Continuing The Federalist Papers.
Federalist No. 26
The Idea of Restraining the Legislative Authority in Regard to the Common Defense Considered
Author: Alexander Hamilton
To the People of the State of New York:
Missive #318 Published 26 July 2024
45. NASRUDDIN IN THE DARK
Night had come on quickly, and Nasruddin and his wife had forgotten to light a candle. Thus, they found themselves sitting in their house in the dark.
“It’s dark, husband,” Nasruddin’s wife said to him. “We need to light a candle.”
“I agree!” said Nasruddin. “It’s completely dark. I can’t see a thing!”
“Well, I’m sure there’s a candle over there on the table to your left. Hand me the candle and I’ll light it.”
“I don’t think that will work,” said Nasruddin. “How do you expect me to tell my left from my right in the dark like this?”
Missive #317 Published 24 July 2024
WAS IT LUCIFER Saul Goodman was after? He was beginning to almost believe it was. But Goodman was a New York cop; only juries believed in fairy tales. And this crazy case that had fallen in his lap—the Iluminatus; did it really exist, a great and dreaded secret cult, counting kings as members over the centuries, a colossus of crime and occult conspiracy? Witchcraft or world blackmail, it was Saul Goodman's baby now, and even the President saw it his way, holding back the National Guard to give Goodman time to track down the evil behind Illuminatus—before it unleashed the anthrax plague that threatened to destroy all creatures great and small.... As weirdly wonderful as the best of Vonnegut, as suspensefully off-beat as Casteneda, here comes Part II of ILLUMINATUS, a vulture's eye view of the dark side of human comedy.
Missive #316 Published 23 July 2024
At a crucial point in the twentieth century, as Nazi Germany prepared for war, negotiations between Britain, France, and the Soviet Union became the last chance to halt Hitler's aggression. Incredibly, the French and British governments dallied, talks failed, and in August 1939 the Soviet Union signed a nonaggression pact with Germany. Michael Carley's gripping account of these negotiations is not a pretty story. It is about the failures of appeasement and collective security in Europe. It is about moral depravity and blindness, about villains and cowards, and about heroes who stood against the intellectual and popular tides of their time. Some died for their beliefs, others labored in obscurity and have been nearly forgotten.
Missive #315 Published 21 July 2024
Continuing The Anti-Federalist Papers
Brutus VI
by Robert Yates
To the Citizens of the State of New-York
Missive #314 Published 19 July 2024
44. NASRUDDIN THE PROUD FATHER
A friend noticed him and said, “Nasruddin! Wait a moment and talk! I haven’t seen you in such a long time.”
“I really don’t have time to stop and talk,” Nasruddin explained. “I went out to do the shopping, and now I need to hurry home.”
“Why the rush?”
“My wife just had a baby!” Nasruddin said proudly.
“What wonderful news!” replied his friend. “I’m very glad for you. And is it a boy or a girl?”
Nasruddin stared at him in amazement. “Yes, it is!” he answered. “But how did you know?”
Missive #313 Published 17 July 2024
This is the third book in the Hector Lynch series: after the fact I found that I had read it out of order. I'll now have to read the second one in the series. Severin's fiction is better than his non-fiction in my opinion although he uses a lot of what he learned to write the non-fiction. There are more in the series that I'm going to sometime get to read.
Missive #312 Published 15 July 2024
The Build-up , Volume 3 of the Stecher Trilogy , picks up the thread of White Mule and In the Money . Although all of the novels deal with the triumphant rise of an immigrant family in the early 1900s, The Build-up is more concerned with the overwhelming drive and ambition of Joe Stecher's wife, Gurlie. After years of hard work, careful planning (and his wife's badgering) Joe's printing business is providing his family with a comfortable income. As soon as her financial goal is realized, Gurlie focuses her attention on another area.
Missive #311 Published 14 July 2024
Continuing The Federalist Papers.
Federalist No. 25
The Same Subject Continued: The Powers Necessary to the Common Defense Further Considered
Author: Alexander Hamilton
To the People of the State of New York:
Missive #310 Published 13 July 2024
A user’s guide to economic, political, social and cultural collapse. In the face of political impotence, resource depletion, and catastrophic climate change, many of us have become reconciled to an uncertain future. However, popular perception of how this future might actually unfold varies wildly from "a severe and prolonged recession," to James Howard Kunstler's "long emergency," to the complete breakdown of civilization. In The Five Stages of Collapse , Dmitry Orlov posits a taxonomy of collapse, offering a surprisingly optimistic perspective on surviving the sweeping changes of the day with health and sanity intact. Arguing that it is during periods of disruption and extreme uncertainty that broad cultural change becomes possible, Orlov steers the reader through the challenges of financial, commercial, and political collapse.