Missive #507 Published 4 June 2025
This is an eclectic set of speeches given in 1899 and 1900. Roosevelt was at that time governor of NYS, about to become the Vice President under McKinley — and of course subsequently president sooner than anyone expected.…The speeches seem to be boilerplate political stump speeches for the most part. A lot of repetition in what he has to say to the different audiences. Not what I was expecting and not recommended.
Missive #506 Published 2 June 2025
This is an odd book, or really a series of blog posts strung together as a book. Its thoughts are meandering and Moldbug (referred to as Yarvin for the rest of this review) is good at considering history in its broad strokes, complete with quotations drawn from obscure thinkers and historians, men little read today who nevertheless can be quite illuminating.…
Missive #505 Published 1 June 2025
Continuing The Federalist Papers.
Federalist No.48
These Departments Should Not Be So Far Separated as to Have No Constitutional Control Over Each Other
Author: James Madison
To the People of the State of New York:
Missive #504 Published 30 May 2025
89. Young Nasruddin and the Tall Tales
When he was a young boy, Nasruddin liked to sit around the fires of the passing caravans and listen to travelers’ tales about faraway places. He enjoyed the stories of valiant warriors in battle, tales of genies and magic, and most of all he enjoyed the anecdotes about the very strange habits of people who lived in distant lands.
“I once visited a land that was so hot all year long,” one traveler claimed, “that no one in their country wore any clothes.”
“Impossible!” protested Nasruddin. “Without clothes, how would you be able to tell the men from the women?”
Missive #503 Published 28 May 2025
Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Walter McDougall reinterprets the traditions that have shaped U.S. foreign policy from 1776 to the present in "an entertaining and iconoclastic fashion" ( Philadelphia Inquirer ). In a concise analysis, McDougall divides American diplomatic history into two stages, which he calls "Old Testament" and "New Testament" phases.
Missive #502 Published 26 May 2025
With the right lifestyle, experts say, chances are that you may live up to a decade longer. What’s the prescription for success? National Geographic Explorer Dan Buettner has traveled the globe to uncover the best strategies for longevity found in the Blue places in the world where higher percentages of people enjoy remarkably long, full lives. And in this dynamic book he discloses the recipe, blending this unique lifestyle formula with the latest scientific findings to inspire easy, lasting change that may add years to your life.
Missive #501 Published 25 May 2025
Continuing The Anti-Federalist Papers
Centinel IV
Why the Articles Failed
by Samuel Bryan
To the Freemen of Pennsylvania:
Missive #500 Published 23 May 2025
88. Nasruddin’s Playful Turban
It was a windy day and as Nasruddin was walking home, a big gust of wind blew the turban right off his head. Some children who were playing nearby grabbed the turban and began tossing it back and forth.
Nasruddin chased the children, hoping to get his turban back. “Hey there, children!” he said. “Give me back my turban!”
Then, when he saw how much fun the children were having, he gave up and went home.
“Where’s your turban?” Nasruddin’s wife asked. “Did you leave it somewhere?”
“It suddenly remembered its childhood,” replied Nasruddin, “and it decided to go play.”
Missive #499 Published 21 May 2025
The Bush years have justifiably given rise to fears of a new Imperial Presidency. Yet despite the controversy surrounding the administration's expansive claims of executive power, both Left and Right agree on the boundless nature of presidential responsibility. The Imperial Presidency is the price we seem to be willingly and dangerously agreeable to pay the office the focus of our national hopes and dreams. Interweaving historical scholarship, legal analysis, and cultural commentary, The Cult of the Presidency argues that the Presidency needs to be reined in, its powers checked and supervised, and its wartime authority put back under the oversight of the Congress and the courts. Only then will we begin to return the Presidency to its proper constitutionally limited role.
Missive #498 Published 19 May 2025
Volume 3 of the monumental Story of Civilization, CAESAR AND CHRIST depicts the rise of Rome from a crossroads town to empire. The world's first republic, Rome spread its civilization over the Mediterranean and western European world.Another very long book that I broke up reading by stopping 3-4 times to read other books. It is an academic product with massive footnotes and extremely dry reading. Names and dates but light on what they all mean. Its long, slow crumbling and final collapse plunged Europe into darkness and chaos.