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Missive #565 Published 19 September 2025

105. Nasruddin and the Bears

A rich man had invited Nasruddin to go with him on a bear hunt. Reluctantly, Nasruddin accepted the invitation.
A few days later, he returned from the hunt beaming with happiness.
“How did it go?” his neighbor asked him.
“It was wonderful!” Nasruddin replied with a smile.
“How many bears did you kill?”
“None!”
“How many bears did you chase?”
“None!”
“How many bears did you see?”
“None!” said Nasruddin happily.
His neighbor stared at him in confusion. “That is why it was wonderful!” Nasruddin explained. “I don’t mind hunting bears if there are not any bears to be found.”

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Missive #564 Published 15 September 2025

Finley Peter Dunne, also known as F. P. D. (1867- 1936) was a Chicago-based American author, writer and humorist. He published Mr. Dooley in Peace and War, a collection of his nationally syndicated Mr. Dooley sketches, in 1898. The fictional Mr. Dooley expounded upon political and social issues of the day from his South Side Chicago Irish pub and he spoke with the thick verbiage and accent of an Irish immigrant. His sly humor and political acumen won the support of President Theodore Roosevelt, a frequent target of Mr. Dooley's barbs. Indeed his sketches became so popular and such a litmus test of public opinion that they were read each week at White House cabinet meetings.

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Missive #563 Published 14 September 2025

Continuing The Anti-Federalist Papers

John DeWitt V (excerpt)
by John DeWitt
To the Free Citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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Missive #562 Published 12 September 2025

104. Nasruddin and the Sesame Seeds

As one of Nasruddin’s neighbors walked by, he noticed that Nasruddin was throwing sesame seeds onto the ground. There were sesame seeds everywhere!

“What on earth are you doing?” the neighbor asked.

“I’m scattering sesame seeds,” Nasruddin replied calmly.

“I can see that!” said his neighbor. “But I don’t understand why you’re scattering sesame seeds.”

“To keep the tigers away,” said Nasruddin. “I highly recommend you give it a try too!”

“I still don’t understand,” his neighbor replied. “There aren’t any tigers anywhere near here.”

“I know!” Nasruddin exclaimed. “Isn’t it wonderful? The sesame seeds are working just as expected.”

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Missive #561 Published 10 September 2025

This book got better customer reviews on Amazon.UK that at goodreads.com which may just be a case of the British understand the character of the characters in the story. I liked this one in the series more than the past couple I read. There are two more books in the series then the author has a few more that I will probably also read.

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Missive #560 Published 8 September 2025

I thought the author of Tender Is The Flesh was even an even darker writer than Cormac McCarthy, this book just confirmed what I thought. If you like dystopian novels then you will enjoy this one, if not then I suggest you give it a pass.

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Missive #559 Published 7 September 2025

Continuing The Federalist Papers.

Federalist No.55
The Total Number of the House of Representatives
Author: Alexander Hamilton or James Madison
To the People of the State of New York

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Missive #558 Published 5 September 2025

103. Nasruddin and the Neighbor’s Bull

Nasruddin’s neighbor had a bull, and one day that bull blundered into Nasruddin’s garden, trampling all of Nasruddin’s vegetables.

When Nasruddin saw what his neighbor’s bull had done, he grabbed a whip and chased the bull out of the garden, whipping the bull as he did so.

“You accursed creature!” he shouted. “I’ll show you who’s the boss here! Take that! And take that!”

The bull bellowed loudly every time he felt the sting of Nasruddin’s whip.

“Hey there!” shouted Nasruddin’s neighbor. “What are you doing?”

“You stay out of this,” replied Nasruddin. “This is between me and the bull!”

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Missive #557 Published 3 September 2025

My life would have been more tranquil in the days after Martinmas had I not seen the crows. Whatever it was that the crows had found lay in the dappled shadow of the bare limbs of the oak, so I was nearly upon the thing before I recognized what the crows were feasting upon. The corpse wore black.

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Missive #556 Published 1 September 2025

I couldn't find a cover picture for this book so a screenshot of the title page will have to do. There were no book promos or customer reviews ether. It is one of the books in the American Folkways Series which has not received much attention over the years with most of the books in the series becoming unread. This one provides some good historical information about Kentucky but it is dated.

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