JANUARY 6, 2018


NEWS AND VIEWS


VERY STABLE GENIUS VS SLOPPY STEVE “I WENT FROM VERY SUCCESSFUL BUSINESSMAN, TO TOP T.V. STAR....”

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-calls-himself-a-very-stable-genius-slams-michael-wolff/
CBS NEWS January 6, 2018, 11:32 AM
President Trump speaks from Camp David

VIDEO – CBSN LIVE – TRUMP AND PENCE

President Trump is speaking from Camp David Saturday, in the middle of his retreat with key congressional leaders and senior administration officials.

"We are very well prepared for the coming year," Mr. Trump said.

Mr. Trump is at Camp David this weekend to work through legislative priorities that lie ahead in 2018, while back in Washington, D.C., he faces the fallout from a new bombshell book. "Fire and Fury: Inside Trump's White House" portrays him in an unflattering light and raises questions about the president's physical and intellectual fitness for office.

Early Saturday, Mr. Trump defended himself on Twitter, saying a tweet he is a "very stable genius."


Donald J. Trump
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@realDonaldTrump
....Actually, throughout my life, my two greatest assets have been mental stability and being, like, really smart. Crooked Hillary Clinton also played these cards very hard and, as everyone knows, went down in flames. I went from VERY successful businessman, to top T.V. Star.....

7:27 AM - Jan 6, 2018
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Donald J. Trump
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@realDonaldTrump
....to President of the United States (on my first try). I think that would qualify as not smart, but genius....and a very stable genius at that!

7:30 AM - Jan 6, 2018
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SIMONYAN SAYS NOTHING UNETHICAL HAPPENED, WHILE DODGING AROUND THE WHOLE ISSUE.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/margarita-simonyan-rt-editor-in-chief-60-minutes-russia-election-meddling-michael-flynn/
CBS NEWS January 5, 2018, 7:38 AM
"60 Minutes" asks Russian network's editor-in-chief if it backed Trump

Video -- 60 minutes interview
Video – INSIDE RT 1:53

U.S. intelligence agencies believe Russia used disinformation warfare to try to interfere with the 2016 presidential election and an American intelligence report finds that one of the weapons in the Kremlin's arsenal was its state-run news network RT, formerly Russia Today. Earlier this year, the English-language TV channel met the U.S. demand to register as a foreign agent.

In a preview of Lesley Stahl's report on "60 Minutes" this Sunday, RT's editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan discusses the allegations of Russian meddling and her network's curious connection to President Trump's former national security adviser, Michael Flynn.


LESLEY STAHL: Let's talk about Russian interference in our election.

MARGARITA SIMONYAN: Uh-huh.

STAHL: Which our intelligence agencies tell us happened.

SIMONYAN: And you believe them. Just like you believe that they were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Didn't you believe that? Continue to believe that Russian interference in American elections happened. In five years you will know that it didn't.

STAHL: It's also Facebook and Twitter….Say the same thing now.

SIMONYAN: Oh, what do they say? What do they say?

STAHL: They say that the Russians used their websites to perpetrate pro-Trump, anti-Hillary Clinton information.

SIMONYAN: I can't deny that there could've been Russian media that had their opinion on Twitter, on Facebook, whatever broadcast. Is that bad? Is that illegal? Isn't that what the American media do as well?...British media supported Hillary. No problem with that. No interference. Nothing. French media supported Hillary. No problem with that. Some Russian media supported Trump -- oh my God!

STAHL: Did RT support Trump?

SIMONYAN: No. RT did not support Trump.

STAHL: Was RT...

SIMONYAN: And our fault is that RT did not support Hillary either.

STAHL: I know that.

SIMONYAN: I wanted to win somebody who would be nicer to Russia.

STAHL: Did you get that?

SIMONYAN: No. Is it even possible? We don't know.

One curiosity is RT's connection to Michael Flynn -- President Trump's former national security adviser -- who has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI in the Russia probe. Simonyan invited him to RT's 10th anniversary gala in 2015.

STAHL: You paid him $45,000 to come to the event. And sat him next to Mr. Putin...It just conjures up the idea that eventually he may have been some kind of a conduit when he did get close to Trump.

SIMONYAN: Because he sat next to Putin in very...

STAHL: Not because he sat next to Putin. That there was some relationship.

SIMONYAN: With Putin? Putin didn't know who he was. I give you my word on that.

Watch Stahl's full report Sunday, Jan. 7 on "60 Minutes," which airs 7 p.m. on CBS.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.



