OCTOBER 16 AND 17, 2018


NEWS AND VIEWS


MUELLER WILL MAKE SOME ANNOUNCEMENTS AFTER NOVEMBER 6, BUT NOT NECESSARILY ALL. TRUMP WILL UNDOUBTEDLY KEEP ON THE PRESSURE FOR HIM TO GIVE IT UP, OF COURSE, AND ROSENSTEIN HAS NUDGED HIM TO HURRY, ALSO. I THINK THERE WILL BE PUBLIC ANGER IF MUELLER DOESN’T INVESTIGATE THE CASE, OR CASES, THOROUGHLY, THOUGH. MOST PEOPLE SEE REASON TO CONFRONT TRUMP IN SOME WAY OVER HIS SUSPICIOUS BEHAVIOR WITH RUSSIA. FIRST, WE MUST GO TO THE POLLS AND VOTE AS MANY REPUBLICANS AS POSSIBLE OUT OF OFFICE IN JUST A FEW WEEKS NOW. CALL AHEAD TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE PROPERLY REGISTERED BEFORE THE ELECTION DAY, SO THAT YOUR VOTE WON’T BE LOST.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-17/mueller-said-ready-to-deliver-key-findings-in-his-trump-probe
Politics
Mueller Ready to Deliver Key Findings in His Trump Probe, Sources Say
By Chris Strohm , Greg Farrell , and Shannon Pettypiece
October 17, 2018, 4:00 AM EDT

PHOTOGRAPH -- Robert Mueller Photographer: Zach Gibson/Bloomberg

RELATED:
Rosenstein is pressing Mueller to wrap it up, official says
Next steps expected to occur after November midterm elections

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is expected to issue findings on core aspects of his Russia probe soon after the November midterm elections as he faces intensifying pressure to produce more indictments or shut down his investigation, according to two U.S. officials.

Specifically, Mueller is close to rendering judgment on two of the most explosive aspects of his inquiry: whether there were clear incidents of collusion between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, and whether the president took any actions that constitute obstruction of justice, according to one of the officials, who asked not to be identified speaking about the investigation.

That doesn’t necessarily mean Mueller’s findings would be made public if he doesn’t secure unsealed indictments. The regulations governing Mueller’s probe stipulate that he can present his findings only to his boss, who is currently Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. The regulations give a special counsel’s supervisor some discretion in deciding what is relayed to Congress and what is publicly released.

The question of timing is critical. Mueller’s work won’t be concluded ahead of the Nov. 6 midterm elections, when Democrats hope to take control of the House and end Trump’s one-party hold on Washington.

But this timeline also raises questions about the future of the probe itself. Trump has signaled he may replace Attorney General Jeff Sessions after the election, a move that could bring in a new boss for Mueller. Rosenstein also might resign or be fired by Trump after the election.

Rosenstein has made it clear that he wants Mueller to wrap up the investigation as expeditiously as possible, another U.S. official said. The officials gave no indications about the details of Mueller’s conclusions. Mueller’s office declined to comment for this story.

Pre-Election Lull

With three weeks to go before the midterm elections, it’s unlikely Mueller will take any overt action that could be turned into a campaign issue. Justice Department guidelines say prosecutors should avoid any major steps close to an election that could be seen as influencing the outcome.

Play Video

Mueller Expected to Deliver Key Trump Probe Findings After Midterms
Mueller is expected to make known the probe’s findings soon after the midterms. Bloomberg’s Jodi Schneider reports.

Source: Bloomberg

That suggests the days and weeks immediately after the Nov. 6 election may be the most pivotal time since Mueller took over the Russia investigation almost a year and a half ago. So far, Mueller has secured more than two dozen indictments or guilty pleas.

Read More: Ex-Trump Fixer Cohen Said to Have Lengthy Talks With Mueller

Trump’s frustration with the probe, which he routinely derides as a “witch hunt,” has been growing, prompting concerns in Congress he may try to shut down or curtail Mueller’s work at some point.

There’s no indication, though, that Mueller is ready to close up shop, even if he does make some findings, according to former federal prosecutors. Several matters could keep the probe going, such as another significant prosecution or new lines of inquiry. And because Mueller’s investigation has been proceeding quietly, out of the public eye, it’s possible there have been other major developments behind the scenes.

Mueller only recently submitted written questions to Trump’s lawyers regarding potential collusion with Russia, and his team hasn’t yet ruled out seeking an interview with the president, according to one of the U.S. officials. If Trump refused an interview request, Mueller could face the complicated question of whether to seek a grand jury subpoena of the president. The Justice Department has a standing policy that a sitting president can’t be indicted.

At the same time, Mueller is tying down some loose ends. Four of his 17 prosecutors have left the special counsel’s office in recent months. Three are going back to their previous Justice Department jobs, and the fourth has become a research fellow at Columbia Law School.

After several postponements, Mueller’s team has agreed to a sentencing date for Michael Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser, who pleaded guilty to one count of making false statements last year. The Dec. 18 date comes more than a year after Mueller secured a cooperation deal with Flynn, suggesting that Mueller’s team has all it needs from him.

Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, struck his own cooperation agreement with Mueller last month, after being convicted at trial in Virginia on eight counts of bank fraud, filing false tax returns and failure to file a foreign bank account. The plea agreement let him avoid a second trial in Washington. The judge in the Virginia trial, who wasn’t part of the plea agreement, has scheduled a sentencing hearing Friday, which could complicate Manafort’s cooperation agreement with Mueller.

Mueller’s prosecutors also have met with Michael Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer. Cohen pleaded guilty in New York in August to tax evasion, bank fraud and violations of campaign finance laws. That separate investigation, headed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan, is one of several New York probes involving the Trump Organization, and could ultimately prove to be more damaging to the president than Mueller’s work.

Manafort’s Plea

Former federal prosecutors said in recent interviews that Manafort’s plea deal probably advanced Mueller’s timeline for determining whether there was collusion.

