Belly,

"My memory tells me John F Kennedy was saved in part after he made contact with a missionary, maybe an Australian one?"

Maybe the missionary was Australian, or he could have been Irish if Catholic or English if Anglican, what he was not was an Australian Coast Watcher; you are floundering and clutching at straws.

Foxy,

Six days was plenty of time for panic>

"What is known as the Cuban Missile Crisis actually began on October 15, 1962—the day that U.S. intelligence personnel analyzing U-2 spy plane data discovered that the Soviets were building medium-range missile sites in Cuba. The next day, President Kennedy secretly convened an emergency meeting of his senior military, political, and diplomatic advisers to discuss the ominous development. The group became known as ExCom, short for Executive Committee. After rejecting a surgical air strike against the missile sites, ExCom decided on a naval quarantine and a demand that the bases be dismantled and missiles removed. On the night of October 22, Kennedy went on national television to announce his decision. During the next six days, the crisis escalated to a breaking point as the world tottered on the brink of nuclear war between the two superpowers."

So it was kept secret for 7 days, hardly amazing and apparently as soon as plans were formalized, Kennedy told the nation and the world.
I'd call the American reticence, prudent, not secretive.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/cuban-missile-crisis

Is Mise,

The President was indeed prudent.

He told the American public only what he
felt they needed to know. It was a very
wise and commendable move.

Not only did JFK keep the danger secret but he also kept the details of the settlement secret. To get Khrushchev to agree to withdraw from Cuba, the US agreed to remove missiles from Turkey. This was to be done six months later so that JFK could try to hide the fact that the two things were linked. All of that was kept secret for a time.

But its one thing for a government or heads of government to keep sensitive negotiations secret while they proceed lest they be derailed by opposing forces. Its quite another thing to suppose that a government and its leaders would wilfully sit back and allow 2500 citizens to die in an attack that they could have stopped.

I'm no fan of FDR and think he's massively over-rated as a president and especially as a wartime leader. But I wouldn't for a moment think so little of him or think that he was so callous and Machiavellian as to simply not lift a finger to save lives just so he could get the war he wanted.
Additionally, I'm not prepared to believe that the dozens of other members of the government who would have know if they had advanced warning of the attack, would have sat back and let it happen and/or then stayed quiet about it for the rest of their lives and into their deaths.

People like Belly just want it to be true because of their innate anti-US proclivities and they aren't terribly concerned that there isn't a skerrick of evidence for what they want to be true.

There's a well known saying in historic circles - if its a choice between a conspiracy and a cock-up always assume it was a cock-up.

The US government missed many signs that might have allowed them to intercept the invasion fleet, just as they missed many signs that might have averted 9/11. But they didn't conspire to let the Japanese killed 2500 US citizens.

Mhaze,

I agree, the Us should have anticipated the attack but hey had no one watching the north (despite Belly's belief that the Australian coast watchers were there to report any hostile movements).

Had they anticipated the attack they could have engaged the Japs at sea and entry into the war would have been assured.

Theories that FDR and his advisers sacrificed Pearl Harbour are ludicrous.

The Government is not telling us something that potentially could be a matter of life or death.

Bungling surgeons left medical instruments inside at least 23 patients – and 430,000 were poisoned, infected or injured in hospitals in just a year

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6646307/Surgeons-left-medical-instruments-inside-patients-430-000-poisoned-infected-injured.html

A shocking new report reveals hundreds of thousands of patients across Australia endured additional suffering thanks to hospital blunders.

The Productivity Commission review found 437,468 patients were poisoned, ­infected or injured while in hospital care over the course of just one year.

Alarmingly, 23 of those had medical instruments left inside them by surgical staff.

The startling figures mean one in every 15 hospital patients suffer due to botched procedures, human errors and hospital infections.

Across Australia 167,000 medicated patients suffered drug side-effects, while a further 215,246 suffered adverse reactions or problems arising from medical procedures.

About 38,000 patients were also injured due to falls they had while in hospital.

A further ten patients died from medication errors.

The report also revealed that there were almost three million ‘avoidable’ appointments made in hospitals in just one year.

The unneeded appointments are said to occur when patients struggle to see their local GP, but the influx in appointments can put a strain on primary care.

However, the report shows the government has pumped an additional $2billion into public hospitals in one year.

In 2015-16 the overall government spend on hospitals was $42billion, while in 2016-17 it rose to $44billion

** They won't say which are the worst hospitals **

Philip, WOW!! I desperately want to say, 'your kidding, right'?
I've been sitting here in front of the screen, literally, 'GOB SMACKED'.
Now I am really pissed off and angry.
WTF, is going on, of all places I demand zero problems and 'worlds best practice', would obviously be a hospital.
I hate it when something I know to be bad and can affect me or anyone badly, and yet I get mocked and knocked for broadcasting it.
Well I can now stand up and say once more what a sh!thole Australia is.
The BS govt tell us we have 'worlds best practices', BS!
Whenever I bag Australia or Australians, it is no different than a Judge or Magistrate giving a member of the legal profession a good reaming for having stuffed up, and in doing so has caused the case to be dropped or lost, because of typically sloppy and lax work ethics and attitudes.
His reason for the verballing is so as to stop mistakes occurring, resulting in a waste of time and resources, and most of all the offender has to be let go without charges.
Everyone's too busy talking sh!t about some stupid sport or some irrelevant thing they did on the weekend, all along distracted, not focused on the job, and most of all NOT INTERESTED, because like all the other plebs in this place, he's too busy going on about the fact that 'he works to live' and 'not lives to work'.
My God that is a sickening set of stats Philip, I am sitting here numb with disbelief.
I really dare anyone to even think of a comeback on my posting on this one.
You'd have to be mentally challenged or a vegetable to even think about it.