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A-list stars, they're just like the rest of us really. Take Ringo Starr, for example. Forever immortalized as a member of The Beatles, yet he loves to kick back and watch "The Price Is Right."
Chatting to Craig Ferguson on "The Late Late Show" (Weeknights, 12:30 a.m. EST on CBS) Ringo joked about how musician and producer Joe Walsh talked him out of naming his latest album "Motel California."
Of course, because everyone in Hollywood knows everyone else, Ferguson knows Walsh from his regular guest spots playing Ed the guitarist on "The Drew Carey Show."
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Jon Huntsman Sr. provided nearly $2 million to the "Our Destiny" super PAC out of $2.7 million raised in an effort to put his son in the White House, according to a Federal Election Commission filing.
Huntsman was presumed to be the major backer of the outside spending group. He is chairman of Huntsman Corp., a global chemical company. Jon Huntsman Jr., a former ambassador to China and ex-Utah governor, dropped out of the race after losing badly in New Hampshire.
Huntsman quit Jan. 16 and endorsed Mitt Romney.
Virtually all of the independent expenditures made by Our Destiny presented Huntsman in a positive light. The former governor positioned himself as the only candidate who could defeat President Barack Obama in the general election.
Among some of the other donors were Peter Arnott of Research Affiliates LLC, who gave $250,000; Jim and Christy Walton of Wal-Mart fame, who together gave $150,000 and C. Boyden Gray, a Washington, D.C. lawyer and former appointee of George W. Bush, who gave $50,000.
The super PAC shows $127,000 cash on hand with no debt.
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Fashion icon Donna Karan sat down with Oprah Winfrey to talk about about her philanthropic work and what's it like to have her own name as a successful international brand.
On "Oprah's Next Chapter" (Mon., 10 p.m. EST on OWN) Karan talked about her Urban Zen Foundation and said that "for me, philanthropy and commerce are completely interconnected." Where one person cannot make a difference, a group of people working together, can.
Oprah -- no stranger to name-brand recognition herself -- wondered, how does it feel to be "Donna Karan?" What's it like to live with a name that is so synonymous with your work? "It's so funny," Karan said. "I don't feel myself as 'Donna Karan.' ... I like DKNY better because it's the separation of the name."
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Big banks' reputations have taken a hit over the last few years, starting with the financial crisis and culminating with the Occupy Wall Street protests. Meanwhile, small businesses have been cast as the economy's earnest underdogs, generating rhetorical support from Congress to the campaign trail to Wall Street. So it's no surprise that Bank of America, Chase, Citibank and Wells Fargo were eager to release seemingly impressive small-business lending figures for 2011. Problem is, many of those loans may be going to businesses that aren't that small.
For lending purposes, the nation's four biggest banks define small businesses as those with annual revenues up to $20 million -- an amount far higher than many businesses on Main Street will ever reach. This could explain the ongoing disconnect between big banks' upbeat lending reports and the 61 percent of small-business owners who say it's harder to get loans now than four years ago, according to a study released Thursday by the American Sustainable Business Council, Small Business Majority and Main Street Alliance.
Sarwan "Rimpy" Singh, owner of seven Taco Time restaurants in the Portland, Ore., area, experienced the disconnect when two big banks rejected his application for a $300,000 loan to buy property he is leasing. One bank told Singh it doesn't give loans to restaurants because they're high-risk, though Singh has been in business for 16 years, has excellent credit, a sizable down payment and has been a longtime bank customer. Earning $2.5 million to $3 million in 2011 revenue, Singh said he wonders whether he's at the wrong end of the revenue spectrum when it comes to borrowing. "There are a lot of mixed messages from the big banks," he said. "That definition is completely wrong. They have no clue what a small business is."
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WASHINGTON -- One of the nation's largest consumer debt buyers will pay a $2.5 million civil fine to settle deception allegations.
The Federal Trade Commission said Monday that Michigan-based Asset Acceptance agreed to the penalty and to changes in the way it collects debt. The company buys unpaid debts from credit card companies, utilities, health clubs and others.
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WASHINGTON -- One of the nation's largest consumer debt buyers will pay a $2.5 million civil fine to settle deception allegations.
The Federal Trade Commission said Monday that Michigan-based Asset Acceptance agreed to the penalty and to changes in the way it collects debt. The company buys unpaid debts from credit card companies, utilities, health clubs and others.
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John Rich, a veteran TV director, has died. He was 86. Rich won three Emmys over the course of his career, two for his directorial work. He directed numerous episodes of "All in the Family," including the first one, as well as several episodes of "The Brady Bunch," "Gilligan's Island" and "That Girl," among other classic sitcoms.
Rich won an Emmy for his directorial work on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and two for "All in the Family." His last credited TV directorial work is the short-lived 1999 series "Payne," starring John Larroquette and Julie Benz.
"We are deeply saddened to learn today of the passing of John Rich," Taylor Hackford, president of the Directors Guild of America, said in a statement. "A legendary figure in the history of TV comedy, John tirelessly served our Guild for nearly six decades. He directed some of the most beloved classics of all time and his skills as a television director were unsurpassed, but no matter how busy and successful his career was, John always made time for the DGA."
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