Friday Lone

The house is quiet, and we hate it. We did sleep till 7 AM, though. We're not sure how we feel about that. 

For all our talk about Irish spirits yesterday, last night we cracked open a bottle of Chianti. That was nice. We enjoyed an Arturo Fuente Gran Reserva Short Story as well. Look at us, all classy and what not. The solitudinal [Not a word-Ed] moroseness has already set in. Or is that the booze? 

We awake to see more legislative chaos on Capitol Hill. Good...claps hands...good...or Ha! Ha! Yes!' Hot Air has the roundup for those inclined. We say shut it down and walk away. Nothing will happen. [But the TSA may shutdown during the Christmas travel rush-Ed] You don't have to sweet talk us, we already support a shutdown. 

Ah, we see we got a fuck-ton of likes and comments on Substack this morning. Sup with that? Not much, it seems. 

Because we're bored and feeling mischievous, we're trolling NJ.com healthcare stories on FB. 'Don't like your healthcare, thank Barrack Obama,' or, 'Are all these people talking about denied healthcare claims Canadian? We think they're Canadian.' And when someone calls us an idiot we reply, 'I am a man of letters, sir. What are you?'

Up north in land of moose, Fidel Castro's bastard son seems determined to hold on. NDP leader Jasmeet Singh could end this farce whenever he wants to, but is himself holding on till his pension kicks in this February. Such will be his legacy. Sad. Canada, you don't ever, ever get to slam American politics and politicians again. Enjoy prime minister haircut.

Justin Trudeau
Justin Trudeau
Cuba, hang your head in shame
There's a Cuban running Canada
Justin Trudeau is his name. 

Rumors abound online that in exile, Bashar Assad has told the Israelis the locations of chemical weapons facilities, SAM storage sites, etc etc. This is supposedly why Israeli airstrikes in Syria have been so effective. Cool story, bro. But Syria, the Syrian government, and the Syrian military is/was riddled with Mossad assets. The Israelis already knew where all the things could be found.

Related: in Israel Strikes Syria jumps into the Israel/Iran War. We wrote Israel Strikes in 2012, when the civil war was ongoing. We had assumed that Assad would eventually lose. He's replaced by a military dictator. Shame on us, we guess. Though in 2012 we fictionalized everything. It's not like Bibi is running around making decisions. The Israeli PM is based on Tzipi Livni. Anyway, as Chanukah approaches, Israel Strikes:

Nothing we predicted in Israel Strikes was as bad as this Politico list of bad 2024 predictions by Washington pundits. There are a few jabs at the right, but this list is really about all the stuff the Washington punditocracy got wrong. Trump, Joe, Kamala, Musk and on and on. It's glorious. These people don't know America, and they don't know that they don't know America. 

Driving home from Newark Liberty last night, we had a revelation [Did you?-Ed] With oldest Daughter going away to college next year, and college costs being what they are, perhaps we should just write what sells. And that's World War 1990. There's no reason we can't make Battle of the GIUK Gap the summer sneak in. Also, we've been itching to write the post-war books for years now. Why not just do it? 

Well, it's time to dive back into War Night's Australia story. We don't want to, but it's got to be done. Wish us luck. Omit needless words! Omit needless words! [Maybe you should have picked up some Australian beer, for writing/editing feng shui-Ed] Writing and editing what? [Karma?-Ed] Who? [Kismit, you dumb Hebrew-Ed] Ohhhhh....[Don't be fooled reader(s). His command of Judaism lore, rules, history and practice is surface level... at best-Ed] Hey, at least we can describe Chanukah, which is better than Doug Emhoff. 

Will Buys Irish

Good Day, Stroock's Books friends and supporters, such as they are. 

More blessed rain last night. Despite the deluge of rain these last few weeks, we're still under a drought warning. 

Tonight Mrs. Stroock takes the Stroocklettes to Indiana for Christmas, leaving us here to embrace holiday moroseness and mourn relatives gone. We may drink whisky and smoke cigars.  [By the way, Mister 'Ireland sucks' just went out and blew $78 on Jamesons, Guinness and an Irish pub variety pack that Diageo puts together because they know dumb Yanks will buy it-Ed]

Yes the omnibus spending so called 'continuing resolution' proffered by Speaker Mike Johnson is incomprehensibly stupid. This CR is peak GOP midwit, so much so that we wonder if Johnson isn't using strategery to get a less bad bill through. This blog is generally okay with the Speaker, and will remain so if he kills the bill. Shutdown the government. We don't care. By the way, for a host of logistical reasons including having to maintain two residences, congress should get a raise. 

The Israelis blew the crap out of the Houthi's last night. Israel Radar reports, 'All 3 Houthi ports in Yemen paralyzed in Israeli strike; IDF bombed assets in capital city, Sanaa, for first time; dozens of fighter jets took part in assault, plus refueling aircraft; some targets located 2,000 km away from Israel.' 2000 kilometers* you say? Sounds like the Israelis are warming up. This morning Ynet is calling for all out war with the Houthis. Slowly the Israelis are driving the Iran axis away from Israel and the heart of the Middle East. Iran, Bibi. 

Meanwhile, Turkey is about to invade Syria and spark a war with the American backed and Israel friendly Kurds. As the Iranian threat recedes, the Turkish threat grows. A few years ago we considered making the third Israel Strikes novel about a war with Turkey. Now it's happening. Or becoming more likely, anyway. As Iran recedes Turkey advances. Remarkable. 

*What the fuck's a 'kilo-meter'? We only use American Freedom Units here. 

Ireland Green or Gangrene or Used to be?

Good day, Stroock's Books associates. 

Jewish News Syndicate reports that a hostage deal with Hamas is near. This is fine. The reported parameters of a deal are acceptable to this blog. Also, a hostage deal is now a side issue. It's almost irrelevant. The Middle East is a much different place than when Hamas started the war. It's a better, safer place for Israel. Soon the Israelis will strike the Houthis and after that? Let's just say we wouldn't want to be hanging around an Iranian nuclear facility for a while. Not even an Arab could believe Hamas has won. 

The more this blog thinks about the Middle East, the more this blog believes Israel should strike Iran's nuclear program before January 20th. Trump may not want to have to deal with the immediate aftermath. 'Leave it to Joe,' one imagines Trump saying. Also, when he takes office, Trump will be strong. Right now Biden is a weak, diminished and pathetic figure. He's powerless to stop Israel from striking Iