By the NIA, Special for US Daily Review.

The National Inflation Association today released the results of its national survey of Americans who watched NBC’s coverage of the London Olympic Games. The survey focused on NBC’s multi-platform coverage of the 2012 London Summer Olympics, with NBC delivering over 100 million video streams including 45 million live video streams in just the first 10 days of the Olympics to nearly 10 million U.S. pay-TV subscribers who authenticated their laptops, desktops, iPads, and iPhones.

1,513 people responded to NIA’s survey from the evening of Friday August 10^th through the morning of Sunday August 12^th. 61.5% of the people who responded to NIA’s survey were pay-TV subscribers of a package that includes the channels CNBC and MSNBC, thereby giving them access rights to NBC’s Olympic TV Everywhere coverage. 39.7% of the people who responded to NIA’s survey reported that they successfully authenticated their Internet-connected devices for access.

Only the Americans who responded to NIA’s survey indicating that they had access rights and authenticated themselves for NBC’s Olympic TV Everywhere coverage were allowed to participate in the rest of NIA’s survey. 58.1% of those who authenticated themselves for access rated the TV Everywhere authentication process a 10, with 10 being the most easy/convenient and 1 being the most difficult/confusing. Only ½ of 1% of authenticated users rated the authentication process a 1.

77% of NBC’s Olympic TV Everywhere users recommended to their friends/family members that they also authenticate themselves to use the service.

When asked what motivated them to use NBC’s Olympic TV Everywhere service, the largest response came from 49% of users who wanted to watch the events live before they air on TV.

74% of NIA’s respondents indicated that TV Everywhere offerings like NBC’s Olympic TV Everywhere coverage will make them more likely to keep their pay-TV subscription in the future due to the value they receive at no additional cost. If NBC’s Olympic TV Everywhere coverage wasn’t free, 42.4% of users said they would pay at least $15 for access, with 13.5% of users saying they would pay $60 or more.

93.7% of users learned about TV Everywhere for the first time within the last 12 months, with 26.3% of users learning about TV Everywhere for the first time during the Olympics.

67.8% of users said that they feel TV Everywhere could offer a tremendous ground-floor investment opportunity. NIA recently purchased 2% of Synacor Inc., a publicly traded TV Everywhere services and solutions company that provided the TV Everywhere authentication technology used to authenticate the subscribers of approximately ½ of America’s top 25 largest multi-channel video programming distributors. NIA recently featured Synacor in its PDF report about the TV Everywhere industry and many survey respondents indicated that they are shareholders.

64.5% of respondents said that their pay-TV companies almost never advertise their TV Everywhere offerings, which NIA believes is the reason most U.S. pay-TV subscribers still have no idea that they have free access rights to many TV Everywhere services. 42.6% of respondents said that after using NBC’s Olympic TV Everywhere services, they plan to explore what other TV Everywhere services are available to them and begin using them right away.

The top 5 most popular TV Everywhere services previously used by respondents are FOX, HBO GO, CNN, WatchESPN, and TNT.

37.1% of respondents own an iPad. 45.2% of respondents who own an iPad have on more than one occasion watched live video streams on their iPad prior to the Olympics. 50.7% of respondents rated the quality of NBC’s iPad video steams a perfect 10 out of 10. 93.2% said they plan to watch live video streams on their iPads more often for now on because of the Olympics.

50.1% of respondents own an iPhone. 42.4% of respondents who own an iPhone have on more than one occasion watched live video streams on their iPhone prior to the Olympics. 50% of respondents rated the quality of NBC’s iPhone video steams a perfect 10 out of 10. 85% said they plan to watch live video streams on their iPhone more often for now on because of the Olympics.

The most popular web browsers used to watch NBC’s video streams on NBCOlympics.com were Internet Explorer: 42.7%, Firefox 22.8%, Google Chrome 22.4%, and Apple Safari 10.6%.

Internet Explorer had the most technical problems with 20% of users saying their video pictures would freeze periodically, 5% of users complaining of choppy video streams, and 2% of users having audio problems. Users with technical problems were the minority and 77% of respondents who used Internet Explorer indicated that they had no technical issues at all.

Apple Safari had the least technical issues with 96.2% of users indicating no technical problems. 3.8% of Apple Safari users complained of choppy video streams

Firefox was the second best browser in terms of the least technical problems. 89.1% of Firefox users indicated that they had no technical issues at all. 5.5% complained of video pictures periodically freezing, 5.5% complained of choppy video streams, and 1.8% indicated that their video player crashed.

Google Chrome had the second most reported issues with 11.1% reporting that their video pictures would periodically freeze, 5.6% complaining of choppy video streams, 5.6% reporting that their video player within their browser crashed, 3.7% reporting audio problems, and 1.9% reporting that their web browser crashed.

NIA experienced the most success with Google Chrome and had no technical issues using the browser. When NIA used Internet Explorer on the first couple of days of the Olympics, the browser would often crash, but NBC fixed this problem by about the 3^rd or 4^th day. Firefox mostly worked fine for us, except for the video player within Firefox crashing on a couple of occasions. NIA did not test out Apple Safari on its own.

Most users were very satisfied with NBC’s TV Everywhere services provided on NBCOlympics.com. The only area that stands out as needing major improvement appears to be NBC’s placement of advertisements, with the average rating for NBC’s placement of ads being far below the average rating in other categories. The average rating given for the quality of NBC’s video streams using a laptop or desktop (10 best – 1 worst) was an 8.73. The average rating given for the functionality of NBC’s TV Everywhere web portal was an 8.81. The average rating given for NBC’s placement of advertisements and how it affected the user experience was a 7.4. The average rating given for the overall user experience on NBCOlympics.com was an 8.62.

If NBC used a different type of advertising solution that was designed specifically for TV Everywhere, such as the one developed by Synacor, it is possible that the overall average rating for their NBCOlympics.com TV Everywhere services could have exceeded a 9. Prior to the Olympics, the biggest concern was that users would have trouble authenticating. However, with Synacor’s single sign-on TV Everywhere authentication system being used to authenticate the subscribers of nearly 40 of the approximately 100 pay-TV companies providing access, including 12 of America’s 25 pay-TV companies with the most subscribers, users gave the authentication process an average rating of 9.16.

We will likely look back at the London Olympic Games as being the very beginning of the U.S. multi-platform revolution and TV Everywhere boom. NBC received a large amount of hate postings on Twitter, but they were almost entirely from cord-cutters and cord-shavers who were upset about not being able to access NBC’s online video streams. Clearly, these individuals regret that they canceled their pay-TV service, which is exactly what NBC’s parent company Comcast was trying to achieve. Comcast/NBC is smiling ear to ear about the Twitter #NBCFail postings from Americans outraged about their gall to require a pay-TV subscription.

NBC has proven that TV Everywhere is about to become the hottest new emerging market for U.S. consumers, with Americans set to rapidly embrace TV Everywhere platforms over the next 6-12 months like they first embraced social networking sites in year 2005. NIA expects TV Everywhere to be the most talked about emerging growth market for the remainder of 2012, with investors on Wall Street looking for ways to capitalize at the ground-floor.

The TV Everywhere industry’s growth rate over the next 5 years will likely be similar to the consumer social networking industry’s growth rate over the previous 5 years. Synacor last quarter reported 58% year-over-year revenue growth with 100% year-over-year growth in both net income and EBITDA. For comparison, Facebook only grew revenues last quarter by 32.3% with very disappointing year-over-year profit growth of only 3.5%.

Synacor’s General Manager of TV Everywhere before joining the company was Vice President of HBO Broadband where he led the development and launch of HBO GO, the second most widely used TV Everywhere service according to NIA’s survey. It was just announced on Friday that HBO GO has now surpassed Netflix for the longest viewing sessions across all mobile apps. 18.1% of respondents to NIA’s survey said that they are current Netflix subscribers but will consider canceling their Netflix subscription due to their pay-TV company’s brand new TV Everywhere offerings.

Synacor recently developed for one of their clients Charter Communications, the 4^th largest cable TV company in the U.S., a TV Everywhere search feature that will also display results for videos found on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Videos. Features like this will allow consumers to see for themselves the true value of TV Everywhere and why Netflix is on the path towards becoming irrelevant.

TiVo has now announced their intentions to enter the TV Everywhere space. NIA believes that TiVo recognizes how TV Everywhere will soon make DVRs obsolete. For the time being while Americans still have a need for DVRs, Synacor recently developed and launched for the customers of Charter a new feature that provides the ability to remotely program their DVRs through Charter’s TV Everywhere web portal running off of Synacor’s industry leading TV Everywhere platform.

NBC is showing that it will respond to any fair criticism from viewers. Many of NBC’s authenticated TV Everywhere users complained about NBC not live streaming the opening ceremony of the Olympics. In response, NBC just announced that they will be live streaming the closing ceremony today at 4PMEDT exclusively to pay-TV subscribers who authenticate.

It should be interesting to see if NBC reports next week their total number of authenticated users throughout the full 16 days of the Olympics. NIA also looks forward to hearing from Synacor about the total number of consumers their TV Everywhere solutions authenticated for NBC. Comcast just announced the other day that the Olympics have far surpassed their highest expectations. Synacor wasn’t sure what to expect from the Olympics so they took the most conservative approach possible by excluding revenue from the Olympics in their 3Q guidance, which could mean that Wall Street has very low expectations and the company could have the potential to positively surprise in the near-future.

For detailed results of NIA’s NBC Olympic TV Everywhere survey please visit NIA’s homepage at: http://inflation.us
PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1kDhm)

By US Daily Review Staff.

Movies are just as powerful as traditional tobacco ads, and it is a known fact – supported by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the U.S. Surgeon General – that smoking in movies can cause youth to smoke, nearly 180,000 adolescents each year. A new study published in the journal Pediatrics takes a deeper look at movie smoking exposure and the impact of different ratings on smoking onset. The results show that smoking in PG-13 and R movies are equivalent in terms of how they increase risk for smoking. But, because youth viewership of PG-13 movies is higher, smoking in PG-13 films accounts for two thirds of the total movie effect on adolescent smoking.

“PG-13 rated movies account for the most of the salient movie smoking adolescents see,” said Dr. James Sargent, Professor of Pediatrics at Dartmouth Medical School and lead author of the study. “By eliminating smoking from PG-13 movies, an R-rating for movie smoking would cut youth smoking by one-fifth,” he said.

Smoking has been Glamorized in Films for Years

For this reason, national public health groups like Legacy, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Heart Association, American Lung Association and more have strongly urged the movie industry to respond to this public health crisis by assigning an R rating to all movies with smoking. Since a PG-13 rating allows filmmakers to draw larger audiences, the R rating might in turn decrease the prevalence of onscreen smoking in youth-rated films.

In 2007, under public pressure from health groups and state attorneys general, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) announced that it would “consider” smoking in assigning ratings but it has yet to rate a film R for smoking. The MPAA’s current rating system inconsistently includes smoking in its fine-print ratings “descriptors,” which has been ineffective in providing consistent, accurate or complete information about tobacco in youth-rated films. Simply labeling the smoking is an ineffective and incomplete step in reducing the impact and dangerous correlation of youth exposure and initiation.

Funded by the National Cancer Institute and Legacy®, a national public health organization best known for the truth® youth smoking prevention campaign, the data supports eliminating smoking from PG-13 movies, which would significantly reduce smoking onset by 18 percent. “This new research shows us that ratings do matter,” said Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, President and CEO of Legacy. “Updating the rating system to assign an R rating for movies with smoking would have an enormous impact in preventing young people from becoming the next replacement smokers in the tobacco epidemic,” she added.

Examining how movie ratings affect behavior has important implications, such as whether the context in which movie smoking is presented affects smoking. In a different study, exposure to movie clips portraying smoking as relaxing was significantly associated with a stronger desire to smoke compared with clips where the motive for smoking was unclear.

To investigate whether it was other elements of the films than the smoking that was stimulating youth smoking, the Dartmouth researchers used the ratings system as a marker for contextual elements on which movies are rated: sexual content, profanity, drug use and violence. The researchers found that smoking in PG-13 movies had essentially the same impact on smoking initiation as R-rated movies, indicating that it is the smoking – not other behaviors – that primarily impacts adolescent behavior.

“This study demonstrates that it is not some unmeasured characteristic of adolescents drawn to edgy, R-rated movies that accounts for the movie effect on behavior. The simplest explanation is best; kids see realistic depictions of smoking on screen and that makes them want to light up,” said Dr. Sargent.

by Candace Salima, US Daily Review Senior Contributor

Movie: Divided We Stand, Rising Above Religious Intolerance
Director: Bryan Hall
Rating: N/A
Genre: Documentary
Website: www.dividedwestandmovie.com

It is not often that I sit down to watch a documentary, especially one that has gone straight to DVD. But in this case, the subject matter caught my attention and I took the time. Now, as a matter of full disclosure, I am the “face” of Divided We Stand, Rising Above Religious Intolerance, so I have the inside track on some of the information.

Divided We Stand is based on the religious bigotry that has existed in America since our birth. The constant thread through the documentary is the muddy world of politics and religion. Article VI of the U.S. Constitution clearly states, “…no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.” Director, Bryan Hall took his crew, rented an RV, and took a coast to coast trip interviewing  people from both sides of religious argument who have been in the news. Some are violently opposed to this Constitutional Requirement, while others believe it should be upheld. After all, the United States of America was founded on religious freedom.

Hall did a great job of pulling the interviews together. He was blatantly unafraid to shoot straight from the hip, asking the questions many of us have. I was rather startled that the likes of Pastor Robert Jeffress and Dr. Richard Land were unapologetic in their detestation of the Mormon faith. Indeed, because of Mitt Romney’s presidential candidacy, one can scarcely escape the Mormon Question. However, one would wrongly conclude Divided We Stand, Rising Above Religious Intolerance is directly only toward Mormons and those who hate them.

