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This Surprised Me

I grew up with Tom Jones being the "hunk of a guy" on television where women threw their panties on stage as he sang.  I never knew he had it in  him to perform like this:

Michael Wolff on access to White House

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Shithole

Mardi Gras Begins

Farewell, Bannon (more to come)

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Monday Morning Smile

Secrecy

This is a portion of the speech that President John F. Kennedy gave at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on April 27, 1961. "The President and the Press" before the American Newspaper Publishers Association. (h/t Louis Maistros)

The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and secret proceedings.

We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it.

And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment. That I do not intend to permit to the extent that it is in my control. And no official of my Administration, whether his rank is high or low, civilian or military, should interpret my words here tonight as an excuse to censor the news, to stifle dissent, to cover up our mistakes or to withhold from the press and the public the facts they deserve to know.

(...)For we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence--on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations. Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed. No President should fear public scrutinity of his program. For from that scrutiny comes understanding; and from that understanding comes support or opposition. And both are necessary.

I am not asking your newspapers to support the Administration, but I am asking your help in the tremendous task of informing and alerting the American people. For I have complete confidence in the response and dedication of our citizens whenever they are fully informed. I not only could not stifle controversy among your readers-- I welcome it. This Administration intends to be candid about its errors; for as a wise man once said: "An error does not become a mistake until you refuse to correct it." We intend to accept full responsibility for our errors; and we expect you to point them out when we miss them. Without debate, without criticism, no Administration and no country can succeed-- and no republic can survive. That is why the Athenian lawmaker Solon decreed it a crime for any citizen to shrink from controversy. And that is why our press was protected by the First (emphasized) Amendment-- the only business in America specifically protected by the Constitution-- not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and sentimental, not to simply "give the public what it wants"--but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and our choices, to lead, mold educate and sometimes even anger public opinion. This means greater coverage and analysis of international news-- for it is no longer far away and foreign but close at hand and local. It means greater attention to improved understanding of the news as well as improved transmission. And it means, finally, that government at all levels, must meet its obligation to provide you with the fullest possible information outside the narrowest limits of national security...

(...)And so it is to the printing press--to the recorder of mans deeds, the keeper of his conscience, the courier of his news-- that we look for strength and assistance, confident that with your help man will be what he was born to be: free and independent.

RIP John Young

Astronaut John Young, Who Walked on the Moon and Led 1st Shuttle Mission, Dies at 87

John Watts Young was the only person to have piloted, and been commander of four different classes of spacecraft: Gemini, the Apollo Command/Service Module, the Apollo Lunar Module, and the Space Shuttle.

In March 1965, Young flew on the first manned Gemini mission (Gemini-3), and commanded the Gemini-10 mission in July 1966,

He was the first to orbit the Moon alone in May 1969 as Command Module Pilot of Apollo 10, the dress rehearsal for the first Moon landing. In April 1972 Young became and the ninth person to walk on the Moon. He also drove the Lunar Rover on the surface of the moon,

Young also commanded STS-1 Space Shuttle Columbia in April 1981, the first Space Shuttle flight. Young’s final mission was STS-9 in January 1985,. STS-9, also referred to as STS-41A and Spacelab 1, was the ninth NASA Space Shuttle mission and the sixth mission of the Space Shuttle Columbia.

Young flew a total of 34 days 19 hours and 39 minutes in space.

In 1974 he was chosen to be Chief of the Astronaut Office, in doing so he oversaw the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project--the first joint American-Russian mission.

The Space Shuttle Orbiter Approach and Landing Test Program, and 25 Space Shuttle missions were all during his tenure. From 1987 to 1996 he served as Special Assistant to the Director of JSC for Engineering, Operations, and Safety. In February 1996 Young was assigned as Associate Director (Technical), responsible for technical, operational and safety oversight of all Agency Programs and activities assigned to the Johnson Space Center. On December 31, 2004.

The space agency said Young died Friday night at home in Houston following complications from pneumonia.

John Watts Young (September 24, 1930 – January 5, 2018)

  Information from NASA History

Amazing Humans