Manafort could be assisting Mueller’s team on questions related to whether the Trump campaign changed the Republican party’s stance on Ukraine as part of an understanding with the Russian government, and whether the Russians helped coordinate the release of hacked emails related to Democrat Hillary Clinton with members of Trump’s campaign, said another former prosecutor who asked not to be named.

QuickTake: From Cohen to Collusion, Tallying Trump’s Legal Risks

Manafort is also key to understanding a June 2016 meeting at Trump Tower between Donald Trump Jr. and a group of Russians who had promised damaging information concerning Clinton, the former official said.

Manafort appears to have good material to offer, said Samuel Buell, a former federal prosecutor who teaches at Duke University School of Law. “He’s not going to get that deal unless he can help Mueller make a case against one or more people,” Buell said. Cooperators can’t expect leniency unless they provide "substantial assistance in the prosecution of others," Buell added, citing sentencing guidelines.

Although the days and weeks after the election might test Mueller in new ways, he has confronted pressure before to shut down.

Done by Thanksgiving
Trump’s lawyers have attempted to publicly pressure Mueller into wrapping up his investigation, setting artificial deadlines since the early days of the probe when they predicted it would wrap by the end of 2017. In August 2017, then-White House lawyer Ty Cobb said he would be “embarrassed” if the investigation dragged on past Thanksgiving.

Even if Mueller’s probe stretched through 2019, the timeline wouldn’t be unprecedented. Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr spent four years investigating President Bill Clinton before releasing his report on the Monica Lewinsky affair, which spun out of a probe into an Arkansas land deal known as Whitewater.

It took almost two years for Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald to indict Scooter Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s chief of staff, for lying to investigators and obstruction of justice in October 2005 in the investigation into the public outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame.


IRONSTACHE LOOKS GOOD TO WIN OVER RYAN'S PROTEGE.

https://www.vox.com/2018/8/14/17690274/wisconsin-primary-results-randy-ironstache-bryce
Randy “Ironstache” Bryce wins Democratic nomination to flip Paul Ryan’s House seat
The Bernie Sanders-backed union ironworker and viral Democratic sensation wins his heated primary.
By Tara Golshan Aug 14, 2018, 10:07pm EDT

PHOTOGRAPH -- Randy “Ironstache” Bryce won the Democratic primary in Wisconsin’s First Congressional District. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Democrats in House Speaker Paul Ryan’s Wisconsin district have decided: They want Randy “Ironstache” Bryce to try to flip the seat blue.

Bryce, the populist ironworker and union organizer who goes by the nickname “Ironstache,” beat out Cathy Myers, a school board member and teacher, in the district’s bitter Democratic primary battle Tuesday. The race was called with 68 percent of precincts reporting; Bryce led by more than 20 points. He will face Republican Bryan Steil, a well-known local business executive with Ryan’s endorsement, in November.

For months, Bryce and Myers have been embroiled in a messy mudslinging match to clinch the chance to win Ryan’s congressional seat. Bryce first gained a national platform after releasing a viral campaign ad in the summer of 2017, raking in donations and winning some high-profile endorsements, like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Wisconsin Rep. Mark Pocan (D), the chair of the House Progressive Caucus. But the ugly primary race could damage Bryce for the general.

Bryce has had media flubs and has faced questions over his past failures to pay child support and past arrests for marijuana use and a DUI — a record Myers actively attacked Bryce on in the lead-up to Tuesday’s election.

An Army veteran who bills himself as the working-class candidate, Bryce was a Sanders delegate for Wisconsin in the 2016 Democratic National Convention. His platform mirrors that of progressive candidates across the country, from Medicare-for-all to tuition-free college. He’s also the first congressional candidate who has a unionized campaign staff.

Unseating Ryan has always been something of a pipe dream for Democrats. But with Ryan’s retirement, Democrats have a real chance to win the open seat. The Cook Political Report rates the race Lean Republican or R+5. Hillary Clinton lost the district by 11 points in 2016, and Barack Obama lost it by 5 in 2012. But Obama won the district by 3 points in 2008, and a surge in Democratic voters could catapult the party to a win.

If Bryce can brush off the negative primary, it’s possible Paul Ryan’s seat could see a Democrat for the first time in more than two decades.

IN THIS STORYSTREAM
The 2018 midterm elections could change American politics
One in 10 potential Florida voters can’t legally vote. Amendment 4 could change that.
Randy “Ironstache” Bryce wins Democratic nomination to flip Paul Ryan’s House seat
Rep. Keith Ellison wins primary for Minnesota attorney general, despite abuse allegations


BERNIE SANDERS HAS A NUMBER OF TIMES CALLED TRUMP “A PATHOLOGICAL LIAR,” AND I BELIEVE IT’S TRUE, PATHOLOGICAL MEANING MENTALLY DERANGED. HE LIES WHEN HE DOESN’T NEED TO LIE, WHEN HE WILL SURELY GET CAUGHT AT IT, AND WHEN HE DOESN’T KNOW WHAT THE TRUTH IS. HE NEVER SAYS, “I DON’T KNOW;” HE SHOULD FEEL EMBARRASSED WHEN HIS WHITE HOUSE STAFF HAS TO COME OUT WITHIN MINUTES OR HOURS AND CORRECT HIS LATEST PRONOUNCEMENT, THOUGH.

https://www.vox.com/2018/10/16/17984212/trump-tweet-saudi-arabia-fox-news-jamal-khashoggi-mbs
Trump tweeted he has no ties to Saudi Arabia. A Fox News account proved him wrong.
“For the record, I have no financial interests in Saudi Arabia,” Trump tweeted early Monday morning.
By Stavros Agorakis Oct 16, 2018, 3:50pm EDT

PHOTOGRAPH -- President Donald Trump holds up a chart of military hardware sales as he meets with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of Saudi Arabia on March 20, 2018. Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images

Amid the mystery of Jamal Khashoggi’s disappearance and possible murder in a Saudi consulate, President Donald Trump has cast plenty of doubt on whether Saudi Arabia was responsible — speculating that “rogue killers” may have killed the journalist and that Saudi leaders are not to blame.

