AUGUST 7 AND 8, 2018


NEWS AND VIEWS


A NEW SOCIAL JUSTICE TECHNIQUE? IT, UNFORTUNATELY, EVEN IF I AGREE WITH THE REASONS, IS THE KIND OF THING THAT IS LIKELY TO BACKFIRE ON THE PROTESTORS. I HOPE NO SEVERE CRACKDOWNS WILL HAPPEN, NOW OR IN THE FUTURE. THIS IS NOT THE AMERICA WE ONCE KNEW – 1960 TO 2016, THAT IS. BEFORE 1960 SOCIAL JUSTICE WAS MUCH WORSE THAN NOW. THAT’S HOW SO MANY OF US BECAME “RADICALS.”

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/black-lives-matter-protesters-crash-wedding-of-cop-who-shot-stephon-clark/
CBS NEWS August 8, 2018, 4:39 AM
Black Lives Matter protesters crash wedding of cop who shot Stephon Clark

VIDEO – TELLING TRAYVON’S STORY

SACRAMENTO — One of the two officers who shot and killed Stephon Clark in March was confronted by Black Lives Matter protesters on his wedding day Saturday, reports CBS Sacramento. Police haven't released the names of the two officers who opened fire on Clark in his grandmother's backyard, due to safety concerns.

The small group of protesters had gotten word about the wedding and made sure they were there just hours before the officer was to say, "I do."

"I think they need to be approached in spaces where they're a little more vulnerable," Sacramento BLM founder Tanya Faison told the station.

According to the video released by Black Lives Matter, the officer was gathered in a room with his groomsmen Saturday when protesters barged in.

"I just wonder if you started planning your wedding before you killed Stephon Clark or after? How have you been sleeping since March 18?" said one protester in the video.

Protesters confronted a Sacramento, California, police officer and his groomsmen on the officer's wedding day.

Protesters confronted a Sacramento, California, police officer and his groomsmen on the officer's wedding day in this image capture from video provided by Black Lives Matter. BLACK LIVES MATTER

BLM says its members helped plan the confrontation ever since they found the officer's wedding website online, with information about the venue, a vineyard about an hour outside of Sacramento.

"We're not violent, we're not gonna give to them what they brought to our community, we're not gonna hurt anyone, but we are gonna make them uncomfortable, and they should -- because someone is dead," said Faison.

But community member Michel Keeley told CBS Sacramento, "As a black man … I'm concerned whenever there's injustice on any black person. Certainly there's a right to protest, but I think there are limits when to protest in a public place and the right of privacy for your wedding."

Sacramento police say since the tragic shooting back in March, the two officers involved have needed additional security. They've received a number of death threats and are not working in a patrol capacity.

"People may think that these officers are just going about their lives, but this is a very traumatic event for everyone," said Sgt. Vance Chandler with Sacramento Police.

0326-en-sacramento-blackstone-1531237-640x360.jpg
Stephon Clark

The case, which drew national attention and sparked protests across the country, is still under investigation, with no word from the DA's office on whether the officers will be indicted.

A day after the March 18 shooting, police distributed a press release that said the officers who shot Clark "saw the suspect facing them, advance forward with his arms extended, and holding an object in his hands."

Police video of the shooting doesn't clearly capture all that happened after Clark ran into the backyard. He initially moved toward the officers, who are peeking out from behind a corner of the house, but it's not clear he's facing them or that he knows they are there when they open fire after shouting "gun, gun, gun."

After 20 shots, officers call to him, apparently believing he might still be alive and armed. They eventually approach and find no gun, just a cellphone.

"I feel that our department has handled demonstrations and protests very well and we have taken great effort's to allow people to exercise their First Amendment rights but on this one what is the purpose of this?" he said.

That purpose, said Faison, is to remind folks that people are still hurting.

"Stephon Clark's family is still mourning and suffering. He doesn't get to be with his kids, or get married," she said.

Sacramento Police Officers Association President Timothy Davis responded to the wedding protest Monday night.

"The SPOA supports transparency within our Police Department. Transparency brings trust," he said. "Trust between our officers and the citizens they protect is an important aspect of a safe community. Our police officers are members of this community. They raise their families here. The send their children to schools here. They live their lives as a part of this community.

"Transparency comes with responsibility. Officers deserve to be free from harassment by individuals seeking their own forms of justice. True accountability can only come from our impartial judicial system and from our elected government.

"The SPOA will continue to advocate for transparency and thoughtful improvements in police policies, but we request the respect of our community. Give our officers the ability to safely raise their families alongside you."

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


CHARGED WITH CONSPIRACY “AND OTHER COUNTS,” AND AS IN TRUMP’S CASE, IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-york-congressman-chris-collins-indicted-on-insider-trading-charges/
CBS/AP August 8, 2018, 1:17 PM
New York Congressman Chris Collins indicted on insider trading charges

PHOTOGRAPH -- Rep. Chris Collins on phone at Congressional picnic at White House, June 2017 SCREEN GRAB / SARA COOK
VIDEO – NY CONGRESSMAN CHRIS COLLINS INDICTED

Republican Rep. Christopher Collins of New York, the first member of Congress to support President Trump during his campaign, has been charged with insider trading Wednesday. He is accused of using inside information about a biotechnology company to make illicit stock trades. The charges were announced, and the indictment was unsealed in New York City on Wednesday. The indictment charges Collins, the congressman's son and the father of his son's fiancee with conspiracy, wire fraud and other counts.

Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, outlined the case against Collins at a press conference Wednesday. Berman was appointed interim U.S. attorney in January by Mr. Trump, and appointed as attorney by judges of the Federal District Court in Manhattan in April. He was formerly employed by Greenberg Traurig, the law firm where Rudy Giuliani, Mr. Trump's attorney, previously worked.

"He placed his family and friends above the public good," Berman said about Collins on Thursday. "Congressman Collins, who by virtue of his office helps to write the laws of our nation, acted as if the law did not apply to him."

The indictment of Collins comes a few months before the November midterm elections, when he will be facing Democrat Nathan McMurray. Berman denied that the upcoming election would affect the case against Collins. "Politics does not enter into our decision-making in charging a case," Berman told reporters. "We are months away from the election, and the concerns do not apply."

Collins, his son and his fiancee's father are additionally charged with lying to federal agents about allegations of insider trading. The Securities and Exchange Commission is also seeking to prohibit Collins from serving as a officer or director of a public company.

After the indictment was announced, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin, removed Collins from the House Energy and Commerce Committee while the matter is pending.

"While his guilt or innocence is a question for the courts to settle, the allegations against Rep. Collins demand a prompt and thorough investigation by the House Ethics Committee," Ryan said in a statement. "Insider trading is a clear violation of the public trust. Until this matter is settled, Rep. Collins will no longer be serving on the House Energy and Commerce Committee."

According to the indictment, the defendants tried to get early word on the results of tests by a pharmaceutical company, Innate Immunotherapeutics Limited. The company developed a drug intended to treat Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis.

Collins has denied any wrongdoing. "We will answer the charges filed against Congressman Collins in Court and will mount a vigorous defense to clear his good name," Collins' attorney said in a statement on Wednesday." "It is notable that even the government does not allege that Congressman Collins traded a single share of Innate Therapeutics stock. We are confident he will be completely vindicated and exonerated."