This religious bigotry, and the unconstitutional political test began early in our nation with Thomas Jefferson. It then continued with Abraham Lincoln and then with John F. Kennedy. And there is a snippet of a famous speech by Kennedy, where he stated: “Finally, I believe in an America where religious intolerance will someday end; where all men and all churches are treated as equal; where every man has the same right to attend or not attend the church of his choice; where there is no Catholic vote, no anti-Catholic vote, no bloc voting of any kind; and where Catholics, Protestants and Jews, at both the lay and pastoral level, will refrain from those attitudes of disdain and division which have so often marred their works in the past, and promote instead the American ideal of brotherhood.” (I Believe in an America Where the Separation of Church and State is Absolute, John F. Kennedy, 1960)

But Hall shows that religious bigotry has reared its ugly head again as Mitt Romney, like those before him, seeks the highest office in the land.

All in all, I definitely didn’t lose interest as I am wont to do with documentaries. I learned, and I watched as the hate usually saved for the pulpit came to life in living color on the screen. I watched Judge Roy Moore and Hugh Hewitt both defend Article VI, and I saw Hall interview your average religious protester.

I give Divided We Stand, Rising Above Religious Intolerance 4 out of 5 stars. And the reason for this, rightly pointed out by Brian Mullahy of KUTV News in Salt Lake City, Utah, is that it seemed Hall should have interviewed those of other religions besides the Baptists. However, as is clear, Hall interviewed those who have been claiming the headlines with their hate, and those with their defense of religious freedoms. It is, without question, a must see for every American.

The takeaway from Divided We Stand, Rising Above Religious Intolerance is simply that we must learn to accept the differences between us, and accept the constitutional right of those differences. Sadly, it won’t be coming to the big screen, but can be purchased online at www.dividedwestandmovie.com and in stores in a few weeks.

Candace Salima is a radio talk show host, author, columnist, and makes her home in the Rocky Mountains. Learn more about her at www.CandaceSalima.com. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook.

By US Daily Review Staff.

If a picture speaks a thousand words, one can learn volumes from this infograph from NASA showing what the landing will be like for its vessel, Curiosity.  People from around the world will watch on TV or on a special UStream Channel of this historic event. Here’s the picture.

By London 2012, Special for US Daily Review.

As always in the Olympic Games, the Athletics events are eagerly awaited and there is plenty of exciting action to look forward to in track and field.

Great Britain poster-girl Jessica Ennis starts her bid to win gold in the Heptathlon when she competes in two of her favoured events in the morning – the 100m hurdles and the high jump.

The Sheffield athlete, who will be making her Games debut after being ruled out of Beijing 2008 due to injury, will then compete in the shot put and the 200m in the evening.

The women’s 100m and 400m will also begin on Day 7, with Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Carmelita Jeter two of the favourites to land gold in the shorter of the sprints.

Sanya-Richards Ross of the USA has high hopes of claiming gold in the 400m, while Great Britain will look to Christine Ohuruogu to challenge for a medal.

Javier Culson of Puerto Rico and Great Britain’s world champion Dai Greene are two of the leading contenders in the 400m hurdles, which also gets under way on a day when gold medals will be won in the women’s 10,000m and the men’s shot put in the Olympic Stadium.

In the Track Cycling at the Velodrome, Great Britain and Australia are the leading contenders for gold in the men’s Team Pursuit.

Australian Anna Meares is favourite for gold in the women’s Keirin, but Victoria Pendleton will be determined to triumph for the Host Nation.

Michael Phelps and Chad le Clos are set to go head-to-head once again in the 100m Butterfly at the Aquatics Centre.

Phelps, now the most decorated Olympian in history, was forced to settle for silver when South African Le Clos narrowly beat him in the 200m Butterfly earlier in the week, and the USA swimmer will be out to set the record straight.

Great Britain’s Rebecca Adlington will defend her 800m Freestyle title after winning a bronze in the women’s 400m Freestyle.

There will also be finals in the men’s 50m Freestyle and the women’s 200m Backstroke.

It promises to be another exciting day in the Rowing at Eton Dorney, with finals of the men’s Pair, the men’s Single Sculls, the men’s Quadruple Sculls and the women’s Double Sculls to look forward to.

The men’s Trampoline final will take place at the North Greenwich Arena, while the men’s Individual Archery final will be held at Lord’s.

The final of the men’s 25m Rapid Fire Pistol and men’s 50m Rifle Prone will take place at The Royal Artillery Barracks and Wembley Arena will be the venue for the medal decider in the Mixed Doubles Badminton competition.

Judo, Weightlifting and Fencing medals will also be decided.

1.  The Dark Knight Rises – $64.08 million ($289.09) – 2 wks (WB) -60.2%

. . . 4404 screens / $14,540 per screen

2.  Ice Age: Continental Drift – $13.3 ($114.85) – 3 wks (Fox) -34.9%

. . . 3869 / $3438

3.  The Watch – $13 – 1 wk (Fox)

. . . 3168 / $4104

4.  Step Up Revolution – $11.8 – 1 wk (Sum)

. . . 2567 / $4597

5.  Ted – $7.35 ($193.62) – 5 wks (U) -26.6%

. . . 3129 / $2350

6.  The Amazing Spider-Man – $6.8 ($242.05) – 4 wks (Sony) -37.5%

. . . 3160 / $2152

7.  Brave – $4.24 ($217.26) – 6 wks (BV) -29.7%

. . . 2551 / $1661

8.  Magic Mike – $2.58 ($107.59) – 5 wks (WB) -39.9%

. . . 2075 / $4343

9.  Savages – $1.75 ($43.9) – 4 wks (U) -48.4%

. . . 1414 / $1240

10. Moonrise Kingdom – $1.39 ($38.4) – 10 wks (Foc) -24.3%

. . . 853 / $1626

A 60% drop in week 2 can be expected for a film that had such a big opening weekend, so The Dark Knight Rises is in good shape and could be the third movie this year to hit $400 million domestic gross, behind The Avengers and The Hunger Games.

Brave edged past Madagascar 3 to become the highest-grossing animated movie of the summer.  Ice Age 4 won’t catch them domestically, but it has been a giant hit overseas.

The Watch is the disappointment of the summer.  It won’t lose near as much money as Battleship, but the reunion of Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn (Dodgeball) plus the hot Jonah Hill (21 Jump Street) should have done better.  Some can blame the Trayvon Martin case or the Aurora shootings, but it didn’t look any good, and critics agreed it was terrible.

Follow John English and his entertainment columns here.

By US Daily Review Staff.

For the first time ever, viewers around the world will have access to thousands of hours of live Olympic event coverage online in what’s being called “the first truly digital Olympics”. While NBC and BBC will be providing unprecedented coverage to the US and UK, dozens of other international providers will be offering online coverage exclusively to their specific region. With so many providers to sort through and limited information on streaming sources, global viewers will need some way to make sense of it all.

FreeCast, the leading source for live streaming event coverage, is offering international viewers a simple way to access live Olympics coverage in their area by aggregating the many streaming sources into one comprehensive global guide. The guide quickly links users to official Olympic provider streams within their specific country, a selection that spans over 150 countries on six continents.

In order to satisfy cable and satellite distributors, several international providers require online viewers to authenticate their cable or satellite subscription before accessing streaming content. Additional limitations include location-based access to content from regional providers only.

FreeCast’s eMedia Guide has been a key part of their success since their launch in January, referring viewers to streaming coverage of such popular live events as the Super Bowl, Academy Awards, NBA Playoffs, Wimbledon and many others.

With over 1.5 million daily video updates, 5000 categorized channels, and dozens of live events each day, FreeCast’s guide consolidates what would normally be an overwhelming amount of content to search through, into one simple point of reference.

FreeCast also offers fully-functioning Facebook and mobile apps, allowing users to access the coverage from anywhere. FreeCast is available at no charge, and can be easily accessed with Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Linkedin account logins.

For additional information, visit:
Website - http://freecast.com
Facebook app - http://apps.facebook.com/freecasttv
Blog - http://freecast.com/news-blog/
PR Newswire (http://s.tt/1j9YV)

By Candace Salima, Senior Contributor, US Daily Review

Movie: Secondhand Lions
Starring: Haley Joel Osment, Robert Duvall, and Michael Cain
Directed by: Tim McCanlies
Rating: PG, 111 Minutes

I decided to start a Movie Corner Flashback series. There are so many wonderful movies of the past that truly rank there among the best, and Secondhand Lions is one of those. So we begin with Haley Joel Osment, Robert Duvall, and Michael Cain.

Secondhand Lions is coming of age story of an introverted young boy, Walter, who goes to live with two cranky old uncles. His own mother, less than a stellar parent, begins to come out of his shell as he grows to love, admire and respect these two old men.

As time goes on, he learns of great escapades in Africa and the French Foreign Legion of a young Hub (Christian Kane of Leverage) and Garth (Kevin Haberer.) He learns of courage, honor, and recognizing what is really important in life. At the same time, his mother, played by The Closers Kyra Sedgewick, plays on the emotions of a young boy, tearing at his loyalties between those who’ve been proven to never let him down, and his mother who does nothing but display weakness and selfishness.

Hub, Robert Duvall’s character, has a penchant for buying the outlandish, such as lions, giraffes, airplanes. Walter develops a strong bond with an old lion he names Jasmine. And that old lion, when she is needed, defends her “cub.” It is delightful to watch the developing of the relationship between Walter and Jasmine.

It is a wonderful story that leaves the viewer with feelings of honor, hope, and understanding that growing to be a man, a real man, is something to be sought after. He learns to trust, and to love, in ways that his mother has never taught him. And most of all, Walter learned to go from merely existing, to really living.

This movie is an incredible cinematic feature that should be considered a classic. It’s funny, irascible, and heartwrenching at times. Yes, there’s action in the stories of long ago, but the most important part of the movie is the unbreakable bond which develops between a young boy and his old uncles. If this movie is not yet in your home DVD library, you need to purchase it and make a point to watch it with your children often. Great lessons are taught among the wonderful story. Well directed, and superbly acted, it Secondhand Lions get a solid 5 of 5 stars from me.

–

Candace Salima is a radio talk show host, author, columnist, and makes her home in the Rocky Mountains. Learn more about her at www.CandaceSalima.com. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook.

By US Daily Review Staff.

Marking the 43rd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, NASA has added an extensive collection of historical video, audio, photographs and documents to iTunes U.

iTunes U is a platform for making educational resources available to a wide audience through the iTunes Store.

NASA’s History Program Office iTunes U site currently contains about 300 items that represent a broad sweep of NASA history related to important moments, activities and figures in NASA history. The site’s content is free to download.

“New materials will continue to be uploaded as we expand the coverage both in depth and breadth,” said Bill Barry, NASA’s chief historian. ”We’re thrilled to educate people on NASA’s rich history and are open to user suggestions and requests.”

The site includes Apollo program material with a collection of items for each of the Apollo missions, as well as a special Politics of Apollo collection of key documents related to the U.S. lunar program.

The site also features eBooks from the NASA History Series. Available titles include reader favorites such as Asif Siddiqi’s “Challenge to Apollo,” the ”Exploring the Unknown” series of documentary histories, and all four volumes of Boris Chertok’s “Rockets and People.”

Other agency programs using iTunes U include NASA’s Academy of Program, Project and Engineering Leadership (APPEL), NASA Spinoffs from the Office of the Chief Technologist, and collections from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. To view all of NASA’s iTunes U sites and download material, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/connect/itunesu.html

To view Apollo materials not found on iTunes U, visit NASA’s history website at:

http://history.nasa.gov/apollo.html

For additional interactive features and podcasts about NASA, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia

By US Daily Review Staff.

“The Bubble,” a new film featuring experts that predicted the last economic crisis, argues America is facing an even worse financial bubble. Business leaders, politicians and financial commentators such as Jim Rogers, Peter Schiff, Ron Paul, Marc Faber, Jim Grant and 10 others examine Washington’s economic policies and its impact on America. The film is co-written by Dr. Tom Woods and inspired by his New York Times best seller “Meltdown.”

“Americans have been fed a cartoon version of what has happened to the economy over the past several years,” said Woods. “They believe the government was merely an innocent bystander, while the real culprits, egged on by so-called deregulation, are to be found in the private sector.”

“In ‘The Bubble,’ we’re going to turn our attention to those neglected voices who actually had an inkling of what was going on, not the Federal Reserve economists who could find no problems with the economy. The White House may not be interested in these neglected voices, but we believe anyone of good sense will be anxious to listen.”

The trailer of the film will be premiered this Friday, July 13th, 2012 at Freedom Fest in Las Vegas, NV. Following the trailer, a panel with Peter Schiff, Doug Casey, Gene Epstein and Tom Woods will discuss the film and the future of America’s economy.

The feature length film will have a world premiere this fall in New York City, followed by a nationwide release soon after. Interviews may be arranged with Writer Tom Woods and Director Jimmy Morrison by calling (517) 420-3186. More information about the film, including, the trailer, can be found at http://www.TheBubbleFilm.com

The 2012 Emmy Award Nominees

By John English, Contributor, US Daily Review.

