Crabs and Beer!

On this day in 1953, General Mark Clark announced the beginning of Operation Moolah. It was an effort during the Korean War to obtain through defection a fully capable Soviet MiG-15 jet fighter.

Communist forces introduced the MiG-15 to Korea on November 1, 1950. USAF pilots reported that the performance of the MiG-15 was superior to all United Nations aircraft, including the USAF’s newest plane, the F-86 Sabre. The operation focused on influencing Communist pilots to defect to South Korea with a MiG for a financial reward. The plan set forth an offer of $100,000 (equivalent to $1,093,781 in 2022) for a Soviet MiG-15 and political asylum for the pilot.

On March 20, 1953, the Joint Chiefs of Staff approved the plan. The approved operation was forwarded on April 1, 1953, to the Joint Psychological Committee at FEAF in Tokyo, Japan, where it was staffed, approved, and advanced to Clark. He dubbed the plan Operation Moolah. The plan offered $50,000 to any pilot who flew a fully mission capable MiG-15 to South Korea. The first pilot to defect would be awarded an additional $50,000. The plan also included complete political asylum, resettlement in a non-Communist country, and anonymity if desired.

On April 26, armistice negotiations between Communist forces and the UN began. Clark issued the offer of Operation Moolah on the 27th to coincide with Operation Little Switch, the exchange of sick and wounded POWs between the Communist and the UN forces. General Clark announced the offer on April 27, 1953, through a shortwave radio transmission. The transmission, translated into Korean, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Russian, was broadcast by 14 radio stations in Japan and South Korea into North Korea and China. Clark stated: “To all brave pilots who wish to free themselves from the Communist yoke and start a new, better life with proper honor … you are guaranteed refuge, protection, humane care and attention. If pilots so desire, their names will be kept secret forever …”

On the night of April 26, 1953, two B-29 Superfortress bombers dropped 1.2 million leaflets over Communist bases in the Yalu River Basin. These leaflets were written in Russian, Chinese, and Korean. The Korean Armistice Agreement was signed on July 27, 1953, ceasing all combat operations. Not one single pilot had defected to South Korea.

Early in the morning on September 21, 1953, Lieutenant No Kum-Sok flew a MiG-15bis, bort number ‘Red 2057’, of the 2nd Regiment, Korean People’s Air Force, from Sunan Air Base, just outside Pyongyang, North Korea and landed before 10:00 a.m. at Kimpo Air Base in South Korea. He was immediately taken into the base headquarters for interrogation and physical examination. The next morning, South Korean newspapers mentioned the defecting North Korean pilot and his award of $100,000. No, though, was unaware of Operation Moolah and its rewards. In the aftermath of No’s defection, five of his fellow pilots were executed.

MiG-15 pilot Lieutenant No Kum-Sok, pictured in 1953 wearing typical North Korean flight clothing.

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Today is the birthday, in 1959, of Scottish singer, recording artist and actress Sheena Easton, who had the 1980 UK No.3 & 1981 US No.1 single ‘Morning Train, Nine To Five’. Easton’s other hits include the James Bond theme ‘For Your Eyes Only’, ‘U Got the Look’ with Prince and ‘We’ve Got Tonight’ with Kenny Rogers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_3vZYOYNYU

Today is the anniversary of the Mass Trespass of Kinder Scout, which took place in 1932. The protest sought to highlight that walkers were denied access to areas of open countryside which had been fenced off by wealthy landowners who forbade public access. Although the mass trespass was a controversial strategy at the time, the imprisonment of some of the trespassers led to public outrage, which increased public support for open access land.

In 1932 the Kinder Scout in the Peak District was exclusively kept for grouse shooting by the landowner, the Duke of Devonshire. The Duke employed gamekeepers year-round to patrol his land and keep walkers out, despite the fact that he only used the land for a few days each year. A few weeks prior to the mass trespass a group of frustrated walkers were chased off the Duke’s land by his gamekeepers.

