~~      JFK_Motorcade

On November 22, 1963,, right in the middle of my senior year in High School, the world changed.  That day and the next few were quite an education in many ways and on many subjects., and an eye opener as well.  Yes, it can happen here.  It has and hence it does and it will. It wasn't our nation's first assassination, but, for great numbers of us, it was clearly the worst, and, it was a sea change,  From now on this would be part of our life and culture, assassination as an instrument of political change, as a political act; that writing was on the wall.  Henceforth, assassination was "on the table", at least in one's mind.  "If person 'X' gets elected or appointed or does this or proposes that, will they be allowed to live? "  "Does our candidate have adequate protection?  Are they safe?"  On the other side of the coin, assassination jokes became common, both real jokes and those "jokes" that are veiled threats or calls to action.

It also brought home the perpetual uncertainty that comes with having a government that openly keeps secrets, secretly keeps secrets, lies early and often, and has official propagnada outlets.  What and who can be trusted.  Once the floodgates of assassinations opened, accidents, illnesses and "mysterious" deaths all became suspect too.  For many, their first reaction to the news of Wellstone's plane crash was along the lines of "oh shit, you're kidding me ..."

~~     Murder Most Foul 

The man who doomed the Earth.  November 22, 1891, saw the birth of Edward Bernays, the father of PR, modern advertising, and propaganda. His techniques and teachings directly and indirectly created consumerism and comsumerist society and made it much easier to launch wars in the name of things like US Interests, Human Rights, Democracy, and other psychologically manipulative code words for oil, resources, political control, and MIC profits.
 

On this day in history:

1869 – The clipper Cutty Sark was launched.

1935 – The China Clipper inaugurated the first commercial transpacific air service
 

1942 –  General  Paulus telegraphed Hitler that the German 6th Army was surrounded.
1943 – FDR,  Winston Churchill, and Chiang Kai-shek met in Cairo, Egypt, to discuss ways to defeat Japan.

1943 – Lebanon gained independence from France.

1948 – Chinese Civil War: Elements of the Chinese Communist Second Field Army under Liu Bocheng trap the Nationalist 12th Army, beginning the Shuangduiji Campaign, the largest engagement of the Huaihai Campaign.

1963 – JFK was assassinated.
 

1967 – UN Security Council Resolution 242 was adopted,

1974 – The UN General Assembly granted the PLO observer status.

1975 – Juan Carlos was declared King of Spain

1977 – British Airways inaugurated regular Concorde flights between London and NYC
 

1988 – The first prototype B-2 Spirit stealth bomber was revealed.

2005 – Angela Merkel became the first female Chancellor of Germany.

Born this day in:

 “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. 

~~     Edward Bernays

1519 – Johannes Crato von Krafftheim, humanist and physician
1635 – Francis Willughby,ornithologist and ichthyologist
1643 – René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, explorer
1690 – François Colin de Blamont, pianist and composer
1709 – Franz Benda, violinist and composer
1710 – Wilhelm Friedemann Bach, organist and composer 
1721 – Joseph Frederick Wallet DesBarres, cartographer and politician
1744 – Abigail Adams, 
1780 – Conradin Kreutzer, composer
1819 – George Eliot, novelist and poet
1820 – Katherine Plunket, supercentenarian
1824 – Georg von Oettingen, physician and ophthalmologist
1849 – Christian Rohlfs, painter and academic
1857 – George Gissing, novelist
1859 – Cecil Sharp,  folk song scholar
1869 – André Gide, novelist, essayist, and dramatist
1870 – Howard Brockway, pianist, composer, and educator
1891 – Edward Bernays,  inventor of PR and propaganda
1897 – Paul Oswald Ahnert, astronomer and educator
1897 – Harry Wilson, actor and singer
1898 – Wiley Post, pilot
1899 – Hoagy Carmichael, singer, songwriter, pianist, and actor
1901 – Béla Juhos, philosopher from the Vienna Circle
1901 – Joaquín Rodrigo, pianist and composer
1902 – Emanuel Feuermann, cellist and educator
1902 – Ethel Smith, organist
1904 – Miguel Covarrubias, painter and illustrator
1904 – Louis Néel, physicist and academic
1909 – Mikhail Mil, engineer, founded the Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant 
1913 – Benjamin Britten, pianist, composer, and conductor
1917 – Jon Cleary, author and playwright
1917 – Andrew Huxley, physiologist and biophysicist
1917 – Sir Keith Shann, diplomat
1921 – Brian Cleeve, sailor, author, and playwright
1923 – Dika Newlin, singer, songwriter, and pianist
1924 – Geraldine Page, actress and singer
1925 – Jerrie Mock, pilot
1925 – Gunther Schuller, horn player, composer, and conductor
1930 – Peter Hurford, organist and composer
1937 – Nikolai Kapustin, pianist and composer
1940 – Terry Gilliam, actor, director, animator, and screenwriter
1941 – Ron McClure, bassist
1941 – Volker Roemheld, physiologist and biologist
1941 – Terry Stafford, singer and songwriter
1941 – Jesse Colin Young,  singer, songwriter, and bass player
1942 – Floyd Sneed, drummer
1943 – Ricky May, singer
1945 – Elaine Weyuker, computer scientist, engineer, and academic
1945 – Kari Tapio, singer
1946 – Aston Barrett, bass player and songwriter
1947 – Rod Price, guitarist and songwriter
1948 – Saroj Khan, dance choreographer
1950 – Paloma San Basilio, singer, songwriter, and producer
1950 – Art Sullivan, singer
1950 – Steven Van Zandt, singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor
1950 – Tina Weymouth, singer, songwriter, and bass player
1956 – Lawrence Gowan, singer, songwriter, and keyboard player
1957 – Alan Stern, engineer and planetary scientist
1958 – Horse, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1958 – Chic McSherry, musician, businessman and writer
1958 – Jason Ringenberg, singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1959 – Lenore Zann,  actress, singer, and politician
1960 – Jim Bob, English singer, songwriter, and guitarist
1961 – Stephen Hough, pianist and composer
1965 – Olga Kisseleva, artist
1968 – Sarah MacDonald, organist and conductor
1970 – Chris Fryar,  drummer
1973 – Chad Trujillo, astronomer and scholar
1980 – Shawn Fanning, computer programmer and businessman, founded Napster