The Big Bang Theory

Curb Your Enthusiasm

Girls

Modern Family

30 Rock

Veep

Best Drama

Boardwalk Empire

Breaking Bad

Downton Abbey

Game of Thrones

Homeland

Mad Men

Best Comedy Actress

Zooey Deschanel, The New Girl

Lena Dunham, Girls

Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie

Tina Fey, 30 Rock

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep

Melissa McCarthy, Mike and Molly

Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

Best Comedy Actor

Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

Don Cheadle, House of Lies

Louic C.K., Louie

Jon Cryer, Two and a Half Men

Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm

Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory

Best Drama Actress

Kathy Bates, Harry’s Law

Glenn Close, Damages

Claire Danes, Homeland

Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife

Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey

Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men

Best Actor Drama

Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey

Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire

Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad

Jon Hamm, Mad Men

Damian Lewis, Homeland

Michael C. Hall, Dexter

Best Supporting Comedy Actress

Mayim Bialik, The Big Bang Theory

Kathryn Joosten, Desperate Housewives

Julie Bowen, Modern Family

Sofia Vergara, Modern Family

Merritt Wever, Nurse Jackie

Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live

Best Supporting Comedy Actor

Ed O’Neill, Modern Family

Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Modern Family

Ty Burrell, Modern Family

Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

Max Greenfield, The New Girl

Bill Hader, Saturday Night Live

Best Supporting Drama Actress

Anna Gunn, Breaking Bad

Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey

Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey

Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife

Christine Baranski, The Good Wife

Christina Hendricks, Mad Men

Best Supporting Drama Actor

Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad

Giancarlo Esposito, Breaking Bad

Brendan Coyle, Downton Abbey

Jim Carter, Downton Abbey

Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones

Jared Harris, Mad Men

Best Miniseries or Movie

Game Change

American Horror Story

Hatfields and McCoys

Hemingway and Gellhorn

Luther

Sherlock

Best Variety Series

The Colbert Report

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Jimmy Kimmel Live

Late Night With Jimmy Fallon

Real Time With Bill Maher

Saturday Night Live

Best Animated Series

American Dad

Bob’s Burgers

Futurama

The Penguins Of Madagascar

The Simpsons

Best Competition Reality Show

The Amazing Race

Dancing with the Stars

Project Runway

So You Think You Can Dance

The Voice

Top Chef

Best Non-Competition Reality Show

Antiques Roadshow

Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution

MythBusters

Shark Tank

Undercover Boss

Who Do You Think You Are?

Best Reality Show Host

Phil Keoghan, The Amazing Race

Ryan Seacrest, American Idol

Betty White, Betty White’s Off Their Rockers

Tom Bergeron, Dancing With The Stars

Cat Deeley, So You Think You Can Dance

Best Guest Comedy Actress

Dot-Marie Jones, Glee

Maya Rudolph, Saturday Night Live

Melissa McCarthy, Saturday Night Live

Elizabeth Banks, 30 Rock

Margaret Cho, 30 Rock

Kathy Bates, Two and a Half Men

Best Guest Comedy Actor

Michael J. Fox, Curb Your Enthusiasm

Greg Kinnear, Modern Family

Bobby Cannavale, Nurse Jackie

Jimmy Fallon, Saturday Night Live

Will Arnett, 30 Rock

Jon Hamm, 30 Rock

Best Guest Drama Actress

Martha Plimpton, The Good Wife

Loretta Devine, Grey’s Anatomy

Jean Smart, Harry’s Law

Julia Ormond, Mad Men

Joan Cusack, Shameless

Uma Thurman, Smash

Best Guest Drama Actor

Mark Margolis, Breaking Bad

Dylan Baker, The Good Wife

Michael J. Fox, The Good Wife

Jeremy Davies, Justified

Ben Feldman, Mad Men

Jason Ritter, Parenthood

Best Comedy Writing

Chris McKenna, Community

Lena Dunham, Girls

Louis C.K., Louie

Amy Poehler, Parks And Recreation

Michael Schur, Parks and Recreation

Best Drama Writing

Julian Fellowes, Downton Abbey

Alex Gansa, Gideon Raff, Howard Gordon, Homeland

Semi Chellas & Matthew Weiner, Mad Men

Andre & Maria Jacquemetton, Mad Men

Erin Levy & Matthew Weiner, Mad Men

Best Comedy Directing

Robert B. Weide, Curb Your Enthusiasm

Lena Dunham, Girls

Louis C.K., Louie

Jason Winer, Modern Family

Steven Levitan, Modern Family

Jake Kasdan, New Girl

Best Drama Directing

Tim Van Patten, Boardwalk Empire

Vince Gilligan, Breaking Bad

Brian Percival, Downton Abbey

Michael Cuesta, Homeland

Phil Abraham, Mad Men

Best Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie

Connie Britton, American Horror Story

Julianne Moore, Game Change

Nicole Kidman, Hemingway & Gellhorn

Ashley Judd, Missing

Emma Thompson, The Song Of Lunch (Masterpiece)

Best Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie

Woody Harrelson, Game Change

Kevin Costner, Hatfields & McCoys

Bill Paxton, Hatfields & McCoys

Clive Owen, Hemingway & Gellhorn

Idris Elba, Luther

Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock

Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or A Movie

Frances Conroy, American Horror Story

Jessica Lange, American Horror Story

Sarah Paulson, Game Change

Mare Winningham, Hatfields & McCoys

Judy Davis, Page Eight (Masterpiece)

Best Supporting Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie

Denis O’Hare, American Horror Story

Ed Harris, Game Change

Tom Berenger, Hatfields & McCoys

David Strathairn, Hemingway & Gellhorn

Martin Freeman, Sherlock

Best Directing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Dramatic Special

Jay Roach, Game Change

Kevin Reynolds, Hatfields & McCoys

Philip Kaufman, Hemingway & Gellhorn

Sam Miller, Luther

Paul McGuigan, Sherlock

Best Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special

Danny Strong, Game Change

Ted Mann & Ronald Parker & Bill Kerby, Hatfields & McCoys

Abi Morgan, The Hour

Neil Cross, Luther

Steven Moffat, Sherlock

By US Daily Review Staff.

Tampa, FL, is home to the vainest people in America, while the citizens of Des Moines, IA are the least concerned with appearances, according to the July/August issue of Men’s Health, which reports where looks are everything.

By US Daily Review Staff.

People have grown cynical about the use of athletes and (in particular) celebrities and their endorsements.  Especially when it comes to things like education form.  There tends to be a tendency among the celebrity set that education must be improved for everyone, the same way and through government schools.  Yet, we now have generations of schools that have problems proving their performance or worthiness.  Therefore, when there is an event that includes athletes and celebrities for school choice, it is, at least, different.

Dozens of current and former athletes, education reformers, and entertainers joined together prior to the 2012 ESPY Awards earlier this week to participate in a first-of-its-kind discussion about the importance of school choice and education reform to low-income communities nationwide.

The Alliance for School Choice—the nation’s leading organization in empowering low-income families to choose the best educational environments for their children—teamed up with the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy and the Professional Sports Wives Association to host the first annual event encouraging athletes to engage in promoting school choice, called “Giving Kids Hope: Addressing the Education Crisis in Our Communities.”

Hosted in conjunction with ESPN’s annual sports award show in Los Angeles, the event included dinner and discussion with leading athletes, education reformers, and community leaders. Speakers—including former NBA Star and ESPN Analyst Jalen Rose, Alliance senior advisor Kevin P. Chavous, and renowned education reformer and Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) Chairman Howard Fuller—called on prominent athletes and celebrities to become more engaged in the movement to expand educational options to families in need.

“I want to raise the profile and the success rate of the young men and the young women from my community, and the best way to do it is through education,” Rose said. “We have a lot of successful people across the country—sports, entertainment, lifestyle, what have you—that need to find a way to give back to their urban situations.”

Rose, a member of the famed “Fab Five” at University of Michigan and a 14-year NBA veteran, is among the most committed athletes to the cause of education reform. The Jalen Rose Leadership Academy, which he founded in in 2011, in June completed its first year operating in inner-city Detroit.

Among the others in attendance was a slew of prominent former stars, including Hall of Fame NBA legend Elgin Baylor. The Alliance has also worked in the past with NFL pro bowl wide receiver Greg Jennings of the Green Bay Packers, as well as Sam Mitchell, former NBA player and 2007 Coach of the Year.

The event brought together nearly 80 leading figures from the sports and entertainment community. Speakers urged attendees to make a difference in the lives of their own communities.

Chavous, a former D.C. Councilman with decades of experience in the education reform movement, outlined the urgency of helping as many children as possible right now.

“For too many years we’ve sat back and observed the education crisis from a distance, and that’s no longer acceptable,” Chavous said. “We need bold leaders from every community and in every state to stand up and demand that our children have the opportunities they deserve.

By US Daily Review Staff.

Have you ever wondered what’s up with some of your favorite TV, movie or pop stars from the last 20 years?  VH1 will give you the exclusive details with ”Miss You Much,” hosted by actress-comedienne Catherine Reitman.  Not all young celebrities end up with a mug shot and an arrest record.  Some have moved on to careers outside of entertainment, while many are still active in showbiz. ”Miss You Much,” the 8-episode, half-hour series will premiere in September of 2012.

Each week, ”Miss You Much” will profile three of your favorite celebrities and take a peek inside at what they are doing now with their lives.  Catherine spends a day with each celebrity and asks the questions all adoring fans would love to ask – even getting a little too ‘personal’ at times.  Some of the celebs who will share what they have been up to include: Jamie Walters(90210), Jeff Timmons (98 Degrees), Lark Voorhies (Saved By the Bell), Jeremy Miller (Growing Pains), Romeo (rapper) andJeremy Jackson (Baywatch).

“‘Miss You Much’ taps into our viewers’ love for 90s and early 00s nostalgia with engaging, positive updates on the famous faces that were plastered across the teen tabloids and on their bedroom walls,” said Jeff Olde, EVP Original Programming and Production.  “Catherine Reitman is the perfect host, catching up with the idols of her youth with a grown-up’s curiosity – and a kid’s geeky, yet reverent enthusiasm.”

VH1′s “Miss You Much” is executive produced by Shelly Tatro, Karla Hidalgo and Jeff Olde for VH1.

For more information on VH1, visit VH1.com, the VH1 Facebook page and @VH1 on Twitter.

VH1 connects viewers to the music, artists and pop culture that matter to them most with TV series, specials, live events, exclusive online content and public affairs initiatives. VH1 is available in 99 million households in the U.S. VH1 also has an array of digital channels and services including VH1Classic, VH1 Soul, VH1 Mobile, and extensive video on VH1.com. Connect with VH1 at VH1.com.

By US Daily Review Staff. Source: Tax Resolution Services

What do Rihanna, Wesley Snipes, Lindsay Lohan, Ozzy Osbourne, and Lionel Richie all have in common? No, they are not pooling their talents on a new album to raise money and awareness for starving children in third-world countries. Give up? They are all severely in debt to the Internal Revenue Service for a variety of reasons. This just goes to show that, while celebrities may get the red-carpet treatment most places they go, when it comes to dealing with the IRS, they are just regular old American citizens.

“The IRS doesn’t care whether you’re some A-list celeb or John Q. Public,” says Tax Resolution Services, Co., founder and CEO Michael Rozbruch. “The IRS is far and away the most ruthless collection agency on the planet, and if you owe money—especially if you owe a lot of money, as most of these celebrities do—they will come after you hard and penalize you to the fullest extent they can.”

Lohan's Problems are Beyond the Gossip Columns

Wesley Snipes, who’s starred in countless Hollywood blockbuster movies, can certainly attest to that statement. Snipes failed to file income tax returns for years and owed approximately $17 million to the IRS, for which he is currently serving a three-year jail sentence, which he started in December 2010. The latest celebrity to make headlines for tax problems is pop star Rihanna, who is suing her former accountant for a litany of claims. The busy singer trusted that her accounting firm, Berdon, was taking care of her while she was out on tour and in the studio over the last several years, but now she is undergoing a costly audit for her returns from 2008-2010; Rihanna is also suing her former accountant for defrauding her by charging excessive commissions, giving her bad financial advice, and taking four times as much profit from her most recent tour. Rihanna is a prime example of why many celebrities can find themselves in the doghouse with the IRS. Unfortunately the IRS could care less that her advisors, if true, were the cause of her delinquency.

“What often happens is that celebrities who make enough money to hire these big accounting firms to keep track of and manage all their money and implicitly trust that the firms have their best interests at heart,” says Rozbruch”. Unfortunately, sometimes these firms get greedy and think they can pull a fast one behind their client’s back, and ultimately it’s the client who pays the harshest price. For someone like Rihanna, I would recommend to her the same thing I would recommend to anyone: If you have to face an audit with the IRS or hope to negotiate a settlement, your best bet is to seek professional, trusted, legitimate representation because if they think they’re going to get a slap on the wrist just for being a celebrity, they’ve got another thing coming.

By Dirt.com, Special for US Daily Review.

Dirt.com a worldwide Leader in Celebrity Gossip, Music and Entertainment News, Celebrity Scandals, Hollywood Rumors, and Personal Dirt with its new DirtBlurb, today announced its much-anticipated Capital Hill’s Top 5 Sexiest Congresswoman List

The Dirt.com editors say the winner was easy to select. However, the next four weren’t as easy.
Dirt.com is rapidly becoming a leading worldwide entertainment media brand. Dirt.com covers 30,000 celebrities and has access to the World’s Largest Database of Celebrity Photos. Team Dirt’s Dirtarazzi and Dirt Reporters report on world breaking stories and scandal from Hollywood, L.A. , Malibu, New York, Miami, St. Tropez, St Bartes, Paris, Rio, and London.
Shari Rock, Dirt’s spokesperson says, “The people at Dirt selected Kristi Noem as the #1 Sexiest Congresswoman on capital hill. After perusing through the photos and videos of our elected officials, it is clear that the men in the office couldn’t get enough of Kristi. She is smoking hot, and looks like she could be walking the runway as a Victoria Secret Model. And yes, we would love to see that. Rock says, “We really don’t know much about her politics, and we really don’t care. We are just happy that we have a totally hot woman representing us on Capital Hill.”

The Top Five Sexiest Congresswomen on Capital Hill in 2012 according to Dirt.com:
5. Ann Marie Buerkle ; New York
4. Jamie Herrera Beutler ; Washington
3. Loretta Sanchez : California
2. Michelle Bachmann ; Minnesota

AND THE NUMBER ONE SEXIEST CONGRESSWOMAN ON CAPITAL HILL 2012 IS…
1. Kristi Noem; South Dakota

Kristi Noem is Number One. Do You Agree?