Collins was already being investigated by the House Ethics for his holdings in Innate and his promotion of the company. When the House Ethics Committee began investigating the stock trades a year ago, his spokeswoman called it a "partisan witch hunt."

Prosecutors say the charges relate to a scheme to gain insider information about a biotechnology company headquartered in Sydney, Australia, that has offices in Auckland, New Zealand. All three defendants were in federal custody Wednesday and were expected to make their initial court appearance in the afternoon.

Collins was a member of Innate's board of directors and held nearly 17 percent of the stock. When the drug trial's failure was announced, Innate's stock price plunged 92 percent.

But the New York lawmaker did not trade the millions of shares he owned before the drug trial's failure was made public, prosecutors noted, for two reasons. He was already under investigation by the House Ethics Committee, for one. But he also couldn't -- Collins' stock was held in Australian stock exchange, and before the the drug trial's failure was announced, Innate asked the ASX to halt trading of the stock, which the ASX agreed to do, until June 27, 2017, after Innate's announcement that the drug trial had been a complete failure. This did not affect the U.S. over-the-counter market, however, where Collins' son's shares were held. Prosecutors allege that Collins passed along secrets to his son, Cameron Collins, in June 2017.

On June 22, 2017, Innate's CEO sent an email to the board of directors with the result of the trial. It was a "clinical failure" -- there were "no clinically meaningful or statistically significant differences in [outcomes]" between the drug and the placebo. "No doubt we will want to consider this extremely bad news," he concluded.

Collins, who was at the Congressional picnic at the White House when he received the mail, replied, "Wow. Makes no sense. How are these results even possible??" Within one minute of responding to the Innate CEO, Collins was calling his son repeatedly -- missing him six times before connecting with him on the seventh time -- to tell him, prosecutors say, that the drug had failed its trial, which was "material, nonpublic information...in breach of [Collins'] duties to Innate," the indictment reads.

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Rep. Chris Collins on phone at Congressional picnic at White House, June 2017 SCREEN GRAB / SARA COOK
Prosecutors say the son then traded on the insider information and passed it to a third defendant, Stephen Zarsky. They say Zarsky traded on it and tipped off at least three others.

Soon after the results of the drug trial were announced and the stock had crashed, prosecutors note that Collins' staff made a misleading statement about Cameron Collins' stock sales. "Cameron Collins has liquidated all his shares after the stock halt was lifted, suffering a substantial financial loss," the statement said. According to the indictment, Cameron Collins sold 1,391,500 shares of Innate between June 23, 2017 and June 26, 2017, when Innate publicly released the drug trial results.

Prosecutors say the the defendants avoided over $768,000 in losses by trading ahead of the public announcement of the failed drug trials.

The advocacy group Public Citizen filed a request for an investigation of Collins' stock dealings with the Office of Congressional Ethics and the Securities and Exchange Commission in January of 2017.

Collins was one of President Trump's earliest congressional supporters, becoming the first member of the House to endorse Mr. Trump for president during the 2016 campaign.

Cameron Collins' fiancee, Lauren Zarsky, and her mother, Dorothy Zarsky, settled charges. Lauren, an accountant, has also agreed to be suspended from appearing before the SEC as an accountant.

CBS News' Sara Cook and Arden Farhi contributed to this story.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.


YESTERDAY’S ELECTION RESULTS

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/08/07/midterms-elections-takeaways-contests-ohio-and-four-other-states/919353002/?csp=chromepush
Key takeaways from Ohio special election and primaries in four other states
Deirdre Shesgreen, USA TODAY Published 12:01 a.m. ET Aug. 8, 2018 | Updated 2:34 a.m. ET Aug. 8, 2018

PHOTOGRAPH --
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President Donald Trump is traveling Saturday to Ohio to hold a rally for state Sen. Troy Balderson, who is running in Tuesday's special election for an open congressional seat against Democrat Danny O'Connor. (Aug. 4) AP

WASHINGTON – Voters in five states went to the polls Tuesday, highlighted by a closely-contested congressional race in Ohio plus a bevy of other House, Senate and gubernatorial contests from Michigan to Missouri.

Here are our top takeaways from Tuesday's results:

House Republicans are in trouble
Ohio’s special election remained too close to call Tuesday night but this race should have been a cake-walk for the GOP. The fact that 31-year-old Democrat Danny O’Connor, a county recorder, made it so competitive is a bad sign for the GOP heading into November, especially since Republicans pulled out all the stops to boost their candidate, GOP state Sen. Troy Balderson.

The GOP spent more than $4 million on the special election, a district Republicans have controlled for more than three decades. They attacked O’Connor as a puppet for the ever-unpopular House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi, even though he said he would not support her for speaker. And they dispatched President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence to campaign for Balderson.

All that for a virtual tie in the vote tally. Balderson held a narrow lead over O’Connor but the race remained too close to call officially.

President Trump holds Ohio rally

PHOTOGRAPH -- The crowd cheers as President Donald Trump arrives to speak at a rally at Olentangy Orange High School in Lewis Center, Ohio, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2018. Carolyn Kaster, AP

No matter who wins, the close finish signals a possible “Blue Wave” election that could catapult Democrats to a House majority come November. There are 68 Republican-held districts where the GOP holds a weaker hand in terms of partisan makeup, according to the Cook Political Report.

"The GOP have to do something really significant in September if they want to keep the House in November," Frank Luntz, a longtime Republican pollster, tweeted Tuesday night.


Frank Luntz
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@FrankLuntz
I’m sure Republicans will celebrate tonight, but a 1-point victory in that district is nothing to commend. #OH12

The GOP have to do something really significant in September if they want to keep the House in November.

GOP
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@GOP
Congratulations, @Troy_Balderson!

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Tuesday's special election is to fill a vacancy left by ex-Rep. Pat Tiberi, who retired earlier this year. Balderson and O'Connor will face off again in November, when they vie for a full two-year term in the House.

Mini-takeaway on Ohio: Democrats may be cursing the Green Party candidate Joe Manchik, who snagged more than 1,100 votes. Presumably, most of those came from left-leaning voters who would otherwise have supported O’Connor. It’s not clear if that would have made up the difference for the Democrat, but it has to be frustrating in such a close race.

More (and more) women are winning Democratic primaries

Photograph -- Michigan Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gretchen Whitmer greets volunteers at her field office on Livernois Avenue in Detroit on Aug. 8, 2018. (Photo: Cameron Pollack, Detroit Free Press).

Female candidates have been winning Democratic primaries up and down the ballot so far this election cycle. And Tuesday's results put an exclamation point on this trend, as women notched primary wins in Kansas and Michigan's gubernatorial races.

In Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer, a former state Senate minority leader, defeated two Democratic rivals to claim her party's nomination. With Whitmer’s win, Michigan’s Democrats are poised to field an all-female ticket for statewide offices.

In addition to Whitmer and Debbie Stabenow, who is seeking a fourth Senate term, the Democrats also nominated women for state attorney general and secretary of state.

