Missive #666 Published 22 February 2026
Continuing The Federalist Papers
Federalist No.67
The Executive Department
Author: Alexander Hamilton
To the People of the State of New York:
Missive #665 Published 21 February 2026
Sharpe's Gold is the second (though ninth in chronological order) historical novel in the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell first published in 1981. The story is set in August 1810 and features the destruction of Almeida during the Peninsular War.
Missive #664 Published 20 February 2026
127. Nasruddin’s Big Pot
Nasruddin brought some friends home. He seated them at the table and then went into the kitchen.
“But we have no food!” his wife said. “No meat, no rice, no vegetables, nothing. We don’t even have wood to light a fire to cook with.”
“I’ll think of something,” said Nasruddin.
He looked around the kitchen, grabbed their biggest cooking pot, and went into the other room.
“Dear friends,” he said, “if we had any meat or rice or vegetables, or wood with which to light a fire, this is the pot I would use to cook a soup for you!”
Missive #663 Published 18 February 2026
The astonishing inside story of how Bud Light lost its position as the most popular beer in the United States from a longtime Anheuser-Busch executive.
Anson Frericks, a former president at Anheuser-Busch—formerly the home of America’s most popular brewery—watched as the company unraveled at the hands of globe-trotting financiers and progressive middle management.
Rather than pursue shareholder profits, Anheuser-Busch suddenly became focused on stakeholder capitalism and the vague mandates of environment, social, and governance (ESG). This ill-advised change cumulated in the shocking evaporation of $30 billion in market cap after releasing an advertising campaign starring political activist Dylan Mulvaney.
Missive #662 Published 16 February 2026
The Invisible Coup is not about chaos at the border. It is about something far more unsettling: how one of the most consequential transformations in modern American history unfolded quietly, incrementally, and without the consent of the people.
For decades, Americans have been told a simple story about mass migration. That it is spontaneous. Humanitarian. Inevitable. That the only moral response is acceptance, and the only alternative is cruelty. But beneath that familiar narrative lies a deeper reality, one shaped by policy design, institutional power, economic incentives, and global strategy. A reality in which migration has become one of the most effective political instruments ever deployed against a democratic nation.
Missive #661 Published 15 February 2026
Continuing The Anti-Federalist Papers
Federal Farmer X
by Federal Farmer
Missive #660 Published 14 February 2026
Awesome first-fiction venture that immediately thrusts the author into P.D. James' dark orbit—with a peel-the-layers-off tale of utter emotional devastation, relieved only by the deep sensitivity and kindnesses of the detective hero, Scotland Yard Inspector Thomas Lynley.
Lynley, handsome, wealthy, and brilliant, is "so damnably charming" that pugfaced, ill-tempered probational partner Det. Sgt. Barbara Havers "couldn't understand why every criminal in the city simply didn't surrender to accommodate him." Now, Lynley must resolve a beheading already confessed to by the victim's obesely bloated daughter Roberta, who was found next to William Teys' body dressed in her Sunday best.
Missive #659 Published 13 February 2026
126. The Miser’s Soup
A notorious miser had invited Nasruddin to dinner.
Nasruddin arrived at the appointed time and eagerly sat down at the dinner table.
“I have prepared soup, Nasruddin! I hope you will enjoy it,” said his host as he placed two bowls of soup on the table.
Nasruddin stared for a moment at his bowl and then, without a word, he got up and started to undress.
“Nasruddin, what on earth are you doing?”
“I’m going to dive into the soup bowl and see if there might be a bit of vegetable or even some meat down there at the bottom.”
Missive #658 Published 12 February 2026
Lord Gilbert Talbot must provide soldiers for Prince Edward's battle in France. He wishes his surgeon--Hugh de Singleton--to travel with the war party to tend any injuries. Among those on the road is Sir Simon Trillowe, Hugh's old nemesis, who had once torched Hugh's house.
Finding himself in the same war party, Hugh resolves to watch his back in the presence of the knight, who is still holding a grudge. But it is Sir Simon who should not have turned his back....
When Trillowe's body is found, many suspect Hugh has wreaked revenge on his adversary. To clear his name, Hugh must once again riddle a reason for murder.
Missive #657 Published 9 February 2026
Coming up with a judgment on Something Happened (you'll wait a while for that something to happen — nothing does until the shattering clincher) should be the hottest game of Russian roulette in town this fall. There's probably more riding on this book than any other in terms of author anticipation and publisher expectation. It runs close to 600 pages and is full of repetition which can be one of those suicidal assets ("call the repetition perseveration" — that's Heller) in what amounts to a story without a story sans the pseudo of those now dated anti-novels. Heller's novel, Heller's tour de verbal force, Heller's stomp then, is a representation of the underachieved contemporary man booby trapped all the way from his harassment at home to the office where he's making his way up over someone else's body.I read Catch 22 many years ago and plan on rereading it but thought I would read the authors second book first.
I liked this book more than the Kirkus reviewer did from what he says. It is long but I did nor find it to be repetitious to the point that it was bothersome. Made me think back a lot about my life which was probably good. Read it, you might experience the same thing I did.