ABOUT Dirt.com: 
Dirt.com has already been read by people in 178 Countries and brings a new approach to the entertainment landscape by publishing original editorial content whereby readers and writers co-exist by making the site their preferred platform for sharing opinions on News, Gossip and Entertainment. Dirt.com has been called the World’s First Citizen News And Opinion Network Dirt.com is in the business of providing digital entertainment to the masses. Dirt.com’s new DirtBlurb offers real time information about people, places and things, and empowers people’s decision making through information and online intelligence The company’s guiding mission is to become the leading provider of digital entertainment and online intelligence services. The Dirt.com DirtBlurb search platform, recently introduced in Beta, places the power of information in the hands of the consumer. The platform is committed to helping every individual use the Internet to empower themselves to be able to make informed, intelligent decisions regarding their live, the people they know, and the world around them. Dirt.com is lead by Founder and CEO Andy Jacob, and a team of experienced and successful entrepreneurs, technology gurus, and inline visionaries who believe in the power of entertainment, the power of information and power of the people. The Dirt.com team is committed and passionate about making its DirtBlurb the most widely recognized and trafficked people dirt engine on the Internet today .To learn more about the DirtBlurb , visit http://www.Dirt.com

By US Daily Review Staff.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey invites families and businesses to join in ultimate shaving cream chaos on Tuesday, July 31, 6:00 p.m. as The Greatest Show On Earth teams up with two premier Texas clowning programs in a Guinness World Records attempt for the largest shaving cream pie fight ever held.  The event will take place outside American Airlines Center in AT&T Plaza.  The arena is located at 2500 Victory Avenue, Dallas, TX 75219.

The Biggest Shaving Cream Pie Fight On Earth is a celebratory event to kick-off International Clown Week and the Dallas/Fort Worth debut of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey presents FULLY CHARGED(SM).  According to Clowns of America International, August 1-7 is “International Clown Week,” which honors the charitable activities of clowns and clowning, as first proclaimed by the late Richard Nixon in 1971.  Ringling Bros. Clown Alley will pay tribute to Children’s Medical Center’s Funnyatrics therapeutic clown program and Lewisville Life and Fire Safety Clowns.  All three clowning teams will provide pie-ing tips and lead participants in the Biggest Shaving Cream Pie Fight On Earth with the hopes of shattering the current record.

The largest shaving cream pie fight is a new record category, and has a minimum requirement of 684 participants.  It is based on the old record for the largest custard pie fight, which has since been rested due to concerns about wasting food.  The largest custard pie fight record was held by Drake University, and was held at the Olmsted Student Center Parking lot inDes Moines, Iowa, on April 9, 2011.  At the July 31 event, a Guinness World Records adjudicator will be in attendance to declare whether or not the current world record has been defeated.

To participate in this pie-throwing extravaganza, participants must be at least 12-years-old and register in advance at www.RinglingPieFight.com.  In addition to participating in an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, each registered participant will receive one each of a Certificate of Participation and souvenir premium item. The last day to register online is Tuesday, July 31 at Noon.  However, people may register in-person at the event.

To participate in the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Biggest Shaving Cream Pie Fight On Earth, there is no required registration fee.  However, Ringling Bros. asks that you consider making a donation to help support the Funnyatrics Clown Program at Children’s Medical Center and Lewisville Life and Fire Safety Clowns programs. Both programs operate solely on donations by the general public and corporations. 100% of the monies donated will be divided between the two charities.  You may make a donation regardless of whether or not you participate in the event or not.

In addition to the pie fight, there will be a host of fun activities for Children Of All Ages including performances by the world famous Ringling Bros. Clown Alley, face painting, circus games, and more.

Participants may park at AudiPark, formerly known as Platinum Garage. It is located on North Houston and All-Star Way. Parking is free at AudiPark.

For more information, please visit www.RinglingPieFight.com.  Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey presents FULLY CHARGED(SM) will play at American Airlines Center, August 1-12, and Fort Worth Convention Center, August 15-19.  For tickets and show schedules, visit www.Ringling.com.

From Newsday:

Ernest Borgnine, the beefy screen star known for blustery, often villainous roles, but who won the best-actor Oscar for playing against type as a lovesick butcher in “Marty” in 1955, died Sunday. He was 95.

His longtime spokesman, Harry Flynn, told The Associated Press that Borgnine died of renal failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with his wife and children at his side.

Borgnine, who endeared himself to a generation of Baby Boomers with the 1960s TV comedy “McHale’s Navy,” first attracted notice in the early 1950s in villain roles, notably as the vicious Fatso Judson, who beat Frank Sinatra to death in “From Here to Eternity.”

Then came “Marty,” a low-budget film based on a Paddy Chayefsky television play that starred Rod Steiger. Borgnine played a 34-year-old who fears he is so unattractive he will never find romance. Then, at a dance, he meets a girl with the same fear.

“Sooner or later, there comes a point in a man’s life when he’s gotta face some facts,” Marty movingly tells his mother at one point in the film. “And one fact I gotta face is that, whatever it is that women like, I ain’t got it. I chased after enough girls in my life. I-I went to enough dances. I got hurt enough. I don’t wanna get hurt no more.”

The realism of Chayefsky‘s prose and Delbert Mann’s sensitive direction astonished audiences accustomed to happy Hollywood formulas. Borgnine won the Oscar and awards from the Cannes Film Festival, New York Critics and National Board of Review.

Mann and Chayefsky also won Oscars, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hailed the $360,000 “Marty” as best picture over big-budget contenders “The Rose Tattoo,” ”Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing,” ”Picnic” and “Mister Roberts.”

“The Oscar made me a star, and I’m grateful,” Borgnine told an interviewer in 1966. “But I feel had I not won the Oscar I wouldn’t have gotten into the messes I did in my personal life.”

Those messes included four failed marriages, including one in 1964 to singer Ethel Merman that lasted less than six weeks.

But Borgnine‘s fifth marriage, in 1973 to Norwegian-born Tova Traesnaes, endured and brought with it an interesting business partnership. She manufactured and sold her own beauty products under the name of Tova and used her husband’s rejuvenated face in her ads.

During a 2007 interview with The Associated Press, Borgnine expressed delight that their union had reached 34 years. “That’s longer than the total of my four other marriages,” he commented, laughing heartily.

Although still not a marquee star until after “Marty,” the roles of heavies started coming regularly after “From Here to Eternity.” Among the films: “Bad Day at Black Rock,” ”Johnny Guitar,” ”Demetrius and the Gladiators,” ”Vera Cruz.”

Director Nick Ray advised the actor: “Get out of Hollywood in two years or you’ll be typed forever.” Then came the Oscar, and Borgnine’s career was assured.

He played a sensitive role opposite Bette Davis in another film based on a Chayefsky TV drama, “The Catered Affair,” a film that was a personal favorite. It concerned a New York taxi driver and his wife who argued over the expense of their daughter’s wedding.

But producers also continued casting Borgnine in action films such as “Three Bad Men,” ”The Vikings,” ”Torpedo Run,” ”Barabbas,” ”The Dirty Dozen” and “The Wild Bunch.”

Then he successfully made the transition to TV comedy.

From 1962 to 1966, Borgnine — a Navy vet himself — starred in “McHale’s Navy” as the commander of a World War II PT boat with a crew of misfits and malcontents. Obviously patterned after Phil Silvers‘ popular Sgt. Bilko, McHale was a con artist forever tricking his superior, Capt. Binghamton, played by the late Joe Flynn.

The cast took the show to the big screen in 1964 with a “McHale’s Navy” movie.

Borgnine’s later films included “Ice Station Zebra,” ”The Adventurers,” ”Willard,” ”The Poseidon Adventure,” ”The Greatest” (as Muhammad Ali’s manager), “Convoy,” ”Ravagers,” ”Escape fromNew York,” ”Moving Target” and “Mistress.”

More recently, Borgnine had a recurring role as the apartment house doorman-cum-chef in the NBC sitcom “The Single Guy.” He had a small role in the unsuccessful 1997 movie version of “McHale’s Navy.” And he was the voice of Mermaid Man on “SpongeBob SquarePants” and Carface on “All Dogs Go to Heaven 2.”

“I don’t care whether a role is 10 minutes long or two hours,” he remarked in 1973. “And I don’t care whether my name is up there on top, either. Matter of fact, I’d rather have someone else get top billing; then if the picture bombs, he gets the blame, not me.”

Ermes Efron Borgnino was born in Hamden, Conn., on Jan. 24, 1917, the son of Italian immigrant parents. The family lived in Milan when the boy was 2 to 7, then returned to Connecticut, where he attended school in New Haven.

Borgnine joined the Navy in 1935 and served on a destroyer during World War II. He weighed 135 pounds when he enlisted. He left the Navy 10 years later, weighing exactly 100 pounds more.

“I wouldn’t trade those 10 years for anything,” he said in 1956. “The Navy taught me a lot of things. It molded me as a man, and I made a lot of wonderful friends.”

For a time he contemplated taking a job with an air conditioning company. But his mother persuaded him to enroll at the Randall School of Dramatic Arts in Hartford. He stayed four months, the only formal training he received.

He appeared in repertory at the Barter Theater in Virginia, toured as a hospital attendant in “Harvey” and played a villain on TV’s “Captain Video.”

After earning $2,300 in 1951, Borgnine almost accepted a position with an electrical company. But the job fell through, and he returned to acting, moving into a modest house in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley.

His first marriage was to Rhoda Kenins, whom he met when she was a Navy pharmacist’s mate and he was a patient. They had a daughter, but the marriage ended in divorce after his “Marty” stardom.

Borgnine married Mexican actress Katy Jurado in 1959, and their marriage resulted in headlined squabbles from Hollywood to Rome before it ended in 1964.

In 1963, he and Merman startled the show business world by announcing, after a month’s acquaintance, that they would marry when his divorce from Jurado became final. The Broadway singing star and the movie tough guy seemed to have nothing in common, and their marriage ended in 38 days after a fierce battle.

“If you blinked, you missed it,” Merman… (read more)

By US Daily Review Staff.

Australian local Jacques Phillips is offering to buy Greece out of Debt through his crowdfunding campaign, One Dollar Dare.

Crowdfunding is a new way of fundraising, where projects that would normally be turned down by banks or investors can find support from communities who like it and are able to give smaller sums of $20 to $50 to see that project come to life.

Normally projects would offer T-Shirts, Gifts and trinkets as thank yous to encourage contributors to pledge their support. One Dollar Dare puts a big twist on this.

Greece has been in serious trouble, could a "dollar dare" save it?

“This all started because some friends asked me to go to Europe with them and I didn’t have any cash. I heard about websites like Kickstarter, Indiegogo and Pozible and thought that crowdfunding might be able to help,” said Jacques Phillips.

Of course, if he’s asking the world to help fund his holiday, he needs to be able to offer something in return to the everyday people who could be putting their $50 towards their own holiday.

“So I decided to put my body and my dignity on the line. I called it the One Dollar Dare so that anybody who pledges support gets to dare me to do something and then I’ll have to put it online for everyone to see,” said Jacques Phillips.

Crowdfunding has raised millions of dollars globally so it’s no surprise that a $5,000 trip to Europe seems achievable.

“The best thing about crowdfunding is that when a supporter pledges – that’s all it is, a pledge. If I don’t make the target, the supporters keep their money. But if anyone has something that they couldn’t dare their friends to, then I’m the guy to get it done,” said Jacques Phillips.

So far in promoting the One Dollar Dare, Jacques has found himself getting humiliated in a variety of ways.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi8odcrTtjk&feature=share&list=PL9F7E95CB7CC22704

And what does he hope to achieve from all of this?

“Well it’s just in the spirit of a good time, and that’s why I added in the bit about Greece. If everyone pitches in their dollar and this manages to raise $700 billion, that would be one hilarious adventure,” said Jacques Phillips.

Jacques stated that if it gets that far, he’ll buy Greece out of Debt and rename it to anything the crowd desires.

http://youtu.be/e7K7s5qJADA?t=39s

By Jeremy Morris, Associate Editor, US Daily Review.

A consumer study of America’s leading brands has shown that the retailers driving economic and sector growth are doing so by creating a sense of theater around their in-store experiences.

Half of the top 100 companies overall are retailers.  Within the Top 10, four –  Wegman’s – 4^th, Publix – 5^th, Trader Joe’s – 6^th and HEB – 10^th - were set apart by creating what the report describes as “dramatic, theatrical experiences for customers.”

David Conway, senior partner at the report’s authors, Nunwood, commented: “Those retailers who create a compelling sense of theater for their customers are outperforming the sector average by between 8% and 12% when it comes to customer experience. These are overwhelmingly nimble, privately owned businesses that have remained close to their customers and invested in staff culture.

“As the impact of e-commerce and m-commerce continues to grow, it’s those retailers that still see staff as a cost to be driven down, rather than a lever of growth, who will face serious challenges. Minimum wage retail jobs simply don’t make sense anymore

“By combining investment in great staff with careful design of theatrical experiences, some American retailers are bucking the trend – outstripping modest sector growth, and creating jobs.

“The report also reflects recent criticism of Apple over low levels of pay in its retail division – which, whilst still a top performer – has dropped from 10^th place across all sectors in 2011, to 37^th place in 2012. Apple has responded to this criticism with snap pay rises of up to 25% and it will be interesting to see how this affects their scores next year.”

The Customer Experience Excellence study is an annual report created by Nunwood. It looks at more than 100,000 customer comments and covers every major brand in the US. Comments regarding the brands are analysed and used to score the brand against six criteria that Nunwood uses to assess the quality of customer experience. These are: valuing a customer’s time, demonstrating empathy, resolving issues, matching the customers’ expectations, personalizing service and demonstrating corporate ethics.

By US Daily Review Staff.

Millions of Sherlock Holmes fans worldwide will take part in a week of celebration of the world’s most famous detective in the first annual Sherlock Holmes Week from 30th July – 5th August. Holmes has had a resurgence in the last two years with two major Hollywood motion pictures and the success of BBC Sherlock. The week is backed by the main societies and organisations in the world. http://www.sherlockholmesweek.com is the website where fans can register their local events and take part in competitions.

The motto of the week is “By the fans, for the fans,” and local groups are being encouraged to celebrate the week in their own way — from special screenings to picnics. Events have been confirmed across the USA, UK and as far afield as Thailand and Canada. The theme of this year’s week is to promote the Save Undershaw campaign — a trust striving to save the former home of the creator of Sherlock Holmes – Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (http://www.saveundershaw.com and http://www.facebook.com/saveundershaw). The campaign was recently captured in the book “Sherlock’s Home – The Empty House,” which featured contributions from Holmes legends Stephen Fry and Mark Gatiss.