HERE ARE SOME CHARMING ANIMAL VIDEOS.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrKD6SKCJPM
WOLVERINES AND MORE ANIMALS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIqE3n2e0ds
SWINGSET STANDOFF AND SOME HALF DOZEN MORE GREAT ANIMAL COMMERCIALS, ALL FROM FARMERS INSURANCE. THIS STANDOFF IS BETWEEN A LARGE MOOSE AND A BELLIGERENT SWING SET.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYUQrVsDRqc
OFFICER CAUTIOUSLY BUT PERSISTENTLY FREES MOOSE WITH BOLT CUTTERS, THEN PATS MOOSE ON THE NOSE. BY THAT POINT IT HAD LOST ITS’ FEAR AND SIMPLY ACCEPTED THE CARESS. THEN HE JUST WALKED CASUALLY AWAY.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTVDSptvIwY
IN ANOTHER OF THESE MOOSE MOVIES, A MAN ENTICES THE MOOSE TO HIM AND BENDS A LITTLE BUSH OVER THE FENCE FOR THE MOOSE TO EAT. AGAIN, THE MOOSE ISN’T AFRAID, AS THOUGH HE WANTED TO CHECK OUT THAT MAN CRITTER AND EVEN TOOK A BITE.




I WONDER, WAS TRUMP REALLY TALKING ABOUT THE SIZE OF HIS NUCLEAR BUTTON? MAYBE I’M JUST SUGGESTIBLE, BUT THAT DOESN’T SOUND “FIT TO PRINT.” I HAVE A FEELING THAT THOSE TWO MAY BE PLAYING WITH EACH OTHER. BOTH SEEM TO GET SUCH A GRIN OUT OF THEIR OWN JOKES.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cdc-nuclear-blast-briefing-nuclear-war-emergency-preparation-north-korea-tensions/
By REBECCA SHABAD CBS NEWS January 5, 2018, 5:02 PM
CDC to hold briefing on how public can prepare for nuclear war

video – cbs interview with joe biden

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has scheduled a briefing for later this month to outline how the public can prepare for nuclear war.

"While a nuclear detonation is unlikely, it would have devastating results and there would be limited time to take critical protection steps. Despite the fear surrounding such an event, planning and preparation can lessen deaths and illness," the notice about the Jan. 16 briefing says on the CDC's website, which features a photo of a mushroom cloud.

The notice went on to say that most people don't know that sheltering in place for at least 24 hours is "crucial to saving lives and reducing exposure to radiation."

Two of the people presenting at the briefing specialize in radiation studies. Robert Whitcomb is the chief of the radiation studies branch at the CDC's National Center for Environment Health and Capt. Michael Noska is the radiation safety officer and senior advisor for health physics at the Food and Drug Administration.

This comes amid rising tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. President Trump tweeted Tuesday night, boasting about the size of his "nuclear button" and how it's "much bigger & more powerful" than North Korea's.

"North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.' Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!" Mr. Trump tweeted.

Both former Vice President Joe Biden and Admiral Mike Mullen have said in recent days that they worry the U.S. has never been closer to nuclear war with North Korea.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.



SUTHERLAND IS A GREAT ACTOR, BUT I DIDN’T ALWAYS LIKE HIS CHARACTERS. TO BE FAIR, I DIDN’T SEE VERY MANY OF HIS MOVIES, EITHER. HE IS VERY MASCULINE, BUT LIKE LEE MARVIN, THERE IS A VERY ROUGH SIDE TO HIM. BUT I THINK HE MAY APPEAL TO MEN MORE THAN TO WOMEN. FROM WHAT I SAW OF THIS INTERVIEW, I CAN SEE HE PLAYED MANY “CHARACTER ROLES,” AND DID THEM VERY WELL, ONE OF MY FAVORITE TYPES OF ACTING ROLE. HE CERTAINLY SHOULD HAVE HAD SOME ACADEMY AWARDS. HOWEVER – AS HE LAMENTS IN THIS INTERVIEW -- HE IS NOT THE BEAUTIFUL MALE THAT SO MANY ACTORS ARE, AND AS A RESULT HE DOESN’T PLAY THE “LEADING MAN” VERY OFTEN. WHAT HE LACKS, TO ME, IS CHARISMA.

STILL, THIS INTERVIEW IN WHICH WE SEE HIS OWN THOUGHTS, IS VERY APPEALING. I REALLY DO LIKE TO SEE PEOPLE, ANYONE ANYWHERE, SPEAK “FROM THEIR HEART” RATHER THAN FROM A SANITIZED SCRIPT. LIKE MOST INTROVERTS, I AM MUCH MORE INTERESTED IN THE INNER PERSON THAN I AM IN THE CAREFULLY CULTIVATED OUTER APPEARANCE AND CAREFULLY SCHOOLED SOCIAL MANNER. IF ALL I SEE IN A PERSON IS THAT SOCIAL MANNER, I PROBABLY WON’T TALK TO THEM MUCH. IT’S LIKE TRYING TO HOLD A CONVERSATION WITH SOMEONE WHO IS WEARING A MASK. I WANT TO HEAR PEOPLE SAY SOMETHING THAT THEY CARE ABOUT. I DO RECOMMEND THIS INTERVIEW WITH ANDERSON COOPER. IT IS A SIDE TO HIM THAT I HAD NEVER SEEN.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-long-unconventional-career-of-donald-sutherland/
60 MINUTES OVERTIME
The long, unconventional career of Donald Sutherland
Donald Sutherland has appeared in more than 150 films and TV shows, and at 82 years old, he remains one of the hardest working actors in show business
2017, Dec 10
CORRESPONDENT
Anderson Cooper