Whitmer will face GOP nominee Bill Schuette, currently the state's attorney general, in what's expected to be an especially competitive general election.

Democrats are hoping to recapture Michigan's governorship after eight years of GOP rule. Current Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, is term-limited.

In Kansas, Laura Kelly, a state senator, won the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in a hotly contested primary. Democrats think they can make this ruby-red state competitive, in part because ex-Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican, remains deeply unpopular after pushing through sweeping tax cuts that created severe financial trouble for the state.

The Republican gubernatorial primary remained too close to call Tuesday, with Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer was locked in a tight race with Secretary of State Kris Kobach in early results.

A rare win for labor unions in Republican-leaning Missouri

Missouri voters overwhelmingly rejected a right-to-work law Tuesday that would have banned unions from collecting mandatory dues. The battle, which attracted big money on both sides, provides a much-needed boost for organized labor after a series of legal and political losses.

The GOP-controlled state legislature passed the anti-union law in 2017, but labor organizations and Democrats blocked its enactment and collected enough signatures to force Tuesday's public vote.

Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a high-stakes case that could deprive unions of a key source of funds. USA TODAY

Tuesday's win for unions came after a major blow in June when the Supreme Court's conservative majority ruled 5-4 that unions cannot collect fees from non-members to help defray the costs of collective bargaining. The court ruled that those fees, permitted under a 1977 high court decision, violate the free speech rights of those who do not want to contribute.

Tuesday's vote in Missouri, which has grown increasingly Republican, could give labor groups fresh momentum heading into November's general election, where their political strength will be tested again.


ARE FEWER WOMEN APPLYING NOW? ARE WOMEN BECOMING DISCOURAGED ABOUT THE EXTRA FOUR OR MORE YEARS OF EDUCATION THAT ARE NECESSARY IN ECONOMICS, LAW, ETC.? I’VE ONLY WORKED IN ONE PLACE WHERE THE HEAD HONCHO WAS A WOMAN, AND THAT WAS A LIBRARY.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/just-24-companies-on-the-s-p-500-are-led-by-female-ceos/
CBS NEWS August 7, 2018, 8:08 PM
Just 24 companies on the S&P 500 are led by female CEOs

Indra Nooyi announced this week she is stepping down as CEO of PepsiCo after 12 years of leading the world's second-largest food and beverage company. Her departure leaves only 24 women as chief executives of S&P 500 companies, or less than 5 percent.

"We're moving in the wrong direction," CBS News financial contributor Mellody Hobson said of the decline. "Let's just think about it from an absolute standpoint. Last year, there were 32 women. Now there are 24. Less than a handful are women of color. This is going backwards ... Some have left for performance reasons. But at the end of the day, we're talking about a disappearing act here, a shrinking number of women, and that is not good."

IMAGE -- 0807-en-femaleceos-hobsonchat-1630336-640x360.octet-stream
The number of women leading S&P 500 companies has declined by 25 percent in just a year. CBS NEWS

Hobson, who serves as the president of Ariel Investments and sits on the board of Starbucks, said companies need to focus on getting more women in the pipeline for senior roles and creating incentives for diverse leadership teams.

"When you look at the women that are ready to step into that role in senior positions, we just don't have enough women there. And part of that again is just management and boards and leadership have to commit themselves, and I think you get what you incent. You have to incent people to have diverse teams.

According to research from non-profit organization Catalyst, last year 23 percent of senior positions were held by women. This year, it's 21 percent.

"We are going backward. And so boards have to really, you know, see that and step up," Hobson said.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.



THE FLAW IN THE AUTONOMOUS CARS IS A SIMPLE ONE – NO MATTER HOW WELL PROGRAMMED A COMPUTER IS, IT CAN’T BE RELIED UPON TO ALWAYS A DOZEN TIMES A DAY ON A HIGHWAY OR A WINDING COUNTRY ROAD, MAKE THE RIGHT “DECISION” IN ROAD INTERACTIONS WITH OTHER CARS OR PEOPLE. I THINK THAT IF CARS HAD CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE AI CHARACTERISTICS IT WOULD BE GOOD, AS LONG AS A SOBER AND WATCHFUL HUMAN IS THE BOSS IN THE OPERATION.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iihs-reports-driver-assistance-systems-only-increase-safety-if-drivers-pay-close-attention/
By KRIS VAN CLEAVE CBS NEWS August 7, 2018, 6:41 PM
Car assistance systems only boost safety if drivers pay attention, tests find

Tesla CEO Elon Musk shook up the stock market Tuesday afternoon when he tweeted he's "considering" taking his company private. The stock immediately shot up, closing up nearly 11 percent at just under $380 per share. All that came on the same day the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) put out a series of reports on driver assistance systems — including Tesla's Autopilot — that found they do increase safety, but only if drivers pay close attention to the road.

IIHS found varying levels of performance writing none of the vehicles tested "are capable of driving safely on their own." Tesla's driver assistance system has suffered a series of high-profile accidents including a fatal crash outside San Francisco in March.

We took Tesla's Autopilot for a test drive along with Tim Stevens, editor of CNET's Roadshow.

"Autopilot is basically a suite of driver assistance systems, all based on camera and radar sensors built into the car. Particularly on the highway it'll stay within its lane, it'll speed up or slow down based on traffic and make it so that the car kind of takes some of the drudgery out of driving," Stevens said. "I feel like there's this perception that this is a self-driving car, which it very much is not."

Tesla says the amped-up cruise control should only be used on divided highways because it requires clearly marked lanes and does not respond to traffic signals or stop signs. The misperception that it's a self-driving car, or what the NTSB called "over-reliance on vehicle automation," factored heavily in a 2016 crash that killed 40-year-old Joshua Brown.

During the test drive, Autopilot generally performed well on a busy stretch of New Jersey highway, but the car nearly drove into another when two lanes merged together.

"Not quite a perfect system. The car was not aware that there was another car that was about to steer into us," Stevens said.

"It's unclear if there's any safety benefit from these systems and there very well might be a safety problem with these systems," said Jake Fisher, Consumer Reports' director of auto testing.

On the magazine's test track, Fisher demonstrated how Tesla's Autopilot struggled to navigate turns when the road lines faded and relied on the driver to hit the brakes as the car approached the end of the track. He said Autopilot can't monitor how the technology is used or a driver's attention to the road.

Tesla declined CBS News' requests for an on-camera interview about Autopilot, but has announced an update is coming to the technology. The company says Autopilot is designed for an attentive driver and insists it is safe when it used correctly.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


POLICE DEPARTMENTS AREN’T MAKING GOOD HIRING CHOICES. OF COURSE, IT’S ONLY THEIR PROBLEM IF THERE ARE DAILY PROTESTS OUTSIDE THEIR OFFICES, RIGHT? ANOTHER THING TO NOTICE HERE IS THAT SHE WAS ALMOST CERTAINLY STEALING FOOD AND NOT TOYS, UNLESS KROGER NOW HAS BECOME A FULL DEPARTMENT STORE NOW.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cincinnati-police-11-year-old-girl-stealing-kroger-market-shocked-with-taser/
CBS/AP August 8, 2018, 6:54 AM
Cincinnati police: 11-year-old girl stealing from Kroger market shocked with Taser

PHOTOGRAPH -- The incident happened at the Kroger on Kenard Avenue in Spring Grove Village, WKRC reports. WKRC

CINCINNATI -- An 11-year-old girl who Cincinnati police say was stealing from a supermarket has been shocked with a Taser stun gun. Police say the incident happened around 9:30 p.m. Monday at a Kroger in Cincinnati.

Authorities say the officer suspected the girl was using a backpack to shoplift when he approached her. Police say the girl resisted and fled before she was shocked.

The girl was then taken to Cincinnati Children's Hospital for evaluation and was released into a guardian's custody, CBS affiliate WKRC reports.

Police have charged the girl with theft and obstruction of justice.

Cincinnati Police Chief Eliot Isaac has opened an investigation. According to the department's policy, Tasers can be used on people who are at least 7-years-old.

"We are extremely concerned when force is used by one of our officers on a child of this age," Isaac said in a statement. "As a result we will be taking a very thorough review of our policies as it relates to using force on juveniles as well as the propriety of the officers actions."

Vice Mayor Christopher Smitherman says there should be a "complete investigation."

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.


THIS ARTICLE IS BASICALLY A SUMMARY OF WHAT IS KNOWN AND SPECULATED ABOUT THE MUELLER REPORT, BUT IT WAS ISSUED JUST YESTERDAY. YOU MAY OR MAY NOT CHOOSE TO READ IT.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/08/07/donald-trump-braces-robert-mueller-report-russian-interference/892680002/
Donald Trump braces for Robert Mueller's report on Russian meddling (whenever it comes)
David Jackson, USA TODAY Published 6:00 a.m. ET Aug. 7, 2018

VIDEO -- President Donald Trump is calling for an end to the Russia investigation. Veuer's Sam Berman has the full story. Buzz60

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is spending part of his summer break pondering a pivotal event: A prospective report by Russia special counsel Robert Mueller.

In tweets and public statements, Trump and supporters are already responding to what they believe will be a written report by Mueller's team on its findings about the 2016 election, perhaps dropping as early as this month.

"This is the most one sided Witch Hunt in the history of our country," Trump said during a weekend tweet storm in which he raised more questions about a key event: His son's meeting in Trump Tower with a Russian lawyer he believed had political dirt on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

The special counsel is also looking at whether Trump sought to obstruct justice in various ways, from the 2017 firing of then-FBI Director James Comey to repeated attacks on Mueller and his prosecutors.

As he plans to spend this week at his golf club in New Jersey, Trump must also consider a decision that could affect the timing of Mueller's report: Whether not or not to provide testimony to the special counsel.

Mueller and his team of prosecutors and investigators have been close-mouthed about timing, but it doesn't appear their probe will end soon. The investigation has already resulted in the indictment of 19 people and three companies. Five of the people indicted — including three former members of the Trump campaign — have pleaded guilty to criminal charges.


Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
...Why aren’t Mueller and the 17 Angry Democrats looking at the meetings concerning the Fake Dossier and all of the lying that went on in the FBI and DOJ? This is the most one sided Witch Hunt in the history of our country. Fortunately, the facts are all coming out, and fast!

8:45 AM - Aug 5, 2018
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What will we know? When will we know it?

When – or if – Mueller issues a report is a tantalizing mystery; his office has been leak-proof, and no one outside the investigative teams knows how he will play it.

"There's no way to know," said Randall D. Eliason, a former public corruption prosecutor who now teaches white-collar criminal law at George Washington University. "Anybody who says they know is just guessing."

Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani said Mueller has not told him anything about a report, but he believes prosecutors are already preparing a submission to the official who appointed Mueller, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

Giuliani, who said his team is preparing a counterreport, said he believes Mueller and his lawyers "want to wrap it up before September, or at the beginning of September." The reason, he said, is that Mueller won't want to be seen as interfering with the congressional elections coming this fall.

What role will the midterms play?

Republicans in Congress would probably breathe a sigh of relief if Mueller released his report now, while they’re out of town for an August break. That would give lawmakers a chance to respond with carefully worded press releases, rather than being put on the spot in person by congressional reporters scouring the halls of the Capitol.

Lawmakers would also be able to punt questions about what action, if any, Congress should take in response to the special prosecutor’s conclusions. The Senate will return from its recess on Aug. 15. The House will not be back until after Labor Day.

If Mueller does not report by Labor Day, he may wait until after the Nov. 6 vote. Prosecutors prefer to avoid taking action that could be seen as affecting an election, and many Democrats are still seething at the FBI's decision in 2016 to reopen and then reclose the Hillary Clinton email investigation less than two weeks before Election Day.

While candidates have traditionally feared an "October surprise" that could blow up their campaigns at the last minute, the growth of early voting means that bombshell news that hits anytime between September and Nov. 6 could change the election outcome, said Capri Cafaro, who teaches in the Department of Public Administration and Policy at American University.

"If you're in an early voting state, revelations from the investigations could have an impact even if they happen in August or September," she told USA TODAY in May.

Some attorneys, however, say the election may not be as much of a factor to Mueller. Eliason noted that Mueller is investigating Russian election activity and that Trump himself is not on the ballot, so the Justice Department rule of thumb about timing and elections may not apply in this case.

More: 12 Russian intelligence officers indicted for hacking into DNC, Clinton campaign

More: Donald Trump tells Sessions to shut down Mueller probe; aides quickly play down remarks

More: Rudy Giuliani says Donald Trump team preparing report to counter Robert Mueller

Will Trump talk to Mueller?

As for Trump's possible testimony, Giuliani said that "we continue to talk" with Mueller's team.

"The president has been clear that he wants to interview. I will tell you his legal team is concerned," Trump attorney Jay Sekulow said Sunday on ABC's "This Week."

Giuliani said attorneys worry that prosecutors may set a "perjury trap*" for the president if there are no ground rules in place. He reiterated that the president is eager to testify and said Trump has done nothing wrong.

[NOTE: PERJURY TRAP* -- https://definitions.uslegal.com/p/perjury-trap-doctrine/
“... When testimony is elicited before a grand jury that is attempting to obtain useful information in furtherance of its investigation, or conducting a legitimate investigation into crimes which had in fact taken place within its jurisdiction, the perjury trap doctrine is, by definition, inapplicable. [United States v. Chen, 933 F.2d 793 (9th Cir. Guam 1991)]”

“I think (special counsel Robert) Mueller will want to subpoena the president if he thinks it's necessary to get his testimony.”

David Kris

At some point, Trump will have to say yes or no, and Mueller can move forward – possibly with a report, possibly with an unprecedented subpoena of a sitting president who refuses to provide testimony.

Trump and attorneys say the special counsel lacks the legal authority to compel testimony from a sitting president, and would likely challenge any subpoena in court. That would delay the investigation even further.

"I find it hard to believe the president will do the interview voluntarily," said David Kris, a former head of the national security division at the Justice Department.

Kris, a founder of the Culper Partners consulting firm, described Mueller as a by-the-book prosecutor who believes Trump's testimony is essential, and is apt to go to court to get it.

"I think Mueller will want to subpoena the president if he thinks it's necessary to get his testimony," Kris said.

