00.001-08:00

Viewers approve of Trump's first State of the Union address - CBS News poll

2018-01-31T06:26:00.004-08:00

By Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus, Kabir Khanna and Anthony Salvanto

Views of the speech

Three in four Americans who tuned in to President Trump's State of the Union address tonight approved of the speech he gave. Just a quarter disapproved.

How did the speech make you feel?

Eight in 10 Americans who watched tonight felt that the president was trying to unite the country, rather than divide it. Two-thirds said the speech made them feel proud, though just a third said it made them feel safer. Fewer said the speech made them feel angry or scared.

Party Identification

But as is often the case in State of the Union addresses, the people who watched tonight's speech leaned more towards the president's own party, at least compared to Americans overall. In the latest CBS national poll released earlier this month, 24 percent of Americans identified themselves as Republicans. Among those who watched tonight's address, that percentage was 42 percent, bolstering the overall approval of the address.

And while Republicans approved of the speech, most Democrats who tuned in did not. Nine in 10 Republicans said the speech made them feel proud, while just over half of Democrats said it made them feel angry. Independents who watched the speech – nearly half of whom counted themselves the President's supporters – tended to approve of the speech, and said it made them feel proud.
After hearing his State of the Union address, most viewers think the policies they heard tonight would help them personally, though Democrats disagree.

Policies you heard in the speech

On some of the specific issues the President touched upon, most viewers had a favorable opinion of what Mr. Trump had to say about the nation's infrastructure, immigration, and national security.

Credit for the economy

And after hearing him speak tonight, 54 percent of speech watchers give him a lot of credit for the current state of the nation's economy, up from 51 percent before they watched the State of the Union.

This CBS News 2018 survey is based on 1,178 interviews conducted on the internet of U.S. residents who watched the State of the Union Address. Panelists were previously interviewed on January 29-30, 2018 to indicate whether they planned to watch the address, and if they were willing to be re-interviewed after the address. Questions asked during this initial interview have the note "Asked before the SOTU address.'' The margin of error is +/- 3.1%.

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Apple breaks record for biggest ever company profit despite iPhone sales fall

Nearly 46 Million Viewers Watch President Trump's State of the Union Address

Source: Nielsen 2018 State of the Union Address Sum of networks live + same day

Deborah Flora: How to Identify Your Core Beliefs

Viewers approve of Trump's first State of the Union address - CBS News poll

By Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus, Kabir Khanna and Anthony Salvanto

Views of the speech

How did the speech make you feel?

Party Identification

Policies you heard in the speech

Credit for the economy

Source: Nielsen

2018 State of the Union Address

Sum of networks live + same day