Unhappy with a lack of progress by mainstream ramblers groups, on 24th April 1932, between 400–600 workers set off on a walk up Kinder Scout. They were organised by the British Workers’ Sports Federation, a Communist-influenced group, and many of those who joined the Kinder mass trespass were also members of the Young Communist League. The protest aimed to highlight that walkers were denied access to areas of open countryside which had been fenced off by wealthy landowners who forbade public access. As expected, the walkers were met by a line of gamekeepers, and when entry was refused, a fracas broke out. Ultimately, the gamekeepers were overwhelmed and the walkers continued on to their destination, the Kinder plateau.

The general outrage that greeted the arrest and sentencing of the walkers was a catalyst for the passing of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act in 1949, which effectively created protected national parks. Fittingly, in 1951 the Peak District became Britain’s first national park and agreements for access to Kinder Scout were negotiated the following year. Walkers’ rights to travel through common land and uncultivated upland were eventually protected by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (CROW Act) of 2000. Though controversial when it occurred, it has been interpreted as the embodiment of “working class struggle for the right to roam versus the rights of the wealthy to have exclusive use of moorlands for grouse shooting.”

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A lot of optimism here….

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Today is the birthday, in 1948, of Steve York who with Manfred Mann had the 1964 UK & US No.1 single ‘Do Wah Diddy Diddy’ and the 1968 UK No.1 & US No.10 single ‘Mighty Quinn’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc0x7xOap4I

Today is, of course, St. George’s Day. St. George is Patron of archers, armourers, Boy Scouts, butchers, cavalry, chivalry, Crusaders, equestrians, farmers, field hands, field workers, horsemen, horses, husbandmen, knights, lepers, Order of the Garter, Palestinian Christians, riders, Romanian Army, saddle makers, saddlers, sheep, shepherds, soldiers, Teutonic Knights; Canada; England; Ethiopia; Georgia; Germany; Greece; Lithuania; Malta; Portugal; Cappadocia; Catalonia; Palestine; over 20 cities and diocese around the world. His name is invoked against herpes, leprosy, plague, skin diseases, skin rashes, syphilis. By the middle ages, St. George was revered in much of Europe as the personification of chivalry.

Saint George’s Day is usually celebrated on 23 April, the traditionally accepted date of the saint’s death in the Diocletianic Persecution. St. George, also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the Roman army. Of Cappadocian Greek origin, he became a member of the Praetorian Guard for Roman emperor Diocletian, but was sentenced to death for refusing to recant his Christian faith, as part of the Diocletianic Persecution.

In hagiography, he is immortalised in the legend of Saint George and the Dragon and as one of the most prominent military saints. The story goes that the dragon originally extorted tribute from villagers. When they ran out of livestock and trinkets for the dragon, they started giving up a human tribute once a day. One day, the princess herself was chosen as the next offering. As she was walking toward the dragon’s cave, St. George saw her and asked her why she was crying. The princess told the saint about the dragon’s atrocities and asked him to flee immediately, in fear that he might be killed too. But the saint refused to flee, slew the dragon, and rescued the princess.

To save a Maid, St. George the Dragon slew

A pretty tale, if all is told be true

Most say, there are no Dragons, and ’tis said

There was no George: pray God there was a Maid.

— John Aubrey, Remains of Gentilism (1688)

Saint George and the Dragon – Raphael

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It’s Shakespeare’s birthday!

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Today is the birthday, in 1940, of Dale Houston, American singer who, along with his performing partner, Grace Broussard, hit the Billboard chart as Dale & Grace with two rock and roll singles. The first was the No. 1 gold record ‘I’m Leaving It Up to You’ in 1963. ‘Stop and Think It Over’ reached No. 8 in 1964. Their recordings are highly regarded examples of the Louisiana-Texas style known as “Swamp Pop”. Houston died on 27 September 2007. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5L5i7ARdAY

Today is the birthday, in 1943, of Janet Evanovich, one of the most remarkably successful novelists in modern America. She began her career writing short contemporary romance novels under the pen name Steffie Hall, but gained fame authoring a series of contemporary mysteries featuring Stephanie Plum, a former lingerie buyer from Trenton, New Jersey, who becomes a bounty hunter to make ends meet after losing her job.