Giuliani and other advisers to the president have said Mueller doesn't need Trump's testimony to file a report. Citing thousands of documents supplied by the White House and interviews of Trump aides, they said Mueller already's knows Trump's positions on the issues at hand.

How might Don Jr.'s meeting figure in?

Ongoing events may well affect Mueller's potential report. During his weekend tweet storm, Trump weighed in on a key aspect of Trump's inquiry, the June 2016 meeting that included, among others, Donald Trump Jr., and a Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya.

In a tweet, Trump said, "this was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics - and it went nowhere."

That story has changed over time. When news of the meeting surfaced more than a year ago, Trump dictated a statement sent out under his son's name claiming that the meeting was devoted to a discussion of international adoption policies.

The story changed with news that publicist Rob Goldstone, who who set up the meeting, told the younger Trump that the lawyer had derogatory information about Clinton. In any event, participants in the meeting, including Veselnitskaya, said no reports about Clinton were exchanged.


Donald J. Trump
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@realDonaldTrump
Fake News reporting, a complete fabrication, that I am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son, Donald, had in Trump Tower. This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics - and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!

8:35 AM - Aug 5, 2018
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Special counsel under attack

Trump's latest outburst could well provide another avenue for Mueller to explore for evidence of obstruction of justice.

In the past week, as attorneys negotiate a potential interview, Trump has launched his fiercest attacks yet on the special counsel.

Trump tweeted on Wednesday that Attorney General Jeff Sessions should "stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now," Trump claimed that "Bob Mueller is totally conflicted" and his staff members "are doing his dirty work."

It didn't sound like someone prepared to testify.

Contributing: Erin Kelly and Deirdre Shesgreen

22 PHOTOS -- A look at former FBI director Robert Mueller

Mueller leaves after briefing members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on the investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 presidential election on Capitol Hill on June 21, 2017. Michael Reynolds, European Pressphoto Agency


MORAL PHILOSOPHY BY JIMMY KIMMEL -- "MAYBE I'M NUTS, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO THINK WE COULD PUT POLITICS ASIDE AND AGREE THAT NO AMERICAN CITIZEN NEEDS AN M-16, OR 10 OF THEM," HE SAID LAST OCTOBER 2. "AND MAYBE THAT WAY, WE DON'T DO THIS AGAIN." WELL SAID, JIMMY !!

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/talk-show-host-jimmy-kimmel-speaks-his-mind/
CBS NEWS August 5, 2018, 9:54 AM
Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel speaks his mind

The talking points are becoming more pointed for late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel, and that's earning him a lot of scrutiny. Tracy Smith has our Sunday Profile (This story was originally broadcast on October 15, 2017):

For Jimmy Kimmel, Hollywood is home: "You know, it's dirty and kinda gross, but I do love it here.

"The weather is beautiful. There's great restaurants here. There's a lot to do. I mean, what's not to like? ... I say, as somebody goes through the garbage can."

jimmy-kimmel-tracy-smith-hollywood-walk-of-fame-620.jpg

Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel with correspondent Tracy Smith on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. CBS NEWS

He's been taping his nightly show here for the past 13 years, but lately, he's become more than just another face in the late-night crowd.

Kimmel, who turns 51 in November, was always a lovable frat boy at 11:30. But like other late-night hosts, he put comedy on hold after last fall's Las Vegas massacre.

"Maybe I'm nuts, but I would like to think we could put politics aside and agree that no American citizen needs an M-16, or 10 of them," he said last October 2. "And maybe that way, we don't do this again."

Jimmy Kimmel on Mass Shooting in Las Vegas by Jimmy Kimmel Live on YouTube

Kimmel's call for gun control after the shooting was both praised and criticized. One conservative commentator said, "Who made Jimmy Kimmel the moral arbiter for all of us?"

"I'm not," Kimmel said. "I mean, yeah, I agree with them. I'm nobody's moral arbiter. I mean, you don't have to watch the show. You don't have to listen to what I say."

His monologues – written just before every show – have drawn fire from critics who bash him for everything from being "wrong" on gun control to being "soft" on Harvey Weinstein.

"It's a bit of a risk that you're taking, talking about that stuff?" Smith said. "You might lose the audience."

"Yeah, I mean, I saw, I don't know if it was a study or a poll, some combination of those two things, that, like, three years ago I was equally liked by Republicans and Democrats. And then Republican numbers went way down, like 30% or whatever. And, you know, as a talk show host, that's not ideal. But I would do it again in a heartbeat."

"So you don't mind if Republicans turn off your show, they're not watching anymore?"

"I don't say, 'I don't mind.' I'd love for everyone – I want everyone with a television to watch the show. But if they're so turned off by my opinion on healthcare and gun violence, then I don't know. I probably won't wanna have a conversation with them anyway."

Truth is, Kimmel still marvels at the thought of anyone watching him on TV. Nothing in Jimmy Kimmel's boyhood was ever as fascinating as late-night TV. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Las Vegas, Kimmel grew up in awe of David Letterman. His 18th birthday cake even spelled out the words "L8 NITE." So did his Nevada license plates.

Smith asked, "When you discovered David Letterman, did that become kind of a dream of yours? The idea of maybe someday being a late-night host?"

"Never, never," he said. "I never even imagined that there would be other late-night hosts. It never occurred to me that Johnny Carson and David Letterman would ever go off the air. It just never occurred to me. I'm a little slow!"

He spent 12 years in radio, and got a foothold in TV with the Comedy Central game show "Win Ben Stein's Money." He also helped create a satire of crude male behavior called "The Man Show." ["Coming up: We have movies men don't want to see, and girls on trampolines!"]

"It was a fun show to do," he said. "And a silly show that some people took very seriously! Some people didn't understand that we were joking. So, there were kind of two audiences for that show: the audience that was in on it, and the audience that wasn't."

"And very angry, not being in on it?" Smith asked.

"Yeah. I don't know. I think we tried to make it like there were a lot of angry people watching the show. But I think something like 40% of our audience was female!"

And in 2003 ABC offered him a talk show of his own. "It seemed like a good idea at the time," Kimmel said. "I quickly realized that it wasn't."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, about six months in, I was praying that they would cancel the show. It was just overwhelming. Nobody wanted to be on the show. The show was live from 9:00 to 10:00 p.m. every night. I was depressed. It was a slog. Nobody seemed to be watching the show. It was very unpleasant all the way around."

He stuck it out, and survived, in part on the strength of viral videos, like the one where then-girlfriend Sarah Silverman taunts him about "sleeping" with Matt Damon:

F*@#ing Matt Damon by Jimmy Kimmel Live on YouTube

It's all still a bit surreal. When asked if he feels like he deserves to be here now, Kimmel replied, "I mean, I guess so. I don't know. Who deserves anything, really? I was lucky enough to get a shot and somehow, miraculously – I do think back on it, you know, how long the odds are."

"But you did it?"

"Yeah. I guess we did. Yeah."

And he hasn't done it all by himself: his two grown children from a previous marriage – Kevin, and Katie – have both appeared on their dad's shows. Head writer Molly McNearney became his bride in 2013, and their four-year-old daughter Jane is almost a regular.

