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Capsule
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Some female spies reported directly to General George Washington, who came to highly value the information he received from these “agents in place.”
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Lead Picture (Thumbnail Story below in Thumbnail section)
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Employed as domestics, women had occasion to listen to intimate conversations.
Read more on the blog www.existentialautotrip.com
The blog? A daily three to four-minute excursion into photos and short texts to regale the curious with an ever-changing and diverting view of a world rich in gastronomy, visual art, ideas, chuckles, stories, people, diversions, science, homespun, and enlightenment.
Observing with wit and wisdom, Dom Capossela, an experienced leader, guides his team of contributors and followers through that world, an amusing and edifying conversation to join.
Note that the blog is also the first place that posts the "Hey, Dom!" videos.
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Commentary
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
I love baked beans, New England style.
Use then as a side with hot dogs or burgers.
Or add meat parts and make it an all-in-one.
Here is the basic.
BAKED BEANS
1 lb navy beans to pot
Cover with water, 2” above beans
Bring to boil and simmer for 15 minutes
Strain, save water
In Dutch oven,
Slice and dice 4oz salt pork or bacon or pancetta
Lightly render
Add aromatics:
2 oz Celery
2 oz Carrots
2 oz Leeks
And slightly soften
During this softening, add:
2 TB tomato paste
2 TB mustard
2 TB molasses
½ t cumin
½ t curry
½ t ginger
½ t nutmeg
Marry all for 6 minutes or so.
Add liquids:
The bean water
1 cup wine
2 cups chicken stock (our own, or just use water)
14oz tomatoes
Additional water if necessary to cover beans
On the stove top, bring the Dutch oven to simmer
Then bake in a 325* oven
Check every 30 minutes for doneness
Salt added to beans only after they start to get tender
I don’t know why.
Just read it somewhere and it made sense when I read it.
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Sunday’s Dinner posted on
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Today I had a delicious cold cut sandwich.
As my main course.
At my age, the only way I can indulge such a feast is to recognize it as a main course, tailoring the rest of my daily intake to fit.
I took this picture before I ate it up.
MMmmM!
Now that’s a sandwich!
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Chuckle of the day:
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
What is a Cat?
Cats do what they want. They rarely listen to you. They're totally unpredictable. When you want to play, they want to be alone. When you want to be alone, they want to play. They expect you to cater to their every whim. They're moody. They leave hair everywhere.
Conclusion: They're tiny women in little fur coats.
What is a Dog?
Dogs spend all day sprawled on the most comfortable piece of furniture in the house. They can hear a package of food opening half a block away, but don't hear you when you're in the next room. They can look dumb and lovable at the same time. They growl when they are not happy. When you want to play, they want to play. When you want to be alone, they want to play. They leave their toys everywhere. They do disgusting things with their mouths and then try to give you a kiss. They go right for your crotch as soon as they meet you.
Conclusion: They're tiny men in little fur coats.
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A “Hey, Dom!” video.
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Non-speaking numbers runner
tries to steal from the Mafia
What did he say?
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Today’s Thumbnail
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Females Gathered Intelligence for the Patriot Cause
During the Revolutionary War, both the British and American armies recruited women as cooks and maids.
With their almost unrestricted access, these women could eavesdrop on conversations in soldiers’ campsites and provide the critical intelligence they gathered to military and civilian leaders.
Some reported directly to General George Washington, who came to highly value the information he received from these “agents in place.”
Spying on the Enemy
As their husbands, sons, brothers, fathers and uncles took up arms, these women served as the eyes and ears for military leaders, providing invaluable intelligence information throughout the war. Allied with either the British loyalist or American patriot cause, spy networks sprang up throughout the colonies.
More and more records are beginning to surface that suggest something of what these “patriots in petticoats” endured and contributed to the American Revolution. Aiding their cover were prevailing attitudes toward women by their male counterparts: females were considered innocent and non-threatening. As such, few commanders viewed these colonial homemakers as cause for concern, despite the fact that they were using women as secret agents to gather vital intelligence for their own armies.
In 1775, the Second Continental Congress created the Committee of Secret Correspondence, which was charged with gathering intelligence and “corresponding with our friends in Great Britain and other parts of the world” to gain information that would be helpful to the American cause and to forge alliances with foreign countries. Benjamin Franklin, who supervised the Committee’s work, worked closely with General George Washington, interpreting and directing foreign and military intelligence activities.
Agent 355
355 was the numeric substitution code designation used by the Setauket Spy Ring to represent the word woman. This agent was referred to simply as 355 to protect her work and life. She supplied timely and accurate information to General Washington, played an important role in counterintelligence missions that uncovered Benedict Arnold’s treason, and facilitated the arrest of Major John André, head of England’s Intelligence Operations in New York. Her true identity remains a mystery today.
Signalling by clothesline
Anna Smith Strong
The spies in the Setauket Spy Ring included a Long Island woman who was a strong and ardent patriot. Anna Smith Strong devised a wash line signal system to identify for Abraham Woodhull the whereabouts of Caleb Brewster’s Whaleboat, so that Woodhull could find him and pass along the messages meant for General Washington. To avoid detection by the British, Brewster had to hide his boat in six different places, each identified by a number.
Anna Strong hung laundry on the clothesline in a code formation to direct Woodhull to the correct location. A black petticoat was the signal that Brewster was nearby, and the number of handkerchiefs scattered among the other garments on the line showed the meeting place. Using the most ordinary of personal items and improvising on the most ordinary of personal tasks, Strong made an extraordinary contribution to the cause of freedom.
Lydia Darragh
Officers of the British forces occupying Philadelphia used a large upstairs room in the Darragh house for conferences. When they did, Lydia Darragh would slip into an adjoining closet and take notes on the enemy’s military plans. Her husband, William, would transcribe the intelligence in a form of shorthand on tiny slips of paper that Lydia would then position on a button mold before covering it with fabric. The message-bearing buttons were then sewn onto the coat of her fourteen-year-old son, John, who would then be sent to visit his elder brother, Lieutenant Charles Darragh, of the American forces outside the city. Charles would snip off the buttons and transcribe the shorthand notes into readable form for presentation to his officers.
Ann Bates
Ann Bates was a loyalist spy for the British forces. She was a teacher in Philadelphia, and began spying for the British sometime in 1778. She posed as a peddler, selling thread, needles, knives, and utensils to the American camp followers. In this manner, Bates traveled through rebel camps, counting the number of men and weapons, and meeting with other loyalist sympathizers in the American army. On May 12, 1780, Bates requested to leave Clinton’s espionage ring and join her husband, a gun repairman with the British Army, in Charleston, South Carolina.
Many other heroic Patriots gathered the intelligence that helped win the War of Independence, and their intelligence duties required many of them to pose as one of the enemy, incurring the hatred of family members and friends – some even having their property seized or burned, and their families driven from their homes. Many of them gave their lives to help establish America’s freedom.
A tip o' the hat (U.S. President Calvin Coolidge, 1924
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Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Thanks to the Jokes Warehouse for the chuckle today.
Thanks to the Microsoft team at the Prudential Center for their unflagging availability to help with a constant flow of technological problems.
Always thanks to Wikipedia, the Lead and the Thumbnail sections of the Blog very often shaped from stories taken from that amazing website. They are truly worthy of public support.
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Good Morning on this Tuesday, September 24, 2019
More female heroes.
Bring them on.
Plenty of room in my pantheon of heroes.
And now? Gotta go.
Che vuoi? Le pocketbook?
See you soon.
Your Taeyeon