VIDEO – Sutherland and Cooper interview.

Donald Sutherland has been called one of the greatest actors never to be nominated for an Oscar. He's appeared in more than 150 films and TV shows -- "MASH," "Klute," "Ordinary People," "The Hunger Games" -- just to name a few. You may recognize his name, you've definitely seen his face, but you probably don't know much about Donald Sutherland, the man. At 82 he's still one of the hardest working actors around. He's still agonizing over each character he plays, and still plagued by self-consciousness about how he looks. He's never forgotten what happened after his very first film audition more than fifty years ago, when the writer, director, and producer of the movie he tried out for called him on the phone.

Donald Sutherland: The writer said, "You did such a terrific job. And the producer said, "We thought you were really wonderful. And we all wanted to call you together to explain to you why we weren't casting you." And he said, "No. No. No. I mean, we have to-- the reason why we're not casting you is because we've always thought of this fellow as a kind of-- a guy next door sort of guy. And to be absolutely truthful, we don't think you look like you ever lived next door to anybody." No. But it's the story of my life, you know.

Anderson Cooper: That's the story of your life?

Donald Sutherland: Yeah.

cooper-sutherland-1.jpg
Donald Sutherland CBS NEWS

Donald Sutherland may not look like the guy next door, but that hasn't stopped him from carving out one of the longest-lasting and most unconventional careers in the film business.

He's played leading men and all manner of misfits. He's turned up in Army field hospitals, English Country Estates and the toniest corners of Upper Manhattan

He's had a particular soft spot for bad guys, and over the years he's played a lot of them.

Anderson Cooper: A lot of the roles you take on though are not always sympathetic.

Donald Sutherland: They're not sympathetic to you. But they're sympathetic to me.

Anderson Cooper: They are?

Donald Sutherland: Yeah. Sometimes they don't feel very good about what they've done

Anderson Cooper: Even if it's a pyromaniac in "Backdraft?" Your eyes light up like a pyromaniac, right now.

Donald Sutherland: I'm sorry but Í mean he was so excited, you know?

Donald Sutherland in "Backdraft": Got the whole place going like hell. My hair was on fire, my hands. Everything. I was dead.

To prepare for these roles, he spends months immersing himself in the script, pouring over the parts as he conjures the characters to life.

Anderson Cooper: You try to find something in the role that--

Donald Sutherland: I don't find it. It finds me. I mean, I will read it. And suddenly, it starts churning around inside me. And, then, it gets violent. And, then, it gets loving. And it's an extraordinary thing. It gets more and more and more exciting. It's delicious.

"I said: 'Mother, am I good looking?' And my mother looked at me and went. 'Your face has character, Donald.'"

When we first met Sutherland, he was shooting a scene in Italy for an upcoming FX series called "Trust" about oil magnate J. Paul Getty. When he's filming, Sutherland says he needs more than anything else, an intimate, creative relationship with his director. He describes his experience working with the legendary Italian director Federico Fellini as a love affair.

Anderson Cooper: Why do you see it in romantic terms?

Donald Sutherland: Because it is.

Anderson Cooper: There's that intimacy?

Donald Sutherland: Yeah. And sometimes it's rejected. And sometimes it's accepted and embraced.

Anderson Cooper: And when the film is done, the affair is over?

Donald Sutherland: It's gone.

Anderson Cooper: Do you have a cigarette after?

Donald Sutherland: No, but you have regret.

If there's a slight sadness about Sutherland it may be because his childhood in Canada wasn't easy. He survived polio as a toddler and spent all of fourth grade at home with rheumatic fever. He was an awkward kid. Tall with big ears, at school they called him Dumbo. When he was 16, he had a question for his mother.

Donald Sutherland: And I went to her and I said: "Mother, am I good looking?" And my mother looked at me and went. "Your face has character, Donald." And I went and hid in my room for at least a day.

Anderson Cooper: Did what she say stay with you?

Donald Sutherland: Not really. Just-- just for-- 65, 66 years.

Donald Sutherland: It's not easy, Anderson. It's not easy to know that you're an ugly man, in the business like I'm in.