The show was pretty much all fun-and-games, until April of last year, when the Kimmels' son Billy was born with a heart defect.

"It was a scary story, and before I go into it, I want you to know it has a happy ending, okay?" Kimmel told his audience.

His on-air story about his son's fight for life became a call to action on health care:

"If your baby is going to die and it doesn't have to, it shouldn't matter how much money you make. I think that's something that whether you're a Republican or a Democrat or something else, we all agree on that, right?"


Jimmy Kimmel Reveals Details of His Son’s Birth & Heart Disease by Jimmy Kimmel Live on YouTube

Smith asked, "What stays with you from the feedback that you got?"

"I think it's the other families," he said. "You know, a lot of people will tell you their stories. I mean, a heart operation is no joke, but, you know, families with cancer and ongoing illnesses. That's what stays with me."

"I know you learned a lot about healthcare though this. What'd you learn about your own family, about Molly?"

"She was very weak through the whole thing; I was the strong one. I'm joking! I'm joking to make myself not cry! [He failed at that.] It's when you really appreciate your family and Molly.

"You know, it's funny, because we weren't sure we wanted to have a second child. I have two older kids, and we really love our daughter, obviously. But we definitely learned that we wanted to have a baby. That became very, very clear at that moment."

The pre-show chant by his show's staff is a running joke ("Not only are you our boss, you're also our best friend! Best show ever! Best show ever!"), but the ratings are ticking up. He might be walking in the footsteps of giants, but Jimmy Kimmel has found a way to stand out.

Smith said, "You have this show. You're doing great. You're getting recognized. What next?"

"There really is no 'next' when you host a show like mine," Kimmel replied.

"This is it?"

"Yeah, I think this is probably it. But I never feel like it. I do still feel like I snuck in. And I do, sometimes I'll, like, drive by a neighbor's house and they have a big window, like, if you see yourself on the television, it's just like, 'Wow, there's people in their houses watching me. That's crazy,' you know? Television is kind of a magical thing."


For more info:

"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" (ABC)

Story produced by John D'Amelio.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


THIS STORY IS MORE DISTURBING AND FUNNIER AT THE SAME TIME THAN ANY OTHERS I HAVE SEEN ON THIS RUSSIA BUSINESS. THIS MAN ACTUALLY GOT ON THE PHONE AND CALLED PEOPLE IN THE PENTAGON ASKING THOSE WHO ANSWERED WHAT HE HAD TO DO TO GET THE HEAD OF THE ARMY POSITION WHICH HE BELIEVED HE HAD BEEN PROMISED. I BELIEVE THIS IS THE ALICE IN WONDERLAND STORY, AND NOT THE HISTORY OF THE USA.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/new-trial-testimony-offers-insight-into-manafort-ties-to-russia-1294386755790
New trial testimony offers insight into Manafort ties to Russia
Rachel Maddow reports on what was learned today in the trial of Donald Trump's former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, including testimony that Manafort was paid to help carry out Yanukovych's pro-Russian agenda, and evidence that Manafort tried to trade the job of U.S. Army secretary for money.
Aug.07.2018




A TRIP THROUGH BRITAIN IN 30 MINUTES OR LESS

https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-45058421
Touring a county with 'special energy' - using a 1939 guidebook
4 August 2018

In 1939, the newly established Penguin Books published six guides to English counties, complete with touring maps, aimed at the middle-class motorist. Emma Jane Kirby has been driving around the UK with those first-edition guides in her hand to see how Britain has changed since the start of World War Two. Next stop: Somerset.

"To tell the story of Glastonbury is difficult," protests my Penguin guide's pernickety author, "so cunning is the mixture of legend and history."

For the classically trained schoolmaster, S E Winbolt, today's Glastonbury might test his narrative powers further still, and especially on market day.

I've only been strolling the main thoroughfare for 15 minutes and I've already been offered the chance to have my chakras spring-cleaned, a three-for-two deal on incense sticks and I'm now getting guidance on whether to buy a rather beautiful hand-crafted wand.

"Birch is best for you," advises Howard the heavily tattooed wand maker thoughtfully, giving me the once-over. "Nothing too powerful to start with."

Howard, who spent most of his pre-wand-making career as a psychiatric nurse at Broadmoor, agrees that back in 1939, Glastonbury market would have been unlikely to be selling wands - which he thinks is a pity, as he makes each of his with a lot of love and a fair bit of sustainable, locally sourced wood.

We glance around the other stalls with their crystals, stones and tarot-card readings and, hitting my head on a dream catcher as I turn (Howard assures me it's not unlucky) I reflect that the very essence of Glastonbury has been completely transformed over the past 80 years.

Howard shakes his head.

"Glastonbury's always had its moments," he corrects me. "It has a special energy."

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption
Enjoying the month of May in Glastonbury

It also has a very special music festival, of course, although this year the Glastonbury Festival is in a fallow year.

Had a time machine been available to transport S E Winbolt forward into summer 2018, however, I'm not sure he would have felt he was missing out.

"No," agrees Howard. "The traffic's terrible."

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption
Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones appeared at Glastonbury in 2013

All the Penguin county guides are based around church-visiting, but Winbolt's passion for ecclesiastical architecture is perhaps in a class of its own. His pages are peppered with erudite information about north perpendicular windows, Norman towers, triple sedilia and rood-loft doorways, which he appeals to his readers to please "note" and "admire".

1939 Glossary I
Sedilia - a group of three stone seats for clergy, set in the wall of a church

Rood loft - a gallery or platform at the top of a rood screen, which in some churches separates the nave and the chancel

Chancel - part of a church near the altar reserved for clergy and the choir, often at the east end

At North Curry, he persuades me that "it is well worth making a detour" to see the church and of course he's quite right. The church of St Peter and St Paul is a bucolic gem and inside I duly "note" the effigy of the 14th Century lawyer and, in the north aisle, another of a monk creepily reduced to skeleton form.

I also note that despite their entirely positive nature, the recent entries in the visitors' book are rather few and far between. Alas for S E Winbolt, the 21st Century holidaymaker appears to be looking for something a little more thrilling than chancels and bench ends, however exquisitely carved.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES

"I'm going to chuck up!" screams a schoolgirl delightedly as the fairground ride on Weston-super-Mare's Grand Pier catapults her and her friends into the air. "Oh my days, this is brilliant!"

Winbolt promises that the "air of Weston is a fine tonic" but I'm already catching a waft of candyfloss, chips and burgers, with perhaps the faintest hint of… is that whelks?

Find out more
Listen to Emma Jane Kirby's report from Somerset for the World at One on BBC Radio 4

Scroll down for links to her reports from Kent, Derbyshire, Cornwall and the Lake District

Weston's tourism manager, Caroline Darlington, has the excellent idea of abandoning the rides, slot machines and zombie interactive video games to head for a quieter area by the railings at the pier's edge. There, a few querulous seagulls dive-bomb a sign that warns tourists not to feed the birds because they can be extremely aggressive. They begin to circle a sleeping sunbather in her deckchair like vultures.