He even went as far as to tweet early Monday morning that his views are not influenced by personal conflicts of interest.

“For the record, I have no financial interests in Saudi Arabia (or Russia, for that matter),” Trump said. “Any suggestion that I have is just more FAKE NEWS (of which there is plenty)!”

This is not true — as a Fox News-affiliated Twitter account quickly pointed out.

Fox News Research, a research group for the Fox News media company, published a rebuttal tweet less than an hour after the president’s remarks, delineating a history of Trump’s transactions with the Saudis that date to the early 1990s.


Fox News Research
✔
@FoxNewsResearch
Trump & Saudi Business:
•1991: Sold yacht to Saudi Prince
•2001: Sold 45th floor of Trump World Tower to Saudis
•Jun 2015: I love the Saudis...many in Trump Tower
•Aug 2015: "They buy apartments from me...Spend $40M-$50M"
•2017: Saudi lobbyists spent $270K at Trump DC hotel

10:10 AM - Oct 16, 2018
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6,182 people are talking about this
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The timeline begins with a personal deal between Trump and Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz al Saud, when the president sold the latter his 281-foot yacht in 1991. The boat, nicknamed Trump Princess, was first handed over to creditors after the real estate mogul was found to be $900 million in debt.

The next item refers to a series of business transactions between Trump and Saudis — most notably a 2001 sale of the 45th floor of the Trump World Tower in New York City for $4.5 million.

“Saudi Arabia — and I get along great with all of them. They buy apartments from me,” Trump said in 2015. “They spend $40 million, $50 million. Am I supposed to dislike them? I like them very much.”

The relationship between the president and the Saudi government has been under intense scrutiny over the past two weeks due to the disappearance of Khashoggi, a Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist, an event that has caused a global uproar and created a rift in the nation’s foreign ties.

In a 60 Minutes interview that aired Sunday, Trump said the US was looking at the case “very strongly” but did not have any leads on whether Saudi Arabia is behind his vanishing. The president told journalist Lesley Stahl, “We’re going to get to the bottom of it, and there will be severe punishment.”

Multiple news outlets have said Saudi officials are ready to release a report disclosing that Khashoggi was killed by accident when he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2. In the meantime, Turkish officials have reportedly told their American counterparts that they have audio and video recordings proving that the journalist was tortured and killed inside the building.

Khashoggi, a US resident living in Virginia on self-imposed exile, was last seen entering the consulate more than two weeks ago to file some paperwork for his upcoming marriage. His fiancée, who was waiting for him outside, told Turkish media and local authorities that she never saw him exit.

A group of bipartisan senators has urged Trump to place sanctions on Saudi Arabia as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visits the nation’s de facto ruler, King Mohammed bin Salman. Yet Trump will not hold Saudi leaders responsible if it means “punishing” American companies and defense contractors.

“I’ll tell you what I don’t want to do,” Trump told Stahl in the 60 Minutes interview. “I don’t want to hurt jobs. I don’t want to lose an order like that. And you know what, there are other ways of punishing.”


MARK ZUCKERBERG LOOKS SLIGHT OF BUILD AND A LITTLE BABY-FACED, BUT I DON’T BELIEVE HE IS INNOCENT. THESE LAST SEVERAL YEARS OF STORIES ABOUT HIS UNFAIR BUSINESS PRACTICES, ESPECIALLY LINKING UP WITH RUSSIA TO DAMAGE OR DESTROY THE DEMOCRATS AND AID THE FAR RIGHT WING OF THE REPUBLICANS, MAKES ME DISTRUST HIM COMPLETELY NOW. I WISH HE WOULD STEP DOWN. SURELY, HE HAS A SECOND IN COMMAND UP THERE ON MOUNT OLYMPUS. THIRD, I NO LONGER TRUST HIM WITH MY INFORMATION. I MAY JUST CHECK OUT OF FACEBOOK ENTIRELY.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/facebook-committed-fraud-lawsuit-claims/
By GRAHAM KATES CBS NEWS October 17, 2018, 12:13 PM
"Far from an honest mistake": Facebook accused of inflating ad data

Advertisers in a class action lawsuit against Facebook say the social media giant committed fraud, knowingly inflating the amount of time users viewed videos by as much as 900 percent for more than a year, causing businesses to spend more on ads than they otherwise would have.

The allegations, which were first reported by The Wall Street Journal, arose in a filing unsealed Tuesday in northern California federal court. The small advertisers say the company's skewed numbers gave it an unfair advantage over its competitors, such as YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter.

The advertisers initially filed a lawsuit claiming Facebook engaged in unfair business practices in 2016. But after receiving tens of thousands of documents from Facebook in relation to the case, they amended their complaint to accuse the company of fraud.

Facebook acknowledged in September 2016 that its video metrics had been mistakenly inflated by between 60 and 80 percent, but the advertisers claim Facebook's internal records show it "was far from an honest mistake." According to the lawsuit, the social media giant had in fact been misreporting numbers by "by some 150 to 900 percent."

"Facebook engineers knew exactly how the company was calculating its averages but did nothing about it for over a year," lawyers for the advertisers wrote in the suit. "Facebook ignored reports from advertisers of aberrant results caused by Facebook's method of calculation."

In an email to CBS News, a Facebook spokesperson disputed the advertisers' allegations.

"This lawsuit is without merit and we've filed a motion to dismiss these claims of fraud. Suggestions that we in any way tried to hide this issue from our partners are false. We told our customers about the error when we discovered it — and updated our help center to explain the issue," the spokesperson wrote, noting that the company has since implemented new measures to detect issues in its metrics reporting.

The advertisers cited internal documents in claiming that a Facebook engineering manager wrote in a June 2016 email that "somehow there was no progress on the task for a year," referring to the inflated metrics.