Died this day in:

“Those who are easily shocked should be shocked more often.”

~~     Mae West

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1697 – Libéral Bruant, architect and academic, designed Les Invalides 
1718 – Blackbeard, maritime businessman
1813 – Johann Christian Reil, physician, physiologist, and anatomist
1819 – John Stackhouse, botanist and phycologist
1871 – Oscar James Dunn, activist and politician
1886 – Mary Boykin Chesnut, author
1896 – George Washington Gale Ferris Jr.,  engineer, invented the Ferris wheel 
1900 – Arthur Sullivan, composer and scholar
1902 – Walter Reed, physician and entomologist
1916 – Jack London, novelist and journalist
1917 – Teoberto Maler, archaeologist and explorer
1919 – Francisco Moreno,  explorer and academic
1926 – Darvish Khan, tar player
1943 – Lorenz Hart, playwright and composer
1944 – Arthur Eddington,  astrophysicist and astronomer
1963 – Aldous Huxley, novelist and philosopher
1963 – John F. Kennedy, lieutenant and politician, 35th President of the US 
1963 – C. S. Lewis,writer, critic and Christian apologist
1963 – J. D. Tippit, police officer
1980 – Mae West, American actress, singer, and screenwriter
1981 – Hans Adolf Krebs, physician and biochemist
1988 – Luis Barragán, architect and engineer
1989 – C. C. Beck, llustrator
1993 – Anthony Burgess, novelist, playwright, and critic
1997 – Michael Hutchence, singer and songwriter
2001 – Norman Granz, record producer, founded Verve Records
2006 – Asima Chatterjee, chemist
2010 – Frank Fenner, virologist and microbiologist
2011 – Svetlana Alliluyeva, author and educator
2011 – Lynn Margulis, biologist and academic
2011 – Paul Motian, drummer and composer
2012 – Pearl Laska Chamberlain, pilot
2013 – Don Dailey, computer programmer
2013 – Brian Dawson,singer
2014 – Marcel Paquet, philosopher and author
2017 – George Avakian, music producer
2017 – Tommy Keene,  singer and songwriter

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Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:

Day of the Albanian Alphabet (Albania and ethnic Albanians)
National Go For a Ride Day
Humane Society Anniversary Day
National Stop the Violence Day
National Housing Day (Canada)

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Music goes here, iirc, well, With apologies

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François Colin de Blamont

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Franz Benda

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Joaquin Rodrigo

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Ethel Smith

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Ron McClure

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Jessee Colin-Young

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Floyd Sneed

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Anton Barrett

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Rod Price

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Steven Van Zandt

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Tina Weymouth

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Lawrence Gowan

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Paul Motian

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Please Note: I wish my Monday Open Threads to remain on the front page because I sporadically say things in them that I wish to be as widely read as possible. Accordingly, please do not post any Covid-19 related commentary in the comments. Thank you. There is a separate OT, Part B, aka The Dose, where all such material is welcome. Thanks again.

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Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?

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