There are two major competitions. The Sherlock Holmes Fashion Awards 2012 on 2nd August enables fans to design costumes for characters from the first two series of BBC Sherlock. The best three from each character will be selected by a leading blog that covers all manners of craft, including costume design (Crafty Crafty) and entered into Awards — with some very special judges and wonderful prizes. High quality entries will be submitted for coverage on Crafty Crafty and their sister site Dollymix.

Steampunk Holmes is the most eagerly awaited interactive book in history. Several years in the making, this Steampunk version of Sherlock Holmes will have a series of books in all formats, but most stunning on the iPad. This competition for Holmes fans gives them the chance to be a part of publishing history and have their artwork included in the first book:Steampunk Holmes – The Legacy of The Nautilus. Information on entering the competitions is on the website.

Image: http://www.ereleases.com/pic/2012-SteampunkWatson.png

Supporters of the week include the top fan sites Sherlockology, The Baker Street Babes and I Hear of Sherlock. Special guest will be leading mentalist Joe Riggs aka The Real Sherlock Holmes.

The Great Sherlock Holmes Debate 3 will feature celebrities and experts from around the world coming together for the 3rd debate — the first two featured head-to-head clashes between BBC Sherlock and Warner Brothers Sherlock and included fans from more than 23 countries.

So who can get involved? Any Sherlock Holmes fan, wherever they are. The team have already been contacted by fans as far away as Japan and China. It seems that the popularity of Sherlock Holmes is truly global.

by Candace Salima, Senior Contributor, US Daily Review,

Movie: The Amazing Spiderman (2012)
Director: Marc Webb
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Rhys Ifans, Martin Sheen and Sally Field
Website: www.theamazingspiderman.com
Rating/Runtime: PG-13, 136 Minutes

To be perfectly frank, the last thing I ever wanted to see again…was another Spiderman movie. I was never that fond of Toby Maguire as Spiderman and those three movies kind of filled my quota of Spidey, for a lifetime. But my husband is a Marvel superhero officianado and just couldn’t wait to see the latest offering on the teenage superhero with the smart mouth. So I anticipated taking a lovely little nap while my husband watched spiders, lizards, mad scientists, science labs, and a cute girl.

So imagine how surprised I was to find myself enjoying Andrew Garfield’s take on the Amazing Spiderman. The story hasn’t changed, but the newer element was Peter Parker as a child and the mysterious leaving of his parents. Uncle Ben and Aunt May were breathed life into by the incomparable Martin Sheen and Sally Field, and they were wonderful, adding dimension to those characters.

When Peter finds out that the famous cross-species geneticist Dr. Curt Connors was his father’s old partner at OSCORP, he sneaks in to try to find out what happened to his parents. Of course, being a curious kid he went places he shouldn’t have and ended up being bit by the infamous radioactive spider. Marc Webb, the director, did a fabulous job with this new take on an old scene. It was magnificent.

It is delightful watching Peter coming into and mastering his powers. All in all, I thought Webb did a fabulous job breathing new life into a character whose had his own comic book series, and 19 television series and/or movies revolving around him. I enjoyed the movie immensely, much to my surprise. There was a greater depth to the characters, and Garfield portrayed a delightful Spiderman, one who begins as the bullied Peter Parker, and emerges as the newly empowered Peter Parker dealing with the aforementioned bully.

And, just as a side note, these new camera techniques of Hollywood made me experience a little vertigo as Spidey was swinging through New York City. The cinemaphotography and special effects were fantastic. Exactly what we expect from the latest movie on one of The Avengers.

My husband assures me that the next Spiderman movie, due for release in 2014, will have to have The Hulk (hopefully portrayed by Mark Ruffalo) in it, because it is The Hulk who draws him into The Avengers. And you know me, I love those Avengers. You know, with the world as chaotic as it is, there is just nothing quite so satisfying as watching bad guys get a serious beat down!

All in all, The Amazing Spiderman was a fun, entertaining, decidedly gross at times, action-packed movie that kept me from my nap, and more than lived up to its title.. I asked my husband how many stars he would give this movie, because he is the superhero expert in our home, and he said 4 out of 5 stars, and I concur.

This is a great family, date, and need-a-break movie. I suggest you go, and get ready for a high octane, Spidey-filled 136 minute movie.

 —

Candace Salima is a radio talk show host, author, columnist, and makes her home in the Rocky Mountains. Learn more about her at www.CandaceSalima.com. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook.

By US Daily Review Staff.

The Jim Henson Company has acquired rights to the beloved children’s books FROG AND TOAD and is developing an animated feature film.  Written and illustrated by Arnold Lobel in the 1970s each of the four FROG AND TOAD books include five short stories chronicling the exploits of a frog and his friend, a toad, simply named Frog and Toad.

“FROG AND TOAD has tremendous value with parents who read these charming stories when they were children and are now sharing them with their own kids,” said Lisa Henson, CEO of The Jim Henson Company. “With such high caliber talent on board, the delightful and funny adventures of these two great friends–with a nod to the classic ‘buddy movie’–will bring a whole new audience to their big screen debut.”

Lisa Henson will produce for The Jim Henson Company.  Adam Lobel and Adrianne Lobel will executive produce.  Craig Bartlett (“Dinosaur Train” and “Hey Arnold!”) will write the screenplay and Cory Edwards (“Hoodwinked”) is attached to direct.

The Jim Henson Company has also signed a deal with HarperCollins Children’s Books to develop and implement the first-ever multi-category licensing and merchandising program in the U.S. and Canada for the classic literary property.  The Company will be presenting FROG AND TOAD at the upcoming Licensing Expo in Las Vegas.

Melissa Segal, Senior Vice President of Global Consumer Products at The Jim Henson Company said, “As the feature film develops we will be looking to grow awareness of the property with licensed products based on the wonderful body of art from the original classic books in primary categories like apparel, accessories, gifts, toys, home furnishings and room decor. The plan is to launch a program aimed at both kids and adults in department and specialty stores in 2013.”

About The Jim Henson Company:
The Jim Henson Company has remained an established leader in family entertainment for over 50 years and is recognized worldwide as an innovator in puppetry, animatronics and digital animation. Best known as creators of the world famous Muppets, Henson has received over 50 Emmy Awards and nine Grammy Awards. Recent credits include the Emmy nominated “Sid the Science Kid,” “Dinosaur Train,” “Wilson & Ditch: Digging America” and “Pajanimals.” Features include “The Dark Crystal,” “Labyrinth,” “MirrorMask,” and “Unstable Fables” and television productions include “Fraggle Rock” and the sci-fi cult series “Farscape.”

By US Daily Review Staff.

Pitchers and reserves have been named to the American League and National League All-Star Teams, as announced today by Major League Baseball, the Major League Baseball Players Association and All-Star Game managers Tony La Russa of the National League and Ron Washington of the American League.  The 2012 American League and National League All-Star rosters were unveiled this afternoon on the 2012 All-Star Game Selection Show Presented by Taco Bell on TBS.

In addition to the starters who were elected by the fans, pitchers and reserve players were named to the All-Star Game rosters by the Player Ballot – a vote of the players, managers and coaches – and by the All-Star Game managers in conjunction with MLB.  In making their selections, the managers have ensured that each of the 30 Major League Clubs will be represented in the All-Star Game.

American League position players who are invited to the 83^rd Midsummer Classic as a result of Player Balloting are catcher Matt Wieters of the Baltimore Orioles; first baseman Paul Konerko of the Chicago White Sox; second baseman Ian Kinsler of the Texas Rangers; shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera of the Cleveland Indians; third baseman Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers; outfielders Adam Jones of the Orioles and teammates Mike Trout and Mark Trumbo of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim; and designated hitter Adam Dunn of the White Sox.

Angels rookie Trout will become the seventh youngest A.L. All-Star position player in the 79-year history of the Midsummer Classic, including the fifth youngest A.L. All-Star outfielder.  The only six A.L. All-Star non-pitchers younger than Trout, who will be 20 years and 11+ months on July 10^th, were catcher Butch Wynegar (20/4+ mos., 1976 ASG), outfielder Ken Griffey, Jr. (20/7+ mos., 1990 ASG), catcher Ivan Rodriguez (20/7+ mos., 1992 ASG), Hall of Fame outfielders Mickey Mantle (20/8+ mos., 1952 ASG) and Al Kaline (20/9+ mos., 1955 ASG) and outfielder Claudell Washington (20/10+ mos., 1975 ASG).  (Data provided by the Elias Sports Bureau)  In addition, Trout’s 832,439 write-in votes are the most that any player has received since Freddy Sanchez of the Pittsburgh Pirates, hosts of the 2006 All-Star Game, drew 856,685 that year.

Dunn has made his second career All-Star team and his first in 10 years one year after batting .159 with 11 home runs and 42 RBI in his first season with the White Sox.

A.L. pitchers who have made the 2012 All-Star Game as a result of the Player Ballot include startersDavid Price of the Tampa Bay Rays; CC Sabathia of the New York Yankees; Chris Sale of the White Sox; Justin Verlander of the Tigers; and Jered Weaver of the Angels.  Since Sabathia is currently on the disabled list, his replacement is C.J. Wilson of the Angels, per Washington’s choice.  Sabathia will be recognized as an All-Star and has been invited to Kansas City with full All-Star honors.  The relievers who are All-Stars via the Player Ballot are Jim Johnson of the Orioles; Chris Perez of the Indians; and Fernando Rodney of the Rays.

Washington’s seven selections, in conjunction with MLB, included three position players: catcher Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins; shortstop Elvis Andrus of the Rangers; and designated hitter Billy Butler of the host Kansas City Royals.  The four pitchers who are among Washington’s selections are reliever Ryan Cook of the Oakland Athletics; starter Matt Harrison of the Rangers; starter Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners; and reliever Joe Nathan of the Rangers.

The 2012 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote sponsored by Firestone will determine the 34^th A.L. roster spot, a competition that will feature pitchers Jonathan Broxton of the Royals; Yu Darvish of the Rangers; Ernesto Frieri of the Angels; Jason Hammel of the Orioles; and Jake Peavy of the White Sox.

National League position players who are invited to the All-Star Game as a result of Player Balloting are catcher Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals; first baseman Bryan LaHair of the Chicago Cubs; second baseman Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros; shortstop Starlin Castro of the Cubs; third baseman David Wright of the New York Mets; and outfielders Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers, Carlos Gonzalez of the Colorado Rockies and Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

N.L. pitchers who have made the All-Star Game as a result of the Player Ballot include starters Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants; R.A. Dickey of the Mets; Lance Lynn of the Cardinals; and Washington Nationals teammates Gio Gonzalez and Stephen Strasburg.   The relievers who are All-Stars via the Player Ballot are Aroldis Chapman of the Cincinnati Reds; Joel Hanrahan of the Pirates; and Craig Kimbrel of the Atlanta Braves.

The 37-year-old knuckleballer Dickey, who was a first round pick in 1996, will make his Midsummer Classic debut in his 10^th Major League season.  With 12 wins so far this year, Dickey is bidding to become the first knuckleballer to post a 20-win season since Joe Niekro of the Astros in 1980.

The 23-year-old Strasburg, the top pick in the 2009 MLB First-Year Player Draft, has reached the All-Star Game faster than any other pitcher who was the Draft’s number one overall selection.  He is the fourth pitcher who was the top overall choice to make the Midsummer Classic, joining Floyd Bannister (1976 Draft, 1982 ASG), Mike Moore (1981 Draft, 1989 ASG) and Andy Benes (1988 Draft, 1993 ASG).

La Russa had nine selections to fill out the remainder of the N.L. roster.  The four position players chosen by the manager, in conjunction with MLB, are catcher Carlos Ruiz of the Philadelphia Phillies; shortstop Ian Desmond of the Nationals; and outfielders Jay Bruce of the Reds and Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins.  The five pitchers who are among La Russa’s selections are teammatesCole Hamels and Jonathan Papelbon of the Philadelphia Phillies; Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers; Wade Miley of the Arizona Diamondbacks; and Huston Street of the San Diego Padres.

The 2012 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote sponsored by Firestone will determine the 34^th N.L. roster spot.  The competitors are Braves teammates Michael Bourn (OF) and Chipper Jones (3B); third baseman David Freese of the Cardinals; outfielder Bryce Harper of the Nationals; and second baseman Aaron Hill of the D-backs.

Fans can now begin voting to select the final player for each League’s 34-man roster via the 2012 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote Sponsored by Firestone.  Fans will cast their votes from the lists of five players from each League over a four-day period and the winners will be announced after the voting concludes at 4:00 p.m. (EDT) on Thursday, July 5^th. The 2012 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote Sponsored by Firestone began immediately following the show on MLB.com and the individual Club websites.

In addition to the web, fans again can use their mobile phones to cast votes via the mobile web at MLB.com/vote or via text message.  To receive the 2012 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote Sponsored by Firestone mobile ballot, text the word “VOTE” to 89269. To vote for a specific player, simply text message your choice to 89269.  (EXAMPLE: Text “A3″ to vote for AL Player 3 or “N3″ to vote for NL Player 3.)  Message and Data Rates may apply.  Mobile voting in Canada also is available and fans should text their choices to 101010. Standard rates may apply.

The final phase of All-Star Game voting again will have fans participating in the official voting for the Ted Williams All-Star Game Most Valuable Player Award presented by Chevrolet.  During the Midsummer Classic, fans will vote exclusively online at MLB.com via the 2012 MLB.com All-Star Game MVP Vote, and their collective voice will represent 20 percent of the official vote determining this year’s recipient of the Arch Ward Trophy.

The 2012 All-Star Game will be played at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday, July 10^th.  The 83^rd All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 200 countries via MLB International’s independent feed.  Pregame ceremonies will begin at 8:00 p.m. (EDT)/7:00 p.m. (local).  ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide exclusive national radio coverage of the All-Star Game.  MLB Network, MLB.com and SiriusXM also will provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage.  For more information, please visit allstargame.com or royals.com/2012.

By US Daily Review Staff.