"In 1939, the railway companies used to advertise Weston-super-Mare as having air like wine!" Darlington informs me as we settle on some stools looking out over the mudflats.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption

It wasn't only the air, the mud too was once considered to have health-giving properties

She shows me tourist information leaflets on Somerset's churches and guided heritage walks. She assures me that a few people do still ask for them but admits that today's tourist generally has different priorities.

"Your 1939 guide barely mentions children. It was about what adults wanted," she says.

"Now it's all about the family holiday. And today's children, with all the TV and advertising they're exposed to, do want a bit more than sitting on the beach staring at seagulls. They're looking for activity like the waterpark or adventure park and the fun rides."

Winbolt referred to Weston as a "most astonishing mushroom" that suddenly grows in the holiday season. And it still is.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption

A donkey ride on Weston beach in the cool summer of 2011...
In the first week of July, even before the school holidays, up to 200,000 holidaymakers strolled up the grand pier, possibly (or possibly not) lured by a giant poster advertising The Wurzels in concert. (What a pity Winbolt missed out on that!)

On the huge, wide sands, the promise of donkey rides has several primary school children shrieking with delight. Darlington tells me that some of the families operating the donkey rides established their businesses as far back as the 19th Century.

Image caption
... and in the scorching summer of 2018
"This scene replicates exactly what you'd have seen in the summer of 1939," she laughs as we watch a barefoot little boy and girl jigging around excitedly in the saddles of Rose and Minnie.

Not quite. As the handler patiently helps the children put their sandy feet in the stirrups, I notice they thank him shyly in Russian.

Winbolt may not have predicted foreign tourism but he did fear industrial competition from overseas. Particularly when it came to the business of weaving baskets from willow shoots known as osiers.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
"Women and children strip the osiers in a brake and bundle them into wads getting four pence a wad," he wrote knowledgeably. "Will the industry stand up to foreign competition?"

"Well, there are only three willow-growing businesses round these parts now," says Nicola Coates as she welcomes me to her beautiful willow farm near Taunton. "But we're still here and still very busy!" (She adds a hasty disclaimer that child labour is no longer used.)

We stroll down towards the 100 acres of beautiful willow beds with Coates's spaniel, Floss, proudly leading the way down a shady path that's animated with intricate wicker sculptures. Coates shows me the youngest of the plantation beds, which was planted last year and which she expects to last for around 15 to 20 years.

"Today we harvest with machines," she says. "In 1939, they'd have been harvesting with hooks and they'd have tidied up any problems, trimming dead bits. By doing that, they'd have got at least 30 years out of a bed. Machine harvesting has definitely shortened the life of the beds, but who wants to be out there in the depths of winter with a hook?"

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption
Harvesting osiers on the Somerset levels in 1932
Coates explains that although foreign competition and rising labour costs contributed to the decline of the wicker industry after World War Two, it was the emergence of plastic that really hit hard. The convenience and cheapness of plastic, she says, meant that the craft of the wicker basket was forgotten. But perhaps in our Attenborough-influenced post-Blue Planet II society, I suggest, wicker could replace plastic again?

"Now that would be brilliant!" smiles Coates. "We've really adapted since 1939 - half of our crop now goes on making artists' drawing charcoal, but the biggest difference is that apart from furniture and baskets we are now making a lot of coffins.

"If you think about a pine coffin, it would take maybe over 50 years to create the planks of wood needed and another 50 to replace them. Willow coffins make a very sustainable alternative."

"On the road again, Buckland St Mary: this is the last place where the fairies were seen in Somerset," writes Winbolt. "If they followed the British in their trek westward, it seems not unlikely, because the Devon border is a short half mile away."

I'm supposed to be heading east towards Yeovil now, but am so startled by this rather whimsical entry into the guidebook by the habitually no-nonsense Winbolt that I feel forced to make a quick detour south into the folds of the Blackdown hills. I scour the sun-scorched grass in the graveyard of the beautiful Victorian church of St Mary the Virgin for signs of sprite life but find only rabbit droppings and a few sweet wrappers. Not a fairy, pixie or goblin in sight.

When I do reach "enterprising" Yeovil, Winbolt wants me to know all about leather and kid gloves.

"Gloves, as for centuries past, come from Yeovil."

The local football team, Yeovil Town, is still known as "The Glovers" but by the late 1980s the last of the glove manufacturers in the town had closed its doors, blaming cheap foreign imports. Yet one company, Pittards, which for most of the last two centuries was merely a leather supplier, has now brought glove-making back to the town - and it also makes other clothes, and bags. When it was founded, in 1826, Pittards worked only with local Somerset sheepskins, but now it sources its skins from Ethiopia. This shift began a long time ago; even 80 years ago, most Pittards leather was imported from Africa because it was recognised that the skins of the mountainous Cabretta or "Hairsheep" were more suitable for gloves.

Image caption
Drying leather
"Back in 1939, we would have imported raw material but now the early processing is done overseas and we do the dyeing and finishing here," says Pittards' chief executive Reg Hankey as we watch workers on the plant floor stretching tanned leather under huge vacuum drying machines. "In '39, we would have hung the skins on a washing line to dry for at least three days - now, with these machines, it takes five minutes!"

Pittards is no longer a family business. It's now very much a global enterprise and 92% of the leather products it makes for the glove, shoe and automotive industries are exported. Although much of the production line has been automated, many of the finishing processes, such as staking [softening] and polishing, are still performed in exactly the same way they would have been 80 years ago.

Image copyrightPITTARDS
"We haven't found a way of improving this method apart from with high skill," Hankey shouts to me over the deafening noise of the polishing machines, pointing out two of his workers who've been polishing leather here for 37 years. He lets me touch the cool, silky white leather that will soon be transformed into golfing gloves and explains that in September 1939, with the outbreak of war, Pittards really came into its own, developing waterproof leather for gloves worn by RAF fighter pilots.

"We used to be driven by the military requirement," he smiles. "And although we do still serve the armed forces, in this day and age we are really driven by sports requirements." He shoots me a sideways glance. "With the world that we're in at the minute, maybe that will revert back one day?"

It's a depressing thought for a holidaymaker. I imagine the tourists of 1939, their brand new orange and white Penguin guides in their hand, and I wonder whether, as they excitedly motored from place to place, the threatening cloud of impending war darkened their fun?

"People living in a region bounded by highlands are naturally tenacious of their soil and disinclined to migrate," asserts my guide. "Note how physical environment influences the folk of the Meare and Godney marshes - even today they seldom seem to quit their moors."

At the Sheppey Inn in Godney on the Somerset Levels, the fun is just starting. Loud upbeat music pours from the door and the first of the early evening drinkers is studying the draught ciders list with the knowledgeable barmaid. The same family ran the pub for 120 years in a space that was the size of what a creative estate agent might call "an occasional bedroom or study" but in 1976 the family, rather embarrassingly for Somerset, ran out of cider and the doors slammed shut.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Image caption
The Somerset levels
Then, seven years ago, Lizzie Chamberlain from London and her partner Mark decided it was time to give Godney its pub back - but on a much grander scale. Lizzie looks tired as she hands me a lime and soda - the pub can now accommodate 250 diners as well as drinkers and last night they were again at full capacity. She steels herself for tonight's onslaught with a strong coffee.