Anderson Cooper: Do you think of yourself as an ugly man?

Donald Sutherland: Unattractive is a gentler way of putting it.

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Donald Sutherland and contributor Anderson Cooper CBS NEWS

His insecurities didn't stop him from acting in plays in college. In the early 1960's he started picking up work in television and B-movies like "Castle of the Living Dead." You'd be forgiven if you've never heard of it. Sutherland plays the part of a soldier and a witch in the same scene.

The early years were a struggle. Sutherland had twins, including his son Kiefer, then three more children with his wife of 45 years, the actress Francine Racette.

His big break came in the "Dirty Dozen" and it happened entirely by chance. Sutherland only had a bit part until one of the lead actors told the film's director, Bob Aldrich, he didn't want to appear in this scene.

Donald Sutherland: And Bob Aldrich looked at him like that. Then, he went, "You with the big ears, you do it." I don't think he knew my name. But I, you know. It changed my life.

Donald Sutherland in "The Dirty Dozen": Where are you from, son?

Soldier in "The Dirty Dozen": Madison City, Missouri Sir!

Donald Sutherland in "The Dirty Dozen": Never Heard of it.

Hollywood producers saw star power in that brief role. He was offered a lead in "MASH," then played a hippy tank commander in "Kelly's Heroes," earning a place in Hollywood as an oddball icon of the early 70s counterculture.

Donald Sutherland in "Kelly's Heroes": There you go, more negative waves. Have a little faith, baby!

As his career took off, something happened that Sutherland still doesn't quite believe: the guy who grew up thinking he was ugly became a sex symbol.

In 1971 he played the enigmatic private detective in the hit "Klute," alongside his then-girlfriend, Jane Fonda.

Fonda won an Oscar for her performance, Sutherland wasn't nominated.

We were surprised to learn, Sutherland's never watched "Klute" all the way through, and he says he rarely sees any of the movies he stars in. His main interest he says is his performance, how the film ends up being put together is out of his hands.

Anderson Cooper: One of the nice things about the job I'm doing is-- I have a fair amount of control over the finished product.

Donald Sutherland: You do?

Anderson Cooper: Yeah. And that's not something as an actor you have much control over.

Donald Sutherland: Excuse me. You used the wrong word. You used the word much. The operative word is any.

Anderson Cooper: You have no control over it?

Donald Sutherland: None. None, except in performance.

That may be a polite way of saying, if the film is a clunker, don't blame Sutherland.

spacesuit-walk-n-talk-metolius-imageworks1730-new-01-grp-01.jpg
Contributor Anderson Cooper and Donald Sutherland CBS NEWS
Anderson Cooper: One critic about a television show you were in said, "The question is not just what a class actor like Sutherland is doing in trash like this, but whether Sutherland is actually in a different show entirely."

Donald Sutherland: What was the show?

Anderson Cooper: "Dirty Sexy Money."

Donald Sutherland: Oh, excuse me. That's not trash. That was a really, really good show. Oh. I'm offended.

Donald Sutherland in "Dirty Sexy Money": It's such an extravagant accusation to make.

Anderson Cooper: Is that something you ended up watching?

Donald Sutherland: Huh?

Anderson Cooper: Did you watch it?

Donald Sutherland: Uh no. But-- but--

Anderson Cooper: What do you mean, you didn't see it?

Donald Sutherland: No.

Anderson Cooper: So how do you know it was good?

Donald Sutherland: Because I was in it. I don't mean it was good because I was in it. I mean, I-- 'cause-- because doing it, you knew it was good. And you knew from the response of people on the street.

We were speaking with Sutherland at his lakeside estate in Southern Quebec, where he steals time between film shoots. In an old pumphouse by the water…

cooper-sutherland-7.jpg
Anderson Cooper and Donald Sutherland inside Sutherland's pumphouse. CBS NEWS
We set up a makeshift screening room to watch some of his most iconic performances.

It quickly became clear to us that decades after he's finished a film, the character he's created stays with him. In this scene from the 1973 thriller "Don't Look Now," his character discovers his daughter's body in a pond.

Donald Sutherland: Uh this is gonna be a hard day for me.

Anderson Cooper: So even now, the character comes back to you. The character's still there?

Donald Sutherland: Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting, I-- I never thought of that. They must all have their little niche somewhere in my-- in my person or in my soul or something, yeah. Yeah.

Sutherland insists he's never given much thought to the trajectory of his own career or viewed it as a climb to stardom.

Anderson Cooper: A lot of actors, they wanna take on roles where they're--

Donald Sutherland: 'Cause they're vertically organized.

Anderson Cooper: What does that mean?

Donald Sutherland: It's actors who say, "Okay. I've done this."