In the meantime, the advertiser claim the company deployed a "'no PR" strategy* to "obfuscate the fact that we screwed up the math."

That alleged obfuscation came at a time when the company's CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg was particularly focused on the success of its video services, said Jason Kint, chief executive officer of the online publisher trade organization Digital Content Next.

"Facebook was attempting to enter the video marketplace. At the the time Mark Zuckerberg said video was the number one priority for the company," Kint said.

Kint's organization had notified Facebook it intended to file an amicus brief in support of unsealing the fraud allegations shortly before the company told the court on Oct. 4 that it would no longer demand they be kept private, he said.

The advertisers allege the fraud took place at a time when Facebook was beset by a series of public embarrassments related to fake users and flawed metrics* on the social network.

In December 2016, the company announced that it undercounted the traffic of some publishers and for more than a year over-reported time spent on Facebook's Instant Articles platform. It acknowledged issues affecting a range of metrics -- including ad reach, streaming reactions, likes and shares.

And a scathing report on "disinformation and fake news" released in July by a U.K. Parliament committee called for increased oversight of social media companies and election campaign, citing "scraped" Facebook data used by companies associated with the successful "Brexit" campaigns and President Trump's 2016 run. The report said there was "a continual reluctance on the part of Facebook to conduct its own research on whether its organization has been used by Russia to influence others."

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.


“A “NO PR” STRATEGY* -- IF A PR STRATEGY IS A PLAN OF COMMUNICATIONS AND MARKETING, WHY WOULD FACEBOOK DECIDE AGAINST DOING THAT? IT SEEMS TO ME THAT AFTER ESSENTIALLY OVERBILLING THE PUBLIC, THEY WOULD NEED A BETTER PLAN OF COMMUNICATIONS, UNLESS THAT IS THEIR WAY OF GIVING THE APPEARANCE OF NAIVETE OR A GENUINE “MISTAKE.” MAYBE THAT’S WHY THEY ARE BEING SUED.

https://www.quora.com/What-is-Strategic-Public-Relations
Shannon Furey, Public Relations Director at M studio
Answered Apr 24, 2017

Strategic public relations allows practitioners and clients to integrate PR tactics into an overall communications or marketing plan. It creates the opportunity to work towards a measurable, definable goal that further supports how public relations can help businesses grow. It is beyond sending out a press release and hoping it gets picked up by a reporter or that you get an email requesting an interview for your client.


METRIC/METRICS IS A WORD THAT I HAVE NEVER RESEARCHED IN A DICTIONARY BEFORE, THOUGH I HAVE SEEN IT NUMEROUS TIMES AND INTERPRETED IT TO MEAN “A MEASUREMENT.” IN THE ARTICLE ABOVE IT HAS BEEN USED SOME HALF DOZEN TIMES, IN SEEMINGLY SOMEWHAT DIFFERENT WAYS, SO HERE ARE SEVERAL DEFINITIONS THAT I HAVE FOUND. THE BEST, I BELIEVE, ARE THE FIRST TWO.

IN THIS CASE, “MATHEMATICAL FORMULAS USED TO MEASURE” WOULD BE A BETTER WAY TO SAY IT, I THINK. IT’S CLEAR TO MOST PEOPLE AND IT DOESN’T COVER FOR OTHER AND PERHAPS MORE DAMNING THINGS SUCH AS “OVERBILLING,” OR “FALSIFYING STATUS,” WHICH IS THE ACTUAL SUBJECT OF THE FRAUD LAWSUIT FILED AGAINST FACEBOOK. I’VE HEARD ALSO THE TERM “LYING WITH STATISTICS.” BIG BUSINESS IS NOTHING IF NOT DISHONEST, BUT FROM READING THIS ARTICLE, I BELIEVE FACEBOOK IS ONE OF THE WORST IN THAT WAY.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/metric
metric noun

met·ric | \ˈme-trik \

2 : a standard of measurement
no metric exists that can be applied directly to happiness
— Scientific Monthly
met·rics
Google Dictionary
/ˈmetriks/Submit
noun
2. a method of measuring something, or the results obtained from this.
"the report provides various metrics at the class and method level"

USED IN REFERENCE TO COMPUTER PROGRAMING

1) In software development, a metric (noun) is the measurement of a particular characteristic of a program's performance or efficiency. Similarly in network routing, a metric is a measure used in calculating the next host to route a packet to. ... In programming, a benchmark includes metrics.

BENCHMARKING -- What is a benchmark in business?
Benchmarking is comparing ones business processes and performance metrics to industry bests and best practices from other companies. In project management benchmarking can also support the selection, planning and delivery of projects. Dimensions typically measured are quality, time and cost.


https://www.oshatrain.org/notes/2fnotes04.html
Types of Benchmarking:

... Internal benchmarking is a comparison of a business process to a similar process inside the organization.
... Competitive benchmarking is a direct competitor-to-competitor comparison of a product, service, process, or method.
... Functional benchmarking is a comparison to similar or identical practices within the same or similar functions outside the immediate industry.
... Generic benchmarking broadly conceptualizes unrelated business processes or functions that can be practiced in the same or similar ways regardless of the industry.


HAWKING INSPIRES ME TO KEEP ON TRYING IF I GET UNHAPPY. HOW COULD HE LIVE WITH THAT DEBILITATING DISEASE AND YET WORK MEANINGFULLY AS THOUGH HE WERE TOTALLY HEALTHY? PHYSICS AS A STUDY IS BEYOND ME, BUT I VALUE IT AS A MEANS TO EXPLAIN THE MORE TANGIBLE PHYSICAL THINGS THAT I CARE MOST ABOUT – BIOLOGY, PSYCHOLOGY, ARCHAEOLOGY.