TV Land will honor the life and work of beloved actor Andy Griffith, who passed away today at the age of 86, with blocks of programming highlighting his most treasured work, “The Andy Griffith Show.” On Wednesday, July 4th from 8am-1pm ET/PT and Saturday and Sunday, July 7th and 8th from 11am to 8pm ET/PT, TV Land will air some of the most memorable episodes in marathons of “The Andy Griffith Show.” The TV Land Facebook page (www.facebook.com/tvland) will also pay tribute to Andy, celebrating some of his best TV moments.

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of our dear friend, Andy Griffith,” said Larry W. Jones, President, TV Land. “His contributions to the entertainment industry and his role as Sheriff Andy Taylor will live forever in the minds and hearts of generations of television viewers past, present and yet to come. The entire TV Land staff will miss him and our thoughts go out to his family.”

“The Andy Griffith Show” has long been a part of TV Land’s history and has been in the network’s line-up for over a decade. In 2003, the network erected a statue in Raleigh, North Carolina, depicting the famous opening sequence featuring Andy Griffith and a young Ron Howard in their roles of Sheriff Andy and Opie Taylor walking hand-in-hand.  Then in 2004, the network unveiled a replica of the bronze statue in Mount Airy, North Carolina, Andy Griffith’s birthplace and the town after which Mayberry was modeled. Also in 2004, the cast was honored with the Legend Award at the 2nd Annual “TV Land Awards.” Additionally, the network has produced two retrospective specials on the series, “TV Land’s Top 10: The Andy Griffith Show” and “Inside TV Land: The Andy Griffith Show.”

Andy Griffith, born in 1926 in North Carolina, has been a part of the American TV landscape for nearly 60 years, first appearing on popular programs such as “The Ed Sullivan Show” and “The Steve Allen Show” in the early 1950s. In 1960, CBS premiered the series that bore his name, “The Andy Griffith Show.” For eight years, he starred as Andy Taylor, the kind-hearted Sheriff of Mayberry, alongside then-child actor Ron Howard (“Happy Days”) as his son Opie and hilarious character actor, Don Knotts (“Three’s Company”), as Deputy Barney Fife. Andy also went on to star in the hit series “Matlock” for nine seasons.

By Malcolm Out Loud, Contributor, US Daily Review.

The Supreme Court decision which makes health care reform (Obamacare) constitutional is as controversial as the original law. Was it the right or wrong decision? The country will remain divided in the answer but we should collectively recognize the even more significant question – Is the Supreme Court decision guided and influenced by Washington politics? According to Rasmussen Reports, I’m not the only one questioning this; by a 51% to 28% margin, Americans believe Supreme Court justices have their own agenda and are unable to be impartial. Most other polls are consistent with this result and indicate Americans believe justices vote their politics and are often corrupted by special interests.

The Supreme Court justices have decided many, many cases with a 5-4 vote. I believe we’re all fairly accustomed to how justices vote; liberal judges vote left and conservative judges vote right. If the U.S. Constitution is black and white, why do the Supreme Court Justices only see shades of grey?How can these intellectually brilliant men and women each look at the same document and each come back with a different decision? Is the Constitution just another legal document that is left up to the interpretation of all who read it? Let’s assume for a moment that the U.S. Constitution is not a conclusive declaration, but a document to be interpreted however by conscience and beliefs. In the grand scheme of our forefathers vision, might this be part of their plan for our democracy? Listen, I’ve often questioned how nine men or women could review the same document and come up with such different outcomes. I’ve come to the conclusion that the U.S. Constitution is a document which provides the framework and foundation for our great democracy and that it should be left to the interpretation of the Supreme Court Justices.

KEVIN PRICE AND MALCOLM OUT LOUD DISCUSS THE COURTS DECISION

AND MORE DURING PRICE OF BUSINESS SHOW

With that said, it’s not possible to pull the liberal out of a democrat or the conservative out of a republican. Nomination to the Supreme Court is the responsibility of the President, with the approval of the senate of course. Every President wishes to promote their political party and their political ideology, so when it comes to nominating to the Highest Court in the land – it’s an easy decision for the President. The method of nomination to the Court guarantees that political ideology will influence controversial issues and decisions. One sure way to avoid this outcome is to only allow independents to the Supreme Court. A set of parameters would be set in place to qualify the independent status of these officials. An independent body would appoint to the Supreme Court, not the President. This would virtually guarantee that the Supreme Court Justices not be indebted to any political party or cause and that their interpretation of the U.S. Constitution be based solely upon law. I would also like to see the Supreme Court expanded from 9 to 19 Justices. This would keep a couple of bad apples from rotting the entire orchard.

The question most people are asking is why did Chief Justice John Roberts, clearly a conservative minded man, vote to the left on one of the most important and controversial issues of his career?!? After all, Justice Roberts was nominated to the High Court by Republican President George W. Bush. The attorneys for the Federal Government swayed Roberts when they argued that the fees were indeed a tax. (Never mind that the President had made it clear that these fees were never going to be a tax, this was a legal argument now – not a political one.) It came down to the conclusion that the penalty for not buying insurance is a tax, or the equivalent of a tax, which Congress has the authority to impose under the Constitution.

The underlying message from Chief Justice Roberts was that his court is an independent branch of government whose central role is to enforce the Constitution – period. Roberts was willing to deny the conservative party a victory if it protected his court and his legacy. In an election year, Roberts choose to leave the future of Obamacare up to the voters. Harvard Law Professor and constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe said “Roberts saved the day and perhaps the court”. I concur with Professor Tribe; Chief Justice Roberts protected the integrity of the role of the third branch of government. The Supreme Court must be non-political and non-bipartisan at its core in order to serve the best interests of the citizens.

The ideological divide in America should not be the basis for law or constitutional interpretation. The High Court must determine right or wrong, justice or injustice, for all citizens – not just the majority based upon the current election season. In contrast, politicians make decisions which reflect the sentiment of his or her constituency. Let’s keep ideology out of law. After all the U.S. Constitution was not written by Democrats or Republicans, it was written by Americans.
About Malcolm Out Loud. Social and political news commentator Malcolm Out Loud is also the host of WebTV show Malcolm Out Loud TV, an acclaimed motivational speaker, founder of Brink Thinking and the author of the book Smash The Competition. More about him at www.MalcolmOutLoud.TV

By Jeremy Morris, Associate Editor, US Daily Review. Source: National Geographic Channel (NGC)

According to a new U.S. extraterrestrial survey from National Geographic Channel (NGC), more than 80 million Americans are certain that UFOs exist. In fact, many believe in tangible proof that aliens have landed on Earth and think that government officials are involved in covering up paranormal activities. Moreover, most citizens would not mind a minor alien invasion, because they expect these space-age visitors to be friendly—like the lovable character depicted in Steven Spielberg’s popular film “E.T.”

by Candace Salima, US Daily Review Contributor

Movie: Brave
Director: Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Brenda Chapman, and Irene Mecchi
Starring: Kelly MacDonald, Billy Connolly, and Emma Thompson
Rating: PG
Running Time: 93 Minutes
Movie Website: Brave

Disney Pixar’s latest offering in animation is the story of a young Scottish princess, Merida. Raised to fight by her father, and to be a lady by her mother, the two side of this princess are at war with one another.

As was common in Scotland, when a young woman reached a certain age, her parents secured a marriage for her, and Merida’s circumstance is no different. Her mother, the queen, sends notice out to the highland clans to come and compete for Merida’s hand. And that’s where the trouble begins.

Merida rebels and flees the competition. She happens upon a witch, and well, you can guess that things don’t go very well from there.

This story is centered around the relationship between Merida and her mother. It is a difficult one as Merida has been embued with modern thought processes, but her mother remains steeped in the traditions of old. With certain difficulties born of Merida’s rebellion, the relationship between the two goes through phases of extreme difficulty, until the bond between mother and daughter is mended.

Cinematically breathtaking, for the highlands are a beautiful place, the story unfolds around a place similar to Stonehenge and steeped in Celtic legend and magic. It is a delightful movie for movie, but not, I believe, for all ages. I must give one warning. Beware the scene of the men descending from the tower by tying their kilts together. You can guess to scene that leads to–yes–lots of Scottish bare butts, in an animated movie.

An oddity, which has never been present before in a Disney movie, was the lack of a single good-looking, or even decent or normal looking man. It appears the animators went out of their way to make the men in the movie as ugly, weak and ineffectual as possible. Methinks the screenwriters, and directors, have serious man issues, for whatever reason, and I’m not even going to attempt to delve into it.

So for the brief animated nudity, and the obvious man issues, I am giving Brave, as fun as it as to watch, a mere 3 out of 5 stars. It is my strong belief that anything with a Disney or Pixar label that is animated should be appropriate for children. If they want to break out of that genre, then a warning to the public at large is necessary, because they have set the precedent for family friendly films.

———————

Candace Salima is a radio talk show host, author, columnist, and makes her home in the Rocky Mountains. Learn more about her at www.CandaceSalima.com. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook.

By Jeremy Morris, Associate Editor, US Daily Review.

As paid video content becomes more available via different distribution channels, tablet and wireless phone-viewing usage has increased, while PC/Mac-viewing usage has decreased from 2011, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 U.S. Residential Pay-to-View Study(SM) released today.

The study, now in its second year, provides unique insights concerning attitudes, viewing preferences, behavior patterns, awareness and experiences among pay-to-view customers of the major home television and video service providers in the United States.

The study finds that 18 percent of customers use tablets for viewing paid video content, making them the most-often-used handheld device, up from 11 percent in 2011. Usage by wireless phone customers increases to 16 percent, up from 14 percent in 2011. Overall, 29 percent of video service customers watch paid content on a handheld device. PC/Mac viewing of paid content has declined to 39 percent from 48 percent in 2011.

“Customers are becoming more comfortable viewing their paid content on a smaller screen, such as a tablet or mobile phone,” said Frank Perazzini, director of telecommunications at J.D. Power and Associates. “The convenience of the device, as well as the availability of the content, has made it much easier to experience video on a variety of devices. However, the desire to watch events and video content as it happens is still prevalent, as more than 50 percent of viewers watch live television programming.”

The study measures customer satisfaction with the pay-to-view service experience across seven factors: performance and reliability; variety of videos/programming provided; ease of use; cost of service; customer service; billing; and offerings and promotions. Overall satisfaction with pay-to-view video service providers averages 750 (on a 1,000-point scale), up from 743 in 2011.

Generation Gap

The study finds a stark difference in the usage and viewing practices of paid content by Gen Y and Baby Boomer[1] customers, yet finds a minor difference in their satisfaction levels. For instance, satisfaction with video service providers among Gen Y customers has declined to 752, down 18 points from 2011, while satisfaction among Baby Boomer customers is 748, an increase of 19 points from 2011. Among Gen Y customers, satisfaction has declined in part due to lower ratings for cost of service and customer service, while satisfaction among Baby Boomer customers has increased due to higher ratings for billing, ease of use and variety of videos/programming provided.

“Baby Boomers are more becoming more comfortable with paid video technology and, as a result, are becoming more satisfied with the services available,” said Perazzini. “Conversely, Gen Y customers are already familiar with the technology and not only demand a high level of service from video service providers, but also are quick to seek alternatives when they believe they could have a better experience elsewhere.”

The study also finds that when selecting a video service provider, 21 percent of Gen Y customers consider mobility a factor, compared with only 9 percent of Baby Boomer customers, further highlighting the different needs of these two generations.

Customers Spend More Time with Gaming Consoles

Nearly one-fourth (23%) of customers view paid content via gaming consoles, compared to those who view paid content via handheld devices (29%). However, customers who view content on a gaming console watch 6.3 hours per week, compared with 5.3 hours on a PC/Mac; 4.9 hours on a wireless phone; 4.5 hours on a music player; and 4.4 hours on a tablet.

“These findings illustrate that while customers appreciate the convenience and value that gaming consoles provide, the TV screen is still a preferred viewing media,” said Perazzini. “On the other hand, average viewing times for mobile devices and computers are likely impacted by battery life and screen size.”

The 2012 U.S. Residential Pay-to-View Study is based on responses from 4,097 U.S. households that evaluated video service providers, including Amazon, Apple TV, Blockbuster/Blockbuster Express, Google TV, Hulu/Hulu Plus, Local Video Stores, Netflix and Redbox. The study was fielded in April 2012.

By US Daily Review Staff.

Mercury Radio Arts, Glenn Beck’s multi-media production company, announced that it is merging GBTV, its streaming video network with TheBlaze, its news and information website to create a single multiplatform media company. The new entity, which will be known as TheBlaze, combines one of the world’s largest subscription streaming video networks with a website that generates over 7 million unique visitors per month into one powerful multimedia brand. TheBlaze, which will soon offer video content on a 24/7 basis, will be a news, information, entertainment, and e-commerce network, spanning all media including video, radio, publishing, and the Internet.

Glenn Beck said: “I said from the very beginning that I did not want to call the network GBTV, and a year later I finally got my way. We have ambitious plans for this network and combining the power of GBTV and TheBlaze will help us build upon our success.”

The Marketplace by Markdown.com will also be integrated directly into TheBlaze.com, giving small businesses that participate in the marketplace access to an even larger audience of potential consumers, and rounding out TheBlaze’s revenue mix to include e-commerce.

TheBlaze will offer a mix of premium subscription video content and free content:

• The premium subscription content will be what is currently known as GBTV, a streaming video network featuring Glenn’s weekday show. Since its launch in September 2011, the network has already added a wide range of original programming, including the reality show Independence USA, the kid’s show Liberty TreeHouse, the news show Real News, and the comedy news show The B.S. of A, totaling over 34 hours of original programming per week. The network will soon provide video content on a 24/7 basis. Beginning later this year, existing subscribers to GBTV.com will be automatically redirected to TheBlaze.com. The network will also continue to be available on iOS devices, Roku and Boxee.

• The free content will be available at TheBlaze.com and will continue to include a mix of original reporting, curated content and opinion pieces.