Donald Sutherland: ...is a correct character to play to do this, to do this, to do this.

Anderson Cooper: To kind of a career ladder.

Donald Sutherland: Yeah.

Anderson Cooper: I've done a dramatic role. Now, I'm gonna do a comedic role, this or a romantic lead.

Donald Sutherland: Yeah. And mine is, like, a great, big wooden platter of fruits and pasta and chicken salad and a soup and-- a banana, you know. It's a whole bunch of different things. You might not like everything on the thing. But you can go and grab something and peel it and eat it and like it.

That may explain in part why Sutherland has never gotten an Oscar nomination, that, and his style of acting, which is subtle and restrained, never showy. The 1980 film "Ordinary People," won best picture, best director and an Oscar for the screenplay.

Mary Tyler Moore was nominated for an Oscar for her role in "Ordinary People," Timothy Hutton won one. Sutherland was ignored.

Now, at a stage in life when peers half his age are slowing down, Sutherland seems to be speeding up. After shooting one week in Italy, we met him again on a soundstage in Los Angeles where he was filming scenes for an upcoming science fiction movie.

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Donald Sutherland goes for a drive. CBS NEWS

Next month, he has a new film coming out: "The Leisure Seeker."

In which he plays an aging professor, alongside Helen Mirren, who embarks on a road trip as he grapples with old age and dementia.

Donald Sutherland: He may be the nicest man I've ever played. Who was losing his mind. And totally and utterly in love with his wife.

Anderson Cooper: It's very bittersweet about, things slipping away, about love and aging and-- did-- did it resonate?

Donald Sutherland: What do you think, Anderson? Just look at me. Sure, you know, all of it. Every bit of it.

We won't know until January if Donald Sutherland will get an Oscar nomination for "The Leisure Seeker," but last month, he finally got that little golden statue which has eluded him so long. A lifetime achievement award, presented to him by his Hunger Games co-star Jennifer Lawrence in a special ceremony in Hollywood. His family, almost all of whom are in the film business, was there to cheer him on.

Donald Sutherland accepting Governor's Award: I finally found peace in the words of the great Benjamin Kubelsky, who is also known as Jack Benny when he said, as I say to you now: 'I don't deserve this, but I have arthritis and I don't deserve that either.' Thank you.

Produced by Michael H. Gavshon and David M. Levine.

© 2017 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Anderson Cooper

Anderson Cooper, anchor of CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360," has contributed to 60 Minutes since 2006. His exceptional reporting on big news events has earned Cooper a reputation as one of television's pre-eminent newsmen.



NOW THESE PEOPLE WERE HEROES. THAT WAS AN EXCITING TIME TO BE ALIVE.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-young-legendary-moonwalker-and-shuttle-commander-dead-at-87/
By WILLIAM HARWOOD CBS NEWS January 6, 2018, 1:06 PM
John Young, legendary moonwalker and shuttle commander, dead at 87

Photograph -- John Young, commander of Apollo 16, salutes the flag with a jump in the low lunar gravity during the next-to-last moon landing in 1972. NASA

Legendary astronaut John Young -- who twice ventured into space in pioneering two-man Gemini capsules, orbited the moon and then walked on its cratered surface before commanding two space shuttle missions, including the program's maiden flight -- has died, ending one of the most storied careers in space history. NASA confirmed the death early Saturday on Twitter.

"We're saddened by the loss of astronaut John Young, who was 87," NASA tweeted. "Young flew twice to the Moon, walked on its surface & flew the first Space Shuttle mission. He went to space six times in the Gemini, Apollo & Space Shuttle programs."

View image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on TwitterView image on Twitter

NASA
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@NASA
We're saddened by the loss of astronaut John Young, who was 87. Young flew twice to the Moon, walked on its surface & flew the first Space Shuttle mission. He went to space six times in the Gemini, Apollo & Space Shuttle programs.

12:19 PM - Jan 6, 2018
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Astronaut Terry Virts tweeted: "Rest In peace John Young. You were one of my heroes as an astronaut and explorer and your passion for space will be missed."

"Saddened for the loss of former astronaut colleague John Young - the astronauts' astronaut, a true legend," Scott Kelly tweeted.

View image on Twitter
View image on Twitter

Scott Kelly
✔
@StationCDRKelly
Saddened for the loss of former astronaut colleague John Young - the astronauts’ astronaut, a true legend. Fair winds and following seas, Captain. #RIP

12:12 PM - Jan 6, 2018
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Chris Hadfield
✔
@Cmdr_Hadfield
John Young is one of my heroes, an astronaut’s astronaut, a fearless individual and a good friend. Godspeed. https://twitter.com/nasa/status/949691932804083712 …

12:38 PM - Jan 6, 2018
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A veteran Navy test pilot and Georgia Tech graduate who brought an engineer's keen eye to three generations of spacecraft and NASA management, Young was the first man to fly in space six times and the only astronaut to fly aboard Gemini and Apollo capsules and the space shuttle. He served as chief of NASA's astronaut corps from 1974 to 1987, overseeing 25 shuttle flights during the program's formative years.