HIS WARNING OF RECKLESS INDIFFERENCE IS SO VERY ACCURATE. I HAVE PERSONALLY COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT THE AVERAGE PERSON IS UNWILLING TO CARE ABOUT THE EARTH. THEY JUST WANT TO DIG IT UP AND BURN IT. I CAN’T UNDERSTAND WHY OUR PEOPLE IN THE USA DON’T PUSH FORWARD ON SOLAR ENERGY ARRAYS AND STOP USING FOSSIL FUEL ENTIRELY.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stephen-hawking-sounds-alarm-about-climate-change-in-new-book/
CBS/AP October 17, 2018, 1:28 PM
In posthumous message, Stephen Hawking warns of "reckless indifference to our future"

Stephen Hawking warned in his final book that the greatest threat facing the world was climate change, according to Vox. The scientist, who died in March at 76, wrote that humanity was behaving with "reckless indifference to our future on planet Earth," the online news outlet reported Tuesday.

In his book "Brief Answers To The Big Questions," Hawking wrote that it was "almost inevitable that either a nuclear confrontation or environmental catastrophe will cripple the Earth at some point in the next 1,000 years." Should humanity find a way to avoid the consequences of such an event, the demise of Earth's species "will be on our conscience as a race," Hawking wrote.

On Monday, Hawking spoke from beyond the grave to warn the world that science and education are under threat around the world. His words were broadcast at a London launch event for his book.

Hawking warned that education and science are "in danger now more than ever before." He cited President Trump's election and Britain's 2016 vote to leave the European Union as part of "a global revolt against experts and that includes scientists."

British theoretical physicist professor Stephen Hawking gives a lecture during the Starmus Festival on the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife on Sept. 23, 2014. DESIREE MARTIN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Acknowledging that science had yet to overcome major challenges for the world — including climate change, overpopulation, species extinction, deforestation and the degradation of the oceans — the physicist still urged young people "to look up at the stars and not down at your feet." "Try to make sense of what you see, and wonder about what makes the universe exist," he said.

"It matters that you don't give up," he said. "Unleash your imagination. Shape the future."

Hawking lived for more than five decades with motor neuron disease that left him paralyzed, communicating through a voice-generating computer. In June, his ashes were buried in Westminster Abbey, between the graves of Charles Darwin and Isaac Newton.

Hawking's daughter Lucy, who attended the book launch, said hearing her father's unmistakable voice had been "very emotional." "I turned away, because I had tears forming in my eyes," she said.

"I feel sometimes like he's still here because we talk about him and we hear his voice and we see images of him," she said, "and then we have the reminder that he's left us."

© 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 IS SUCH GOOD NEWS TO ME. WHAT WOULD HAPPEN, I WONDER, IF OUR AMERICAN CONSTITUTION WERE CHANGED TO REQUIRE EQUAL NUMBERS OF EACH GENDER IN BOTH HOUSES HERE. IF WE DID THAT WE WOULD ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO EDUCATE WOMEN EQUALLY IN ORDER TO FILL THOSE SEATS. WE SHOULD ALSO FORBID THE KIND OF “BLOOD AND GUTS” CAMPAIGNING THAT WE TOO OFTEN HAVE HERE – WHAT THE REPUBLICANS LIKE TO CALL “HARDBALL.”

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-45881004
PHOTOGRAPH CAPTION -- Aisha Mohammed was construction minister before becoming Ethiopia's first defence minister
Ethiopia's Abiy gives half of ministerial posts to women
OCTOBER 16, 2018 6 hours ago

Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has appointed women to half of his government's ministerial posts, including the job of defence minister.

Explaining his decision in a speech to Parliament, Mr Abiy said women were "less corrupt than men" and would help restore peace and stability.

Ethiopia is now the only African state after Rwanda to have equal gender representation in the cabinet.

Mr Abiy also cut the number of ministerial jobs from 28 to 20.

Since becoming prime minister in April, he has carried numerous massive reforms.

He has ended two decades of conflict with neighbouring Eritrea, released thousands of political prisoners and loosened the state's tight grip on parts of the economy.

Africa Live: More updates on this and other stories
Abiy Ahmed: The man changing Ethiopia

Aisha Mohammed was named as Ethiopia's first female defence minister. She is from the country's Afar region in the north-east, and had served as construction minister.

Muferiat Kamil, the former speaker of parliament, became the country's first Minister of Peace. She will be overseeing the country's intelligence and security apparatus, including the federal police.

Mahlet Hailu, Ethiopia's deputy permanent representative to the UN, tweeted the list of new ministers:

Skip Twitter post by @HailuMahlet
View image on Twitter
View image on Twitter

Mahlet Hailu
@HailuMahlet
50% Femmes!!!. Maintien de la parité de genre au sein du remaniement du gouvernement du Premier Ministre de l’ #Ethiopie. Un nouveau elan pour délivrer les reformes ..

6:13 AM - Oct 16, 2018
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End of Twitter post by @HailuMahlet

Mr Abiy said that his reform process needed to continue to address the structural and strategic problems that pushed the country into chaos.

He said women had made a great contribution to restoring peace and stability, were less corrupt, respected their work and could sustain the drive for change.

Image copyrightREUTERS
Image caption
Abiy Ahmed has made huge changes in the six months he has been in office

The 42-year-old became prime minister in April after the unexpected resignation of Hailemariam Desalegn.

It followed three years of protest led by ethnic Oromos, who were demanding an end to what they considered their political and economic marginalization.

Mr Abiy is Oromo himself, but his appeal for trust and unity to "heal our wounds... and work together to develop our country" has received a cautious welcome from many within Ethiopia.

More about Abiy's impact:

Father reunited with long-lost daughters
Making peace with 'Africa's North Korea'
Behind the smiles of Eritrea's president
Key facts about Ethiopia
You can now get the latest BBC news in Afaan Oromo, Amharic and Tigrinya.