Christopher Balfe, President and COO of Mercury said: “TheBlaze and GBTV have each proven to be incredible success stories in a very short period of time. Combining them will help us accelerate future growth by focusing on one world-class brand that offers the best of everything we produce in a single destination.”

TheBlaze’s executive team, which will report to Balfe, brings years of experience from leadership level positions in television, radio and digital media:

• Betsy Morgan, formerly President of TheBlaze is being promoted to President & Chief Strategy Officer of the combined company. Prior to joining Mercury, Morgan was CEO of The Huffington Post and a Senior Vice President at CBS News.

• Joel Cheatwood, formerly President of Programming at GBTV is being promoted to President & Chief Content Officer of TheBlaze. Prior to joining Mercury, Cheatwood was a Senior Vice President at FoxNews and CNN.

• Kraig Kitchin, formerly Director of Ad Sales at TheBlaze is being promoted to President & Chief Revenue Officer of the combined company. Prior to joining Mercury, Kitchin co-founded Premiere Radio Networks-the top radio network in the country and the distributor of Glenn’s radio show.

• Carolyn Polke, formerly Senior Vice President of Digital at Mercury is being promoted to President & Chief Operating Officer of TheBlaze. Carolyn has helped spearhead Mercury’s recent digital growth. Previously, she was a consultant at Accenture.

Scott Baker, who has been with TheBlaze.com since its launch, will continue in his role as Editor-in-Chief.

TheBlaze will be fully integrated with The Marketplace by Markdown.com, a curated marketplace platform to help local small businesses reach consumers across the country. Keith Ferry, former President of Markdown joins TheBlaze as Senior Vice President of Digital.

TheBlaze also includes a monthly magazine and news updates delivered each morning on Glenn’s radio show.

By Jeremy Morris, Associate Business Editor, US Daily Review.

A significant share of TV viewers are using PCs and mobile devices as second and third screens to access video content, according to the results of a cross-platform pilot test to be presented by Arbitron Inc. (NYSE: ARB) and the Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) at the Advertising Research Foundation Audience Measurement 7.0 conference in New York.

The presentation detailed how a separately recruited panel of Arbitron Portable People Meter® (PPM®) participants who viewed broadcast and cable TV outlets operated by CIMM participants also accessed content on CIMM member websites and apps as well as on the leading online video sites — Hulu, Netflix, and YouTube — whether via personal computer or via web sites and associated mobile apps on Android and BlackBerry devices.

Among the findings:

• 91.7 percent of the panelists who viewed CIMM TV/cable outlets used a second or third screen to access video sites or CIMM member sites
• 35.5 percent used all three screens — TVs, PCs and Android/BlackBerry devices
• Out-of-home consumption accounted for 13 percent of the total time spent with CIMM TV and online video sites
• 35 percent of CIMM TV/cable outlet viewers accessed online video sites “at-work”
• Nearly three out of four of “at-work” video consumers watched on a desktop PC
• Simultaneous usage of TV along with video sites was more limited than simultaneous usage of broadcast and cable TV along with social, search and email sites

“The cross-platform pilot that we conducted for CIMM clearly demonstrates the value of personal, passive, and portable measurement within a single panel of media consumers,” said Gregg Lindner, Executive Vice President, Service Innovation and Chief Research Officer, Arbitron Inc. “As media platforms evolve, so too will our measurement technologies as we work to support the emergence of a cross-platform buying and planning ecosystem. We continue to believe that a Portable People Meter-based panel will serve as a solid foundation for more scalable cross-media measurement solutions.”

Jane Clarke, Managing Director, CIMM, said, “The methodologies currently available to track and measure audiences across multiple screens are, at best, incomplete and haven’t nearly kept pace with the rapid proliferation of cross platform content consumption. The result is a media industry that is unaware of the true reach and exposure of its assets.  Through its pilot test, Arbitron has laid the essential groundwork necessary to build a scalable solution to multi-screen measurement.  We look forward to further collaboration with Arbitron toward reaching one of CIMM’s goals for improving media measurement.”

Multiple screen access to video content nearly universal

Use of more than one video screen by PPM panelists who viewed CIMM broadcast and cable TV outlets was close to universal — 91.7 percent. TV + PC access to online video sites dominated two-screen use at 48.9 percent, while use of TV + Android/Blackberry devices represented the smallest share of two-screen users at 7.3 percent.

Use of all three screens accounted for 35.5 percent of the viewers of CIMM broadcast and cable TV outlets.

Multiscreen access to CIMM-TV + online video sites
Arbitron/CIMM Cross-Platform Pilot Panelists, age 18 and older
Sunday-Sunday 6AM-6AM
January 2012

*Since the study was based on PPM panelists who viewed broadcast and cable TV outlets encoded by CIMM participants, by design, there could be no PC + mobile users who did not access any CIMM broadcast and cable TV.

While a significant portion of the CIMM TV audience used PCs or Android/BlackBerry mobile devices to access the leading online video sites, broadcast and cable TV was by far the leading choice for video consumption in terms of aggregate time spent with TV and video sites across the measured three screens.

Reach and Time Spent with CIMM-TV+online video sites
Arbitron/CIMM Cross-Platform Pilot Panelists
Persons 18+; Sunday-Sunday 6AM-6AM
January 2012

* Study is based viewers of broadcast and cable TV outlets encoded by CIMM participants

At-work online video site consumption

More than one out of three viewers (35 percent) to CIMM broadcast and cable TV outlets accessed online video sites at work. Of these at-work video consumers, 71.0 percent used a PC for access to online video sites. Android/BlackBerry mobile devices were used by 50.4 percent of at-work video consumers.

While the average time spent with online video sites at work was 2 hours, 43 minutes during January 2012, these at-work video users spent significantly more time at home with online video sites — 8 hours, 5 minutes — during the month.

Among the CIMM and leading online video sites, YouTube was the top choice in terms of percentage of users at work, while Netflix was the leading choice in terms of time spent with online video at work. Only Hulu delivered more time spent at work than at home.

At-work/at-home online video site consumption
Arbitron/CIMM Cross-Platform Pilot Panelists
Persons 18+; Sunday-Sunday 6AM-6AM
January 2012

*Android/BlackBerry devices

For the CIMM cross-platform pilot, Arbitron defined “at-work” as video consumption that took place whenever the Arbitron PPM indicated the panelist was “out of home” and when consumption took place on a PC that was registered with the study as work or dual-use.

Simultaneous use of three-screen options

At-home PCs and mobile devices make it possible for consumers to use an additional screen simultaneously with TV consumption.  The study revealed a marked difference in simultaneous use between text-centric sites and video sites.  Among CIMM TV viewers, for example, 90 percent accessed email, search or social media sites with watching TV, but only 65 percent of TV viewers simultaneously accessed CIMM and online video sites. Simultaneous usage by PC users was equivalent to TV users for text-centric content, but significantly less in terms of time spent for video sites.

Simultaneous video consumption
Arbitron/CIMM Cross-Platform Pilot Panelists
Persons 18+; Sunday-Sunday 6AM-6AM
January 2012

How the Arbitron/CIMM single-source, three-screen pilot was conducted

Arbitron recruited an opt-in panel of approximately 500 people aged 18 and older from retiring Portable People Meter respondents to participate in the CIMM pilot. With their permission, Internet and mobile measurement was added to the scope of their PPM panel participation.

The PPM technology measured each panelist’s exposure to any encoded audio content of local and national television, cable, and radio broadcasts and other media entities.

To measure Internet usage, Arbitron PC meter software (acquired from IMMI in 2010) was downloaded to panelist home and/or work computers to passively capture PC-based Internet usage from all panelists aged 18 and over.

To track mobile usage, panelists downloaded Arbitron mobile software (acquired from IMMI in 2010) onto their smartphones to track URLs visited on their mobile phones. The IMMI mobile software used of the CIMM pilot panel supported Android and BlackBerry phones.

By US Daily Review Staff.

Sony Movie Channel (SMC) is giving movie lovers a peek inside the movie making process with SMC’s Script to Screen Experience, a special application launching on the Sony Movie Channel Facebook page on Friday, June 1st.

Until Friday, June 22nd at 12:00 AM E, visitors can log onto the Sony Movie Channel Facebook page (www.Facebook.com/SonyMovieChannel), “Like” the page and then click on the Script to Screen Experience application. From there, participants will be able to read excerpts from the script as well as view the scene from the movies to compare how the words on the page go from the script to the silver screen. The application will feature the movies AN EDUCATION and THE LAST STATION, both airing on Sony Movie Channel on Friday, June 22nd starting at 10:00 PM E |7 PM P. In addition, consumers will be able to view on-set photos from each movie.

Friday Features airs on Sony Movie Channel every Friday. The show starts at 10:00 PM E|7:00 PM P, showcasing the channel’s broadest premium titles in double-feature format from the comfort of your home every Friday night.

According to a statement, “Sony Movie Channel is the first U.S. multi-platform television network from Sony Pictures Television created specifically for the Hollywood movie fan. Offering uncut and uninterrupted theatrical releases in stunning high definition, Sony Movie Channel showcases titles from Sony Pictures’ vast library including award-winning features, cult favorites, family comedies and gripping dramas. Programming is selected from more than 3,500 Sony Pictures films, which collectively have received 184 Academy Awards including 12 for Best Picture. Sony Movie Channel is available on DISH Network, DIRECTV and AT&T U-Verse TV on linear as well as on authenticated VOD and online platforms.”

By US Daily Review Staff. Source: BouceTV.

In recent years, we have seen the rise of HD channels.  For those who don’t have cable, they are usually a sub-channel of your broadcast channels.  Those with cable or satellite may or may not have the channels, based on the providers.  The channels range from ethnic focus, to old time television shows, to programs with a health focus.  In light of the fact they are starting to produce original programming, they seem to be gathering some traction.

Bounce TV, the nation’s first-ever over-the-air broadcast television network for African Americans, will launch a second new original comedy series Uptown Comic on June 18 immediately after the series premiere of the just-announced sitcom Family Time, it was announced today by Bounce TV Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Katz.

Uptown Comic will be a half-hour series featuring stage and skit performances by some of the hottest up-and-coming comics in the country. The show is currently in production in front of a live studio audience at the longest-running African American comedy club in the U.S. – Uptown Comedy Corner in Atlanta.  Actor and comedian Joe Torry (Russell Simmons’ Def Comedy Jam) hosts.

Bounce TV just announced its first-ever original series Family Time - a half hour situation comedy created by Bentley Kyle Evans (The Jamie Foxx Show, Martin, Love That Girl) and produced by Evans and partner Trenten Gumbs.  Family Time is set to launch Monday, June 18 at 8:00 p.m.  The series premiere of Uptown Comic will follow and be seen weekly at 8:30 p.m. (All Times Eastern.)

“Uptown Comic is a fresh new showcase for the next generation of break-out stars, perfectly pairing with Family Time to build Monday nights as an original programming destination for Bounce TV,” commented Katz.  ”The speed of Bounce TV’s historic growth is only accelerated by the addition of more demo-specific original programming that entertains our viewers while driving value for our affiliates and advertising partners.”

The series is being produced by Rainforest Films, producers of the current hit theatrical “Think Like a Man” one of the top-grossing films of 2012 to date.  Rainforest co-founders Rob Hardy and Will Packer are executive producers of Uptown Comicand both men are among the executive leadership team of Bounce TV.

Ryan Glover, President of Bounce TV said, “Will and Rob have been intimately involved with Bounce TV since the beginning. Our network’s meteoric rise and growth allows us to unleash their unmatched creativity in developing compelling and fresh new original content sooner than we planned.”

“We envision Uptown Comic combining the best elements of Def Comedy Jam and In Living Color,” said Packer, producer with Hardy of “Stomp The Yard,” “Obsessed,” “Takers,” “Think Like A Man” and more. “We think the series is a great jumping off point as we develop and produce more content for Bounce TV.”

“Uptown Comic is just the beginning; we have many ideas in development for Bounce TV’s original programming,” commented Hardy who, in addition to his impressive movie credits, has also directed episodes of such hit shows as E.R., The Vampire Diaries, Bones and Criminal Minds. “The network’s programming is very quickly growing into appointment viewing for the African American community. Will and I are truly excited to have a national television outlet for our creative vision and ideas.”

Uptown Comic host Torry has hosted Russell Simmons Def Comedy Jam and starred in hit comedies House Party and Strictly Business. Along with a multitude of TV appearances, he has also had significant movie roles in Poetic Justice, Sprung andTales from the Hood.  He is currently producing his first feature film Pawn Shop starring legendary actor/comedian Garrett Morris.

Family Time centers around the life and times of The Stallworths, a working class African American family who scratches off a lottery ticket and jumps to middle class overnight. They’re an authentic picture of an African American family working to live the dream.  This family-next-door consists of two loving parents: Anthony (Omar Gooding) and Lisa (Angell Conwell) Stallworth and their children Ebony (Jayla Calhoun) and Devin (Bentley Kyle Evans, Jr.)  The Stallworths move to a middle class community in sunny southern California and both Anthony and Lisa bring baggage and other family members into their relationship that makes for great comedy – and occasional drama.

Bounce TV launched September 26, 2011 and is already available in 75% of African American households and 60 million homes nationally. Bounce TV airs twenty four hours a day, seven days a week on the digital signals of local television stations. Martin Luther King III and Ambassador Andrew Young are among the Founding Group and Board of Directors of Bounce TV.  Bounce TV is majority African American-owned. Toyota USA is the signature sponsor of the network.

Bounce TV targets African Americans primarily between the ages of 25-54 with a programming mix of theatrical motion pictures, live sports, documentaries, specials, inspirational faith-based programs, off-net series and now original series. Live sports and events are part of the Bounce TV schedule, including both football and basketball games from the nation’s largest African American athletic conference, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA.)

By Ernst & Young, Special for US Daily Review.

A study released today by Ernst & Young LLP outlines the economic benefits of film production tax incentives for states and analyzes the most effective framework for evaluating the economic success of film incentive programs.  The study examines the objectives of film credit programs, explains the methodologies used to estimate the economic benefits of film credit programs and discusses the approaches used to analyze the film credits in a number of recent state studies of the effectiveness of film credits.  Film credits are currently in use in 37 states.