Across a 42-year career at NASA, Young was a relentless advocate for flight safety, firing off countless memos that occasionally made him a thorn in the side of NASA management, especially in the wake of the 1986 Challenger disaster. Throughout it all, he brought a dry wit and ready smile that belied a near photographic memory and encyclopedic knowledge of complex space systems.

He also brought a legendary cool nerve to an inherently dangerous job that amazed his compatriots.

"I found out from the flight surgeon later on that my heartbeat was 144 at liftoff," Charlie Duke, one of Young's crewmates on the Apollo 16 moon landing mission, said of his reaction to launch atop a Saturn 5 rocket. "John's (heartbeat) was 70."

"I was either calmer than I thought I was or, as I later noted in the space shuttle, I was too old for it to go any faster," he quipped in his memoir "Forever Young: A Life of Adventure in Air and Space."

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Astronaut John Young flew in space six times, twice aboard two-seat Gemini capsules, two missions to the moon during the Apollo program and two flights as commander of the space shuttle, including the program's maiden flight. NASA

He famously smuggled a corned beef sandwich aboard his first Gemini mission and was caught on a "hot microphone" between moonwalks, using colorful language to discuss excessive flatulence that he said was caused by drinking too much orange juice.

"No doubt the orange growers down in my home state of Florida and the company that made Tang, General Foods, weren't too happy with my comments, if they heard them," Young wrote in his memoir. "It made us wish 'the breakfast drink of astronauts' had never been invented!"

Before blasting off aboard the shuttle Columbia on the first flight of the winged orbiter -- the first time anyone had launched aboard an untried spacecraft -- Young was asked if he had any worries.

"Anyone who sits on top of the largest hydrogen-oxygen fueled system in the world, knowing they're going to light the bottom, and and doesn't get a little worried, does not fully understand the situation," he famously deadpanned.

"He was a living legend," said Andrew Chaikin, author of "A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts." "He had this kind of manner about him, he brought this kind of 'I don't understand the W matrix or anything like that, but what gets me is' and then he'd say what was on his mind and it would just nail the problem. I think he did that to keep people on their toes."

Young was a "profound believer that humanity should be a multi-planet species," Chaikin said. He used to talk about how if we stay on this planet for too long, something's going to get us, whether it was a super volcano or whatever. He really was a true believer."

Young's career reads like a chapter from "The Right Stuff."

A naval aviator and test pilot, Young logged more than 15,275 hours flying time in a variety of aircraft, including 9,200 hours in T-38 jets. He spent 835 hours in space across his six NASA flights, serving as co-pilot of the first Gemini mission in 1965, commander of a second Gemini flight in 1966, lunar module pilot for Apollo 10 in 1969, commander of Apollo 16 in 1972 and commander of the first shuttle flight in 1981.

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John Young, left, and commander Gus Grissom during training for the first Gemini mission in 1965. NASA

His sixth and final spaceflight came as commander of Columbia for the ninth shuttle mission in 1983, carrying a European Spacelab module into orbit that served as a test bed of sorts for the kind of research now carried out aboard the International Space Station.

He was in training to command a record seventh mission -- launch of the Hubble Space Telescope -- when Challenger exploded in 1986. In the delay that followed, and the turmoil that ensued, the Hubble launch was put on hold and Young was forced out as chief astronaut.

He stayed at NASA in an advisory capacity, waging an ongoing battle to improve shuttle safety.

"John Young was the consummate space man," Chaikin said. "I can't think of anybody else more devoted to NASA and the space program. In his bones, he was a space explorer."

Born Sept. 24, 1930, in San Francisco, Young grew up in Orlando, Fla., attended Georgia Institute of Technology and earned a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering in 1952.

He then joined the Navy, serving aboard a destroyer before earning his wings. After four years with Fighter Squadron 103, Young was assigned to the Navy Test Pilot School, setting two time-to-climb records flying F-4 Phantoms. In September 1962, Young was selected in NASA's second group of astronauts, following the original seven Mercury astronauts.

Three years later, on March 23, 1965, Young blasted off with Mercury astronaut Virgil "Gus" Grissom, the second American in space, atop a Titan rocket on the maiden flight of NASA's two-man Gemini capsule. Grissom and Young tested the spacecraft's ability to change orbits -- critical for future rendezvous missions -- and put NASA's first flight computer through its paces.