I THINK ALL PERSONAL REFLECTIONS MADE BY PEOPLE OVER 2000 YEARS AGO ARE PRECIOUS. THAT’S WHY I LOVE ARCHAEOLOGY – IT’S A WAY OF MAKING PERSONAL CONTACT WITH THOSE WHO LIVED AND THOUGHT SO DIFFERENTLY, BUT YET SO SIMILARLY. IN MY ARCHAEOLOGY READING, WHICH IS A HOBBY OF MINE, MENTION WAS MADE ON A POTTERY TILE WHICH HAD A MESSAGE SCRATCHED ON IT. IT WAS FOUND BY AN ARCHAEOLOGIST ALONG WITH NUMEROUS OTHER HUMAN REMAINS. IT SEEMS THE YOUNG SOLDIER WAS ASKING FOR HIS MOTHER TO “SEND HIM HIS WOOLIES,” BECAUSE THE WEATHER IN ENGLAND IS SO DIFFERENT FROM THAT IN ITALY. THEY USED THE SCRAP PIECES OF TILE TO CONVEY MESSAGES. I WONDER HOW THEY SENT THEIR NOTES?

HAVING JUST GOOGLED THAT QUESTION, I FOUND THE ANSWER. THEY USED A SYSTEM OF WAGONS, HORSES AND CHANGING STATIONS JUST ABOUT LIKE THE USA DID WITH OUR “PONY EXPRESS.” https://bathpostalmuseum.org.uk/500bc-roman-postal-system.html

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45874858
Pompeii: Vesuvius eruption may have been later than thought
16 October 2018

PHOTOGRAPH -- Pompeii was famously destroyed on 24 August in 79 AD - or was it?
RELATED -- Flying rock crushed Pompeii victim's head
Pompeii's not-so-ancient Roman remains

Archaeologists in Italy have uncovered an inscription they say may show that the history books have been wrong for centuries.

Historians have long believed that Mount Vesuvius erupted on 24 August 79 AD, destroying the nearby Roman city of Pompeii.

But now, an inscription has been uncovered dated to mid-October - almost two months later.

Italy's culture minister labelled it "an extraordinary discovery."

"The new excavations demonstrate the exceptional skill of our country," Alberto Bonisoli said.

Historians have been able to date the eruption of Vesuvius with apparent certainty thanks to ancient writings that purported to share first-hand accounts.

They came from Pliny the Younger, an elite lawyer and author of ancient Rome, who wrote about the death of his even more famous uncle, Pliny the Elder.

"On the 24th of August, about one in the afternoon, my mother desired him to observe a cloud..." he wrote in a letter to Tacitus, a Roman senator and historian, about the events of that day.

According to his account, Pliny the Elder was then a fleet commander at Misenum - modern day Miseno - across the bay from Pompeii. He took a ship to stage a rescue for those in danger from the volcano.

But he did not return from the venture.

Pliny the Younger, meanwhile, watched the destruction unfold from the other side of the bay.

"I have faithfully related to you what I was either an eye-witness of myself or received immediately after the accident happened, and before there was time to vary the truth," he wrote.

But the latest discovery calls such certainty into question.

Image copyrightEPA
Image caption
A simple charcoal scrawl may prove centuries of historical texts wrong

The inscription discovered in the new excavations is nothing more than a scrawl in charcoal, likely made by a worker renovating a home.

But it is dated to 16 days before the "calends" of November in the old Roman calendar style - which is 17 October in our modern dating method.

"Since it was done in fragile and evanescent charcoal, which could not have been able to last long, it is highly probable that it can be dated to the October of AD 79," the archaeology team said in a statement.

They believe the most likely date for the eruption was, in fact, 24 October.

There has long been some speculation that the eruption happened later than August, particularly centred around evidence of autumnal fruits and heating braziers discovered in the ruins.

The charcoal inscription supports that theory, the Pompeii archaeology team said.

Image copyrightEPA
Image caption
The latest excavations at Pompeii are uncovering 2,000-year-old works of art

So did Pliny the Younger record things incorrectly?

His letter to Tacitus was written some 20 years after the eruption in 79 AD. And the original copies have not survived the intervening 1,939 years.

Instead, our modern reading of the text is based on translations and transcriptions made over the centuries. In fact, various copies of the letters have contained dates ranging anywhere from August to November - though 24 August has long been accepted.

The differences between the texts could easily have been influenced by confusion over the ancient and modern systems of counting days.

The discovery was made in the new Regio V excavation, uncovering previously untouched areas of the ancient city.

In addition to the simple inscription, grand houses have been unveiled this week with elaborate frescoes and mosaics.


I WISH THIS MEANT THAT SANDERS WILL CERTAINLY WIN IN 2020, BUT THERE WILL BE A LARGE NUMBER OF CONTESTANTS THEN, ONE ARTICLE SAID. HOWEVER, ACCORDING TO THIS, HE HAS ONLY ONE NOT TERRIBLY COMPETITIVE OPPONENT FOR SENATE. SO, I BELIEVE ALL IS WELL FOR NOW. A RECENT ARTICLE SAID THAT HE IS VERY POPULAR UP IN VERMONT.

https://www.sevendaysvt.com/OffMessage/archives/2018/10/16/bernie-sanders-senate-war-chest-reaches-a-record-88-million
ELECTION 2018 / NEWS
Bernie Sanders' Senate War Chest Reaches a Record $8.8 Million
POSTED BY PAUL HEINTZ ON TUE, OCT 16, 2018 AT 12:08 PM

FILE: ERIC TADSEN Sen. Bernie Sanders

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) raised close to $1.4 million for his reelection campaign over the past two months, according to a new filing with the Federal Election Commission. The two-term senator, who faces minimal opposition in the November election, spent $549,153 of it.

That left Sanders with more than $8.8 million cash on hand, a new record in Vermont politics.

Prior to this election cycle, the record-holder was businessman Rich Tarrant, whose 2006 Senate campaign raised just more than $7 million — nearly all of it from the candidate himself. Sanders, who defeated Tarrant that year to claim an open Senate seat, raised close to $6.2 million at the time.

While it's unlikely that Sanders could spend down his war chest in the three weeks remaining until Election Day, he could legally transfer the balance to a future presidential campaign.