"We do a lot of music nights," she laughs as I politely ask the bar staff to turn the music down a bit. "So people come from miles around and yet Godney is really on a road to nowhere. But it's turned into a lovely community pub, very much the heart of the village, with local staff and local produce… and we have an eclectic mix of people in the village now with artists and musicians, and the old villagers are living harmoniously with the new."

Lizzie introduces me to retired locals Phil Ryder and his wife, Amanda, who migrated to Godney 35 years ago and brought up three children here, including their daughter, Marigold - who is, in turn, bringing up her son here. Amanda tells me they were initially treated very much as outsiders by the villagers. But do they now feel what S E Winbolt describes as the pull of the Godney soil?

Image caption
Lizzie Chamberlain, Marigold, Phil and Amanda Ryder
"This place suits me down to the ground," grins Phil showing me his hands, which are filthy with earth. "I'm reluctant to go on holiday or even into town. I don't like leaving my land and I don't like being indoors."

Amanda makes a snide aside about Phil's readiness to leave his land for last orders now the pub's reopened and the family laughs. Amanda says she rarely leaves Godney, largely because she doesn't drive and there's only one bus a week - although she notes that she's often the only passenger on that bus. (Whether this is because every other villager has a car, or - as Winbolt would have it - they have a genetic disinclination to migrate, she prefers not to speculate.)

Marigold, meanwhile, reflects that although she did leave to go to university, she found herself being magnetically pulled back to the marshes afterwards.

"l do feel a sense of belonging," she agrees. "And whenever I go to other places I like, perhaps on holiday, nowhere else really compares. In winter it's bleak and can be quite depressing but it's beautiful and people do tend to stay… or if they do go, they tend to come back."

We finish our drinks and stroll outside to sit at the coveted tables by the river for a while and we watch big, dark fish fin down deep in the clear water.

Back at Weston-super-Mare, a coach sporting a large sticker declaring that it's carrying the Cliff Richard Fan Club of Birmingham has just pulled up on the promenade. I wander over to a beach shack and treat myself to a rather grand-sounding lobster and crab burger and settle down with my guide book on the wide Weston sands for a moment of peace and reflection in the sunshine. That is when I'm mugged by a vicious swarm of seagulls, one of which snatches the luxurious fish from my fingers while its fellow gang members beat their wings in my hair until I relinquish most of the chips as well.

Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES
Chewing dejectedly on the small, rather sandy piece of bun the gulls have spared me, I open the fly leaf of S E Winbolt's Penguin guide and read that he follows two guiding principles in life: "Aristotle's energeia combined with Virgil's labor improbus."

1939 Glossary II
Energeia (Greek) - source of the modern English word "energy" but Aristotle's meaning is different... and not easily translated

Labor improbus (Latin) - steady work, as in the phrase "Labor omnia vicit improbus" from Virgil's Georgics, meaning "Steady work overcame all things"

I imagine S E Winbolt sitting on the beach here in 1939, perhaps dressed in a woollen bathing suit, a knotted handkerchief on his thinning hair to protect his head from the sun - and I fantasise about slapping him.

See also:

The guidebook that led me to a lost corner of England (Kent)

The forgotten guide that took me to another time (Derbyshire)

Touring the Lake District with an 80-year-old guidebook

'Nothing but a holiday resort?' Revisiting 1939 Cornwall

Join the conversation - find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.



THIS HUSKY APPARENTLY HAS A HOBBY. HE GUIDES AND PROTECTS PEOPLE WALKING ON AN ALASKAN TRAIL. I WOULD NEVER WALK ALONE WITH NO WEAPON IN A PLACE LIKE THAT. LUCKILY SHE DID HAVE A CELLPHONE WITH AN SOS BUTTON.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/husky-saves-deaf-hiker-on-alaska-trail-others-come-forward-saying-he-rescued-them-too/
By DANIELLE GARRAND CBS NEWS June 28, 2018, 1:06 AM
After Husky saves deaf hiker on Alaska trail, others come forward saying he rescued them, too

PHOTOGRAPH -- Nanook and the deaf hiker he helped save on her solo hike in the Alaskan wilderness AMELIA MILLING

Alaskan husky Nanook shot to fame last week when word of the pup's heroic rescue of a deaf hiker in the frozen back country spread around the world. But his owner soon found out that wasn't Nanook's first -- not by a long shot.

Nanook's owner, Scott Swift, told CBS Anchorage affiliate KTVA-TV his pet always looks toward the trail head of the 24-mile long Crow Pass Trail, which begins about half-a-mile from his home in Girdwood, Alaska. "I swear he just looks for cars that go by and runs up after them and goes on an adventure," said Swift, "I just let him do his thing."

Last week, Rochester Institute of Technology student Amelia Milling was on a three-day solo hike on the trail when she lost her footing and plummeted 600 feet down an icy mountain. That's when Nanook appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and guided her back to the main path. The husky kept hiking with her and, a few miles later, she slipped trying to cross a freezing river. Nanook rescued her a second time, jumping in the frigid waters and paddling her to safety, where she jumped in her sleeping bag to stay warm, reports CBS affiliate KTVA-TV.

But, she wasn't safe, not yet, and Nanook knew something was wrong. Amelia's mother, Sharon Milling, told CBS ffiliate KTYX-TV "She thought she was going to lie there until she recovered and then she would sit up and kind of gauge where she was at. She just wasn't recovering. The dog kept licking her."

img-20180619-200732.jpg
Nanook takes a breather while on the Crow Pass Trail. AMELIA MILLING

Amelia, huddled in her sleeping bag, called for help. She hit the "SOS" button on her satellite messenger and struggled to stay awake until a helicopter arrived to get her.

Alaska State Trooper Lt. Eric Olsen was part of the team who responded to Amelia's SOS. He said Nanook was waiting with her when they arrived. "Nookie was nothing short of a modern-day, Lassie (type) hero," Olsen told KTVA-TV.

The husky completes the trail with strangers so much, about ten times a year, that Nanook's owner engraved his collar with the title "Crow Pass Guide Dog." It wasn't until recently that Swift learned his pet was doing much more than keeping hikers company -- he was saving their lives.

Swift says he knows his dog has saved three other hikers, and he "kinda wouldn't doubt if there's more out there." Swift started a Facebook page for the pup to find other people he'd helped. Within a few days, he heard dozens of stories.

Nanook wasn't trained by Swift to be a rescue dog. Swift said he got the husky at an adopt-a-pet event in a local Walmart parking lot, KTVA-TV says.

While the pup may have been rescued by his owner, Nanook has made it his life mission to rescue others.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.



BEDTIME VIEWING RECOMMENDED –

A SOVEREIGN CITIZEN IN MID-SPIEL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nuzcEKR8_0

innocent boat captain harassed by road pirates
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G64DagHuOg

When Giant Fungi Ruled, PBS Eons
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzR-rom72PHN9Zg7RML9EbA

WHEN BIRDS HAD TEETH
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGR5yOrChMA

What Happened to the World's Greatest Ape?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qW256pUdYg

The Dawn of Mammals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LZo_DKRHxE