Young commanded his second flight, Gemini 10, launching with future Apollo 11 astronaut Mike Collins, on July 18, 1966. During the three-day mission, Young rendezvoused with an Agena target stage and then flew in formation with the spacecraft while Collins walked in space to retrieve a micrometeoroid experiment package.

The Gemini program helped NASA develop the rendezvous and spacewalk techniques needed or Apollo missions to the moon. The Apollo 8 crew orbited the moon in 1968, the Apollo 9 astronauts tested the lunar lander in Earth orbit and Young, along with Apollo 10 crewmates Tom Stafford and Gene Cernan, flew to the moon in May 1969 to test the landing module in lunar orbit.

With Young staying behind in the Apollo command module, Stafford and Cernan descended to within 47,000 feet of the moon's surface in the lunar lander, carrying out a dress rehearsal of the techniques and procedures that would be used two months later when Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin carried out the first piloted landing on the moon.

"Apollo 10 had flown for eight days, three minutes and twenty three seconds," Young wrote in his memoir. "Later, when I entered the basic facts and figures of Apollo 10 into my pilot's logbook, I wrote only 'It was a great hop.'"

young-sts1.jpg
John Young and pilot Robert Crippen blast off aboard the shuttle Columbia in the program's maiden flight on April 12, 1981. NASA

In April 1972, Young commanded the Apollo 16 mission, landing on the lunar surface with Duke while Ken Mattingly orbited above in the command module. Young and Duke drove an electric moon buggy over 16 miles around the landing site, collecting about 200 pounds or rocks in the Descartes highlands during three moonwalks.

During the first excursions, mission control told the moonwalkers the House of Representatives had approved a budget that included funds for development of the space shuttle.

"The country needs that shuttle mighty bad," Young replied from the moon's surface. "You'll see."

After a final moon landing mission, NASA began full-scale development of the space shuttle. Young became chief astronaut in 1974 and helped with planning the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, a mission born in superpower detente that called for U.S. and Soviet spacecraft to dock in orbit.

All the while, NASA was pressing ahead with development of the space shuttle. After a series of approach and landing tests using the prototype shuttle Enterprise, Young and astronaut Bob Crippen were named to fly Columbia into orbit in the program's maiden flight.

The shuttle relied on state-of-the-art main engines and two enormous solid-fuel boosters to make the climb into space. Solid-propellant boosters cannot be turned off once ignited and they had never been used for propulsion with a U.S. manned spacecraft.

The main engines also were a concern, with pumps operating at higher pressures and temperatures than previous engines to squeeze more thrust out of a lighter-weight powerplant. The shuttle used three SSMEs, and development proved difficult with numerous test failures.

Raising the stakes even higher for the first shuttle mission, NASA had never launched a rocket designed to carry astronauts without multiple unpiloted test flights. Young and Crippen would blast off aboard one of the most powerful rocket systems ever developed without a single preceding test flight.

Columbia was equipped with ejection seats for its initial test flights, but escaping from an out-of-control shuttle was problematic at best.

"That was probably the most daring test flight of all time," Chaikin said. "I can't imagine how anybody could do that, but they did it."

The first attempt to launch Columbia on April 10, 1981, was scrubbed due to a computer timing glitch. Finally, three days later, all systems were go for launch. In his memoir, Young captured the excitement -- and concerns -- that were in his mind that morning as he and Crippen suited up.

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John Young before his first Gemini flight in 1965. NASA
Along with mentally reviewing abort procedures, "I was also thinking that with all the main engine and main engine pump problems we'd had, we'd be lucky to avoid being killed during ascent. I was also thinking about what a grand time it would be if Crip and I used those ejection seats just to fly through the 5,000 (degree) plumes of the solid rocket motors!

"We didn't get paid to worry bout all those dozens of things that could kill you but it was hard to keep them totally out of mind. I did my best by focusing my thoughts on the procedures."

As it turned out, Columbia climbed smoothly into space, kicking off the shuttle program's 30-year run.

"It felt good to get back to zero gravity," Young wrote. "It had been nine years since Apollo 16. ... All through the flight I would marvel at Earth's fragile beauty."

Columbia performed well throughout the mission, although the loss of several heat-shield tiles caused concern. But re-entry and landing went well and Young guided Columbia to a picture-perfect touchdown on a dry lakebed runway at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

"Do I have to take it to the hangar," Young joked with Houston after Columbia rolled to a stop on the dusty lakebed.

"No," astronaut Joe Allen replied from mission control. "We're going to dust it off first."

"We'd done it! We'd pulled it off!" Young wrote in his memoir. "It was an outstanding end-to-end test flight of a very complex aerospace vehicle. As I said while the flight was happening, 'she is performing like a champ, real beautiful.'"