Sanders faces eight challengers in his reelection race, but only one of them, Republican Lawrence Zupan, filed a report with the FEC by Tuesday morning. He raised $85,979 over the past two months and spent $40,382 of it. By the end of September, Zupan had $52,007 in his campaign coffers.

In the most recent two-month period, 97 percent of Sanders' contributions came from individual donors and the rest from political action committees and other special-interest groups. Those included an $8,500 donation from the Letter Carrier Political Fund and $5,000 donations from the American Federation of Government Employees, the Engineers Political Education Committee, J Street, MoveOn.org PAC and the NEA Fund for Children and Public Education.

U.S. Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), who is also up for reelection this November, raised $151,306 over the past two months, according to his latest FEC filing, and spent $44,148. The six-term member of Congress reported having $2.1 million in the bank at the end of September. Welch's Republican rival, Anya Tynio, raised $7,315 in the most recent period, spent $1,733 and had $5,507 in cash on hand.

As is often the case, Welch raised a significant portion of his campaign funds from special-interest groups. Nearly 70 percent of his contributions came from PACs and candidate committees, while only 30 percent came from individuals.

Welch's donors included PACs associated with Deloitte ($5,000), Cox Enterprises ($5,000), National Community Pharmacists Association ($5,000), American Hotel & Lodging Association ($5,000), American Optometric Association ($5,000), Land O'Lakes ($2,500), Acxiom Corporation ($2,000), Duke Energy ($1,000), Lockheed Martin ($1,000) and the United Mine Workers of America ($1,000).

Vermont's third congressional delegate, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), is not up for reelection in 2018. He raised just $52,903 over the past three months, spent $85,522 and had $1.6 million in reserves.

Disclosure: Paul Heintz worked as Peter Welch’s communications director from November 2008 to March 2011.


WERE THEY WATERBOARDING HIM, I WONDER? I DON’T WANT TO KNOW.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/us/politics/trump-saudi-king-journalist-khashoggi.html
Saudis May Admit Khashoggi Was Killed in Interrogation by Mistake
By Gardiner Harris, David D. Kirkpatrick and Eileen Sullivan
Oct. 15, 2018

PHOTOGRAPH -- President Trump said that during his conversation with King Salman of Saudi Arabia, the king denied any knowledge about the disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi.Published OnOct. 15, 2018CreditCreditImage by Tom Brenner for The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Saudi Arabia was preparing an alternative explanation of the fate of a dissident journalist on Monday, saying he died at the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago in an interrogation gone wrong, according to a person familiar with the kingdom’s plans. In Washington, President Trump echoed the possibility that Jamal Khashoggi was the victim of “rogue killers.”

The shifting story line defied earlier details that have emerged in the case, including signs that he was murdered and dismembered. Among other things, Turkish officials have said, an autopsy specialist carrying a bone saw was among 15 Saudi operatives who flew in and out of Istanbul the day Mr. Khashoggi disappeared.

The new explanation, whatever its truth, seemed intended to ease the political crisis that Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance has created for Saudi Arabia. The new story could also defuse some criticism of the Trump administration, which has refused to back down from billions of dollars in weapons sales to the kingdom and as of Monday was still planning to attend a glittering Saudi investment forum next week.

And it could help Turkey, where a shaky economy would benefit from a financial infusion that low-interest loans from Riyadh could provide.

But the theory was widely dismissed among Mr. Khashoggi’s friends, human rights advocates and some on Capitol Hill, who noted that Saudi officials had denied his death for two weeks — including assertions by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman last week and the king himself on Monday.

“Been hearing the ridiculous ‘rogue killers’ theory was where the Saudis would go with this,” Senator Christopher S. Murphy, Democrat of Connecticut, wrote in a Twitter post. “Absolutely extraordinary they were able to enlist the President of the United States as their PR agent to float it.”

Mr. Trump spoke with King Salman of Saudi Arabia on Monday morning in a 20-minute phone call. The president said the king denied any knowledge of what had happened to Mr. Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post who had been critical of the crown prince.

“It sounded to me like maybe these could have been rogue killers — who knows,” Mr. Trump said, speaking to reporters as he headed to visit areas in Georgia and Florida that were ravaged by Hurricane Michael.

Mr. Trump also said he told the king: “The world is watching. The world is talking, and this is very important to get to the bottom of it.” The Saudi state news service reported a different take on the conversation, in which Mr. Trump praised the cooperation between the Saudis and Turkish officials as they investigate Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance.

Turkish officials have said Mr. Khashoggi was killed and dismembered after he disappeared in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul two weeks ago.

Later on Monday, a person familiar with the Saudi government’s plans said that Mr. Khashoggi was mistakenly killed during an interrogation ordered by a Saudi intelligence official who was a friend of the crown prince. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Prince Mohammed had approved interrogating or even forcing Mr. Khashoggi to return to Saudi Arabia under duress.

But, the person said, the Saudi intelligence official went too far in eagerly seeking to prove himself in secretive operations, then sought to cover up the botched job.

Azzam Tamimi, an Islamist friend of Mr. Khashoggi, called the “rogue” theory “disastrous” for the credibility of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey.

“The Turks have leaked so much that it is inconceivable that they would settle for less than telling the world exactly what happened,” said Mr. Tamimi, who met Mr. Khashoggi for lunch in London the day before he disappeared.

Mr. Khashoggi’s fate has transfixed official Washington, bedeviled the Saudis, helped revive Mr. Erdogan’s international reputation and threatened core foreign policy priorities of the Trump administration.

Mr. Trump dispatched Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Riyadh on Monday to meet with King Salman. “Determining what happened to Jamal Khashoggi is something of great importance to the president,” said Heather Nauert, the State Department spokeswoman.

The Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Khalid bin Salman, left Washington last week, returned to Riyadh and will not be returning, a current and a former American official said on Monday. It was not clear when he might be replaced, or by whom. Prince Khalid is the crown prince’s younger brother.