“The primary benefits of film credits to state residents are increased employment and higher incomes generated by film production activities,” said Robert Cline, Ernst & Young LLP’s National Director of State and Local Tax Policy Economics.  “However, the economic benefits to residents extend beyond the production activities themselves and include increased activity by suppliers to the film industry and increased consumer spending from higher incomes.”

The Ernst & Young LLP report discusses film credit studies in various states that differ significantly in methodology, comprehensiveness in measuring economic benefits and in the measures used to evaluate the effectiveness of film credits in generating jobs and incomes.  The most comprehensive studies measure the economic impacts from credit-assisted film productions, increased tourism, development of a sustainable film industry infrastructure and additional film productions not eligible for the credits.  The comprehensive studies also include estimates of the additional state and local taxes from increased jobs and incomes.

As state tax shortfalls have grown and budgets have been cut, legislators have been forced to weigh expenditures on film credits with those on other types of economic development programs and more general state spending. The Ernst & Young LLP report discusses the framework for evaluating the effectiveness of film credit programs.  The primary objective of the programs is to increase private-sector economic activity. This is a broader perspective for evaluating a film credit’s effectiveness than simply asking if a credit “pays for itself” by generating additional state taxes that exceed the state cost of the credit.

“The main focus of the evaluations of film credits to-date has been whether or not the credits ‘pay for themselves’ through higher state and local tax collections,” said Cline. “But the more important issue for policy makers to focus on as they evaluate state film credits is the effectiveness of film credits compared to other state economic development programs in terms of jobs and economic development.”

The study was co-authored by Andrew Phillips and Robert Cline of the Quantitative Economics and Statistics Practice (QUEST) of Ernst & Young LLP and William Fox of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee on behalf of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). A copy of the complete report is available at www.ey.com.

By US Post Office, Special for US Daily Review Staff.

Four extraordinary film directors — Frank Capra, John Ford, John Huston and Billy Wilder — received a stamping ovation today with the issuance of the Great Film Directors First-Class Forever stamps. The dedication took place at the American Film Institute Silver Theatre and Cultural Center where some of their works were showcased. Available nationwide today, the stamps can be purchased online at usps.com/shop, by calling 1-800-STAMP-24 (1-800-782-6724) or by visiting Post Offices.

“With these stamps, we’re bringing these filmmakers out from behind their cameras and putting them in the spotlight so that we can learn more about them,” said Samuel Pulcrano, U.S. Postal Service vice president, Corporate Communications in dedicating the stamps. “Movies offer a window into our history and heritage and tell the story of America. Similar to movies, stamps honor our past and celebrate our achievements while encouraging us to learn more about the people, places, and ideas that shape the American experience.”

Joining Pulcrano in dedicating the stamps were Jean Picker Firstenberg, American Film Institute president emerita and Postmaster General’s Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee chair; Dr. Bernie Cook, associate dean and director of media studies, Georgetown University; Ray Barry, director, AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center; Silver Spring Postmaster Tony Thompson; and, Arch Campbell, ABC television arts and entertainment critic who emceed the event.

“The American Film Institute’s mission is to preserve and showcase the cinematic treasures created by these and other directors and it is our hope that these Forever stamps will encourage Americans to see their classic movies that gave us a mirror on our country’s character and values,” said Firstenberg.

Following the ceremony, AFI Silver Theatre provided the audience with a screening of Billy Wilder’s The Apartment.

The four filmmakers received multiple Academy Award nominations, 15 Oscars, and numerous other honors during their lifetimes. But their greatest accomplishment lies in the vitality and artistry of the stories they told through film. Over a period of approximately 40 years, the quintessentially American filmmakers­ captured multiple contradictions, tensions, dark and light sides in deeply personal interpretations that conveyed the American experience as never before.

The stamp art combines a portrait of each director with a scene from one of his most iconic works. The background art for the stamp honoring Frank Capra shows a scene from It Happened One Night, a comedy in which a runaway heiress (played by Claudette Colbert) and a reporter (Clark Gable) compare their hitchhiking skills.

For the John Ford stamp, the background recalls a scene from The Searchers, an influential Western starring John Wayne and making Ford’s characteristic use of the American landscape.

The Maltese Falcon inspired the background art for the John Huston stamp. In this classic mystery, gumshoe Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogart) goes up against various unscrupulous characters (among them Mary Astor, Peter Lorre, and Sydney Greenstreet).

For Billy Wilder, the stamp background artwork was inspired by Some Like It Hot, a farce about two male musicians (Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis) who seek refuge from gangsters by posing as members of an all-girl band featuring luscious singer Sugar Kane (Marilyn Monroe).

Art Director Derry Noyes of Washington, DC, designed these stamps using art by award-winning illustrator Gary Kelley of Cedar Falls, IA, who created the images using pastels on paper.

Customers may view the Great Film Directors Forever stamps, as well as many of this year’s other stamps, on Facebook at facebook.com/USPSStamps, through Twitter @USPSstamps or on the website Beyond the Perf at beyondtheperf.com/2012-preview. Beyond the Perf is the Postal Service’s online site for background on upcoming stamp subjects, first-day-of-issue events and other philatelic news.

How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark
Customers have 60 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at a local Post Office, at The Postal Store website at usps.com/shop or by calling 800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes to themselves or others and place them in larger envelopes addressed to:

Postmaster
Great Film Directors Commemorative Stamp
8616 Second Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20910-9998

After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes by mail. There is no charge for the postmark. All orders must be postmarked by July 23, 2012.

How to Order First-Day Covers
The Postal Service also offers first-day covers for new stamp issues and Postal Service stationery items postmarked with the official first-day-of-issue cancellation. Each item has an individual catalog number and is offered in the quarterly USA Philatelic Catalog, online at usps.com/shop or by calling 800-782-6724. Customers may request a free catalog by calling 800-782-6724 or writing to:

U.S. Postal Service Catalog Request
PO Box 219014
Kansas City, MO 64121-9014

Philatelic Products
There are five philatelic products available for this stamp issue:

• 469263, First-Day Cover Set of 4, $3.56.
• 469268, Digital Color Postmark (DCP) Set of 4, $6.40.
• 469291, Ceremony Program (random single), $6.95.
• 469297, Panel, $9.95
• 469299, Cancellation Keepsake (DCP Set of 4 w/Pane), $15.95.

By US Daily Review Staff.

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is launching a new series of public service announcements (PSAs) to help raise awareness and deepen the understanding of the hospital’s lifesaving mission through real St. Jude heroes – its patients and families. St. Jude has not produced national PSAs since 2003 and timed this new multichannel campaign to coincide with the hospital’s 50th anniversary.

The PSAs share St. Jude moments through patients and families like 10-year-old Angiel. Angiel and her mom Damaris were planning a trip to Africa for a family reunion when she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer that produced tumors in both of Angiel’s legs. Today, thanks to St. Jude doctors, Angiel can still look forward to visiting family in a foreign land one day. Angiel’s story is just one of several patients featured in the PSAs.

To view or download the PSAs visit www.stjude.org/psa.

Thomas had a heart for kids.

“For 50 years St. Jude has been dedicated to finding cures and saving the lives of children like Angiel,” said Richard Shadyac Jr., CEO of ALSAC/St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “However, childhood cancer still kills more children in the U.S. over the age of 1 than any other disease. Through our new PSAs, we want to share our lifesaving mission and show why our work is so critical. Who better to tell that story than the very patients and families whose lives are impacted the most by the work of St. Jude?”

The PSA strategy is based on market research to define the purpose and messages for the campaign. The suite of PSAs, available in English and Spanish, is designed for use on television and radio, billboard and airport dioramas, in print and in interactive media. All of the PSAs were shot in the hospital with patients currently in treatment and tell the story of what these children – many of them thousands of miles away from home – long for most: reading a night-time story in their own beds, seeing their pets, hugging a sibling, the everyday moments that mean so much to families whether their child is sick or healthy.

Commitment to Finding Cures
Fifty years ago, St. Jude opened its doors and was the first children’s hospital to bring research and patient care together under one roof. It was the place doctors from around the world could send their sickest patients for lifesaving treatments, and parents never had to worry about how they would pay for it. Today, St. Jude remains true to those same principles and celebrates five decades of research breakthroughs and unparalleled patient care.

To learn more about St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, visit www.stjude.org.

About St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Since opening 50 years ago, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has changed the way the world treats childhood cancer and other life-threatening diseases. No family ever pays St. Jude for the care their child receives and, for every child treated here, thousands more have been saved worldwide through St. Jude discoveries. The hospital has played a pivotal role in pushing U.S. pediatric cancer survival rates from 20 to 80 percent overall, and is the first and only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center devoted solely to children. It is also a leader in the research and treatment of blood disorders and infectious diseases in children. St. Jude was founded by the late entertainer Danny Thomas, who believed that no child should die in the dawn of life. Join that mission by visiting stjude.org or following us on facebook.com/stjudeand twitter.com/stjude.

By US Daily Review Staff.

Andres Santo Domingo, the presumptive heir to a massive family fortune and the husband of prominent socialite and Vogue Editor Lauren Santo Domingo, pleaded guilty today to a hit and run charge in a New York courtroom.  Despite a previous denial, Santo Domingo has now admitted to hitting Ryan Coutu last March and fleeing the scene in his Mercedes Benz. Santo Domingo was facing a potential felony conviction carrying up to 4 years in state prison before his plea bargain was finalized with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

Domingo and his wife.

Coutu required arm surgery after he was thrown to the ground while crossing a midtown street.  As a result of being struck, he suffered painful nerve damage and multiple spinal injuries.  Coutu is still undergoing treatment and rehabilitation for the damage caused by Santo Domingo.

Coutu’s attorney, Herb Subin, issued the following statement on behalf of his client:  “No one in this country is above the law – not even a ‘billion-heir’ poster-child for the one percent club.  My client is relieved that Santo Domingo will now be held accountable for his actions.  If you hit someone with your car – you stop.  If you callously drive away instead, you are sub-human.  You should lose your license and go to jail.”

Santo Domingo has continued to make the rounds on the elite Manhattan party circuit – even recently co-hosting a benefit for “The Fortune Society,” a charity for ex-cons.  He has yet to offer an apology to his victim.  Even though Santo Domingo has avoided a drawn out criminal trial, his plea deal includes a license suspension, a dangerous driver course and community service.

By Candace Salima, Contributor, US Daily Review

Movie: Snow White and The Huntsman
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Kristin Stewart and Charlize Theron
Director: Rupert Sanders

 This ain’t your mama’s Snow White … or rather, this movie is much closer to the Grimm Brothers fairy tale, than Walt Disney’s version. First, let me say this much. My husband liked it, but thought it dragged on too long in the Dark Forest. My niece (33-years old) liked parts of it. And my 13-year-old niece, like me, thought it was awesome.

I suspended all I knew about the Snow White of my youth and opened myself to a new telling of the ancient tale. And that is key to the enjoyment of this movie. Kristen Stewart (Bella of Twilight) was an interesting choice for Snow White, but still, she did well enough. A stronger role was the Wicked Queen, and wow, did Charlize Theron make her the creepiest, darkest, most evil, and oddly sympathetic at times, queen to date! But for me, and I think for just about everyone, Chris Hemsworth stole the show. With three movies out this year, including his blockbuster role as Thor in The Avengers, Chris Hemsworth is emerging as a star with major clout. And his role as The Huntsman is no different. His story, his emergence from despair and pain into the hero he becomes is wonderful to watch.

The tale trips along nicely, sticking close to the story we all know, until The Huntsman meets Snow White. Then we take a wild departure from Walt Disney’s version and take a trip in the Dark Forest.

Snow White, in this tale, is destined to save the land from the Wicked Queen and through many, many events, including a delightful journey through the Enchanted Forest, which is called The Sanctuary in this movie.

We journey through the land drenched in the darkness of the Queen, as Snow White emerges into the leader she will become. I won’t tell you too much more, but know that there are twists and turns in this one.

I do not recommend this movie for children under 13. It is too dark and the subject matter too violent. However, it is a great movie for date night. I liked it quite alot and am giving it 4 out of 5 stars.

Don’t forget! When you enter the theater, forget everything you ever knew about Snow White and enjoy the show.

———————

Candace Salima is a radio talk show host, author, columnist, and makes her home in the Rocky Mountains. Learn more about her at www.CandaceSalima.com. Follow her on Twitter or Facebook.

By US Daily Review Staff.

Charlize Theron ranks high on the list... a surprise to no one.

In the “sex sells” department, Victoria Secret provides their list of the people that meet answer this question. Just in time for summer, Victoria’s Secret reveals the 2012 What Is Sexy? List naming the sexiest celebrities of the year. To celebrate the 7th annual list, Victoria’s Secret Angels Erin Heatherton, Doutzen Kroes and Lindsay Ellingson will host an exclusive VIP party tomorrow night at the new Los Angeles hot spot, Mr. C Beverly Hills.

Victoria’s Secret 2012 What Is Sexy? List
Sexiest Actress – Charlize Theron
Sexiest Legs – Stacy Keibler
Sexiest Bikini Body – Annalynne McCord
Sexiest Summer Style – Blake Lively
Sexiest Summer Hair – Ashley Benson
Sexiest Smile – Jessica Chastain
Sexiest Eyes – Jennifer Lawrence
Sexiest Lips – Amanda Seyfried
Sexiest Curves – Amber Heard
Sexiest Sense of Humor – Emma Stone
Sexiest TV Cast – Pretty Little Liars
Sexiest Mom – Beyonce Knowles
Sexiest Songstress - Britney Spears
Sexiest International Import – Diane Kruger
Sexiest Summer Glow- Olivia Wilde
Sexiest Cyber Star- Elin Kling
Sexiest Tweeter- Kristen Bell
Sexiest Up and Coming Knockout- Elizabeth Olsen

By US Daily Review Staff.

The commercial is half a century old. It is a little surrealistic and it is performed by a well known actor and future, very popular, president of the United States.  It has become all the rage on the web again recently because its message resonates with people now better than ever.

A 50 Year Old Commercial