Young commanded Columbia again for the ninth shuttle mission, the first carrying a roomy Spacelab research module in the ship's cargo bay. During re-entry, two of the ship's three auxiliary power units, or APUs, caught fire. The APUs used toxic hydrazine to generate the hydraulic power needed to move the shuttle's elevons the muscle needed for braking and steering.

Engineers would later discover the fire began at an altitude of 40,000 feet. Then, on touchdown, one of the shuttle's main flight computers failed because of internal contamination.

"Not to mince words, we were on fire when we landed, though of course we didn't know it at the time," Young wrote.

Two days later, engineers discovered both APUs exploded within minutes of touchdown. Young had argued for a Kevlar shield to separate the closely-packed APUs in case of a major problem during ascent or entry, "but because it would have cost $8.5 million to install, the space shuttle program office wouldn't allow the shield to be incorporated," Young wrote later.

By this point, the space shuttle had been declared operational, for better or for worst.

"As all of us and the rest of the world would soon find out, it was or the worse," Young wrote. "Far worse."

He was referring to the 1986 Challenger disaster, a devastating failure that destroyed one of NASA's four shuttles and killed its seven-member crew. In the wake of the disaster, Young, as chief astronaut, relentlessly pushed for safety upgrades, firing off memos that frequently angered management.

"Here's the thing about John," Chaikin said. "John was absolutely fearless about making sure he did the right thing, and he just felt it was his responsibility to bring these issues to light, these safety issues, and he did. He annoyed the hell out of some people by doing it.

"He wasn't always right, but his heart was always in the right place, and you could never question his motivation. Many times, he was right on target."

On May 5, 1987, Young was removed from his post as chief astronaut and reassigned as "special assistant" to the director of the Johnson Space Center for engineering, operations and safety.

In a chapter titled "Mountain of Memos," Young said his criticisms "had been found to be too newsworthy for NASA to continue to tolerate." Addressing the astronaut office, Young apologized for "no longer being able to defend them."

The response was a standing ovation.

"My life has been long, and it has been interesting. It's also been a lot of fun, and a lot of hard, challenging work. If I could do it over, I would do it over the very same way. Most of it has been a marvel to me."

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

William Harwood

Bill Harwood has been covering the U.S. space program full-time since 1984, first as Cape Canaveral bureau chief for United Press International and now as a consultant for CBS News. He covered 129 space shuttle missions, every interplanetary flight since Voyager 2's flyby of Neptune and scores of commercial and military launches. Based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Harwood is a devoted amateur astronomer and co-author of "Comm Check: The Final Flight of Shuttle Columbia."


WOMEN ABSOLUTELY SHOULDN’T “TRY TO HELP” MENTALLY DISTURBED MEN, OR EVEN WOMEN IN MY VIEW. IF THE PERSON REALLY IS INSANE, THEY AREN'T REALLY PREDICTABLE, AND CAN BECOME VIOLENT. WOMEN OFTEN HAVE A "SAVIOR COMPLEX," AND THE RESULT CAN BE DEADLY. OF COURSE, THIS MAN HASN’T BEEN ARRESTED, SO PROBABLY THERE IS INSUFFICIENT PROOF AGAINST HIM. “SLEEPING BEHIND HER PLACE OF WORK” IS A HUGE CLUE. THERE IS ON THE BOOKS IN MOST STATES, A “STALKING LAW” ACCORDING TO THIS WEBSITE, WHICH COVERS THIS KIND OF BEHAVIOR, THOUGH IT NEEDS TO FORM “A PATTERN,” OF HARASSMENT OR THREATS. I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THIS CASE. HTTP://CRIMINAL.FINDLAW.COM/CRIMINAL-CHARGES/STALKING.HTML.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/missing-colorado-woman-natalie-bollinger-found-dead-after-getting-restraining-order/
By CRIMESIDER STAFF CBS/AP January 3, 2018, 10:58 AM
Missing Colorado woman Natalie Bollinger found dead after getting restraining order

Photograph -- Natalie Bollinger CBS DENVER

BOULDER, Colo. — Authorities have released the name of a teenager whose body was found north of Denver.

The Boulder Daily Camera reports 19-year-old Natalie Bollinger, of Broomfield, was reported missing Thursday and was found dead in a wooded area near a street in unincorporated Adams County the following day.

Sheriff's officials say her death is being investigated as a homicide but have not said how she was killed.

Broomfield police say they have spoken with a man against whom Bollinger had obtained a permanent restraining order in mid-December, but no arrests have been made.

CBS Denver reports that Bollinger claimed on social media about two weeks ago that she had once tried to help the man, but that he began harassing her. She claimed the man "slept behind her work for weeks" and threatened to kill himself in front of her, the station reports.

Broomfield Police wouldn't tell the station whether the man was suspected in Bollinger's death.

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


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