The Saudi Embassy in Washington also canceled its National Day party, which was scheduled for Oct. 18.

Washington’s clubby diplomatic and lobbying worlds have been rived by the Khashoggi case. On Monday, the Glover Park Group, which had a $150,000-per-month contract to represent the Saudi government, and the BGR Group, with an $80,000-per-month contract, both ended the relationships, according to people familiar with the situations. Their actions followed a similar move by the Harbour Group last week.

Advisors close to Prince Mohammed said he was shocked by the universal condemnation after Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance.

That has firmed up a growing belief in Western circles that the prince who fueled a war in Yemen to the point of humanitarian disaster, imposed an intemperate blockade against Qatar, arrested a clutch of Saudi elites for money and took two weeks to come up with a passable explanation for Mr. Khashoggi’s fate is not ready for the throne.

“Many in Washington have reached the conclusion that this is a guy we can’t do business with,” said Gerald M. Feierstein, the director for government relations, policy and programs at the Middle East Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, and a former United States ambassador to Yemen.

The Saudi energy minister circulated a statement on Monday reminding Washington journalists that the kingdom had long served as the world’s energy “shock absorber.” He asked that “the global community of nations will respect and acknowledge what Saudi Arabia has done.”

Within five days of Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance on Oct. 2, Turkish security officials claimed anonymously that they had obtained evidence that the journalist was killed inside the consulate. The evidence never surfaced, however, and the claims stopped after a sudden increase in high-level diplomatic contacts between Turkey and Saudi Arabia.

That frustrated American intelligence and diplomatic officials, who worried that the Turks were citing the evidence as leverage to get loans from the Saudis.

American intelligence agencies had previously intercepted communications of Saudi officials discussing a plan to draw Mr. Khashoggi back to Saudi Arabia from his home in exile in the Washington area and then detain him, a former senior American official said last week. Those intercepts were shared with senators in classified materials last week, making it impossible to suppress them.

It is highly unlikely an attempted rendition of Mr. Khashoggi could have been carried out without the knowledge of Saudi rulers.

For the Trump administration, Mr. Khashoggi’s case risks top foreign policy priorities. Mr. Trump has repeatedly said he does not want to risk what he claims is $110 billion in arms sales to the Saudis. And ensuring Riyadh’s willingness to increase oil production so that coming sanctions on Iranian oil do not lead to a surge in gas prices has been at least as important.

Mr. Trump previously said the episode would not have an effect on American relations with Saudi Arabia, a close ally in the Middle East. But Mr. Trump was already facing pressure from some in Congress to respond to the Saudis with economic sanctions.

The United States’ relationship with the Saudis has always been something of a delicate balance, weighing economic considerations such as oil and arms sales with the kingdom’s record on human rights.

As of Monday, the Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, was still planning to attend an investor conference in Riyadh this month where Prince Mohammed was expected to speak. Some American companies that had planned to attend the conference, including The New York Times, have pulled out since Mr. Khashoggi’s disappearance.

Mr. Khashoggi moved to Washington after Prince Mohammed began a kingdomwide anticorruption crackdown, including efforts to silence dissidents. The columnist is one of the best-known news media personalities in the kingdom and has been a confidant to several previous kings and princes.

Gardiner Harris and Eileen Sullivan reported from Washington, and David D. Kirkpatrick from Istanbul. Reporting was contributed by Eric Schmitt, Kenneth P. Vogel and Katie Benner from Washington, Carlotta Gall from Istanbul and Ben Hubbard from Beirut, Lebanon.

A version of this article appears in print on Oct. 16, 2018, on Page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: Saudis Now Plan to Say Journalist Was Killed By Mistake in Inquiry. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe


MSNBC MADDOW BLOG

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow/watch/deathbed-confession-leads-to-history-bombshell-on-hart-scandal-1346003011728?v=raila&
Deathbed confession leads to 'history bombshell' on Hart scandal
James Fallows, national correspondent for The Atlantic Magazine, talks with Rachel Maddow about new light on a dirty political trap that altered the course of American history and has remained secret for 30 years.
Oct. 16, 2018


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/16/18
Photos of suspect with prince defy Trump/Saudi rogue killer story
David Kirkpatrick, international correspondent for The New York Times, talks with Rachel Maddow about photos showing one of the suspected named by Turkey in the Jamal Khashoggi disappearance as part of the entourage of Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman, challenging the Trump/Saudi suggestion that Khashoggi was the victim of "rogue killers." Duration: 16:52


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/16/18
Photos of suspect with prince defy Trump/Saudi rogue killer story
David Kirkpatrick, international correspondent for The New York Times, talks with Rachel Maddow about photos showing one of the suspected named by Turkey in the Jamal Khashoggi disappearance as part of the entourage of Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman, challenging the Trump/Saudi suggestion that Khashoggi was the victim of "rogue killers." Duration: 16:52


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/16/18
Early voting in Georgia skyrockets versus 2014 midterms
Rachel Maddow compares early in-person voting and mail-in voting in Georgia so far to this point in the 2014 midterm elections and shows more than three times as much so far this year. Duration: 2:57


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/16/18
Familiar GOP vote suppression tactics emerge as election nears
Judith Browne Dianis, executive director of The Advancement Project, talks with Rachel Maddow about fighting Republican vote suppression tactics in Georgia in the final days leading up to an election. Duration: 6:53


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/15/18
GOP aims to suppress ND Native American vote to hinder Heitkamp
Rachel Maddow looks at new rules Republicans in North Dakota have imposed that make it harder for Native Americans to vote, undercutting a key part of Heidi Heitkamp's constituency. Duration: 18:49


THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW 10/15/18
Cohen has spent over 50 hours talking Trump to investigators: VF
Emily Jane Fox, senior reporter for Vanity Fair, reports that former Donald Trump attorney Michael Cohen has spent over 50 hours talking with investigators, and talks with Rachel Maddow about what has been learned about Eric Trump's role in cleaning up his father's messes. Duration: 6:24