The novels in this series have been on The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and Amazon bestseller lists. Evanovich has had her last seventeen Plums debut at #1 on the NY Times Best Sellers list and eleven of them have hit #1 on USA Today Best-Selling Books list. She has over two hundred million books in print worldwide, and her books have been translated into over 40 languages.

She was born in New Jersey and attended Rutgers University. When Evanovich had children, she chose to become a housewife like her mother. In her thirties, she began writing novels. To learn the art of writing dialog, Evanovich took lessons in improv acting. She wrote two romances and submitted them for publishing. Still unable to find a publisher, Evanovich stopped writing and signed with a temporary employment agency. Several months after beginning work for them, she received an offer to buy her second romance manuscript for $2,000, which she considered an “astounding sum”. After finishing her twelfth romance, however, Evanovich realized that she was more interested in writing the action sequences in her novels than the sex scenes. Her editors were not interested in her change of heart, so Evanovich took the next eighteen months to formulate a plan for what she actually wanted to write.

She wanted to include humor, romance and adventure in her work and this fit into her style of mystery novel. Unlike the style of romance novels, her books would be told in first person narrative. Her new type of writing should contain heroes and heroines, as well as “a sense of family and community”. Evanovich decided that her heroine would be a bounty hunter. This occupation provided more freedom for Evanovich as a writer, as bounty hunters do not have a set work schedule and are not forced to wear a uniform. The profession is also “romanticized to some extent”. To become acquainted with the demands of the career, Evanovich spent a great deal of time shadowing bond enforcement agents. She also researched more about the city of Trenton, where she wanted her books to be set.

In 1994, her initial romantic adventure, One for the Money, was published to good reviews. This was the first of a light-hearted series of mysteries starring barely competent bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. One for the Money was named a New York Times notable book, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 1994 and a USA Today Best Bet.

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“An Empire Built on Waste” by artist Emanuele (Jane) Morelli

Bada BING!

Young Her: Serious question for the millennials … my older cousin said she used to ‘burn’ CDs for her crush. Like … with fire? Was that a ritual? Old Jake: The old magic will not be discussed with the children of new.

I’M PRACTISING MINDFULNESS, COMPASSION, AND LOVING KINDNESS SO DON’T PISS ME OFF.

I’ve reached the point in my life where ‘dying young’ isn’t on my list of worries.

If we can just get through this month, we only have one more month to go before we need to get through another month.

I’m a digital creator. You can download my finger paintings.

Republicans… “I like to think we aren’t so much anti-science as we are pro-myth.”

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Today is the birthday, in 1950, of American blues rock musician Forrest McDonald. He has written hundreds of songs and played on many records including working with Bob Seger. McDonald played the guitar solo on the hit “Old Time Rock and Roll” which was featured in the 1983 film Risky Business, starring Tom Cruise. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8elAi-7G0OE

Today is the birthday, in 1926, of Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during her lifetime and was the monarch of 15 realms at her death. Her reign of 70 years and 214 days is the longest of any British monarch, the second-longest of any sovereign state, and the longest of any queen regnant in history.

Elizabeth was born in Mayfair, London, during the reign of her paternal grandfather, King George V. She was the first child of the Duke and Duchess of York (later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother). Her father acceded to the throne in 1936 upon the abdication of his brother Edward VIII, making the ten-year-old Princess Elizabeth the heir presumptive.

As queen, Elizabeth was advised by more than 170 prime ministers across her realms. Her many historic visits and meetings included state visits to China in 1986, to Russia in 1994, and to the Republic of Ireland in 2011; she met five popes and fourteen US presidents.

Princess Elizabeth of York — the future Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom — when she was seven years old.

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Today is the birthday, in 1944, of English author, composer for musical theatre, and songwriter Tony Macaulay. He has won the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors Award twice as ‘Songwriter of the Year’ (1970 and 1977) and is a nine-time Ivor Novello Award-winning songwriter. Macaulay’s best-known songs include ‘Baby Now That I’ve Found You’ and ‘Build Me Up Buttercup’ with The Foundations, ‘(Last Night) I Didn’t Get to Sleep at All,’ (The 5th Dimension) as well as ‘Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)’ (Edison Lighthouse) and ‘Don’t Give Up on Us’ (David Soul). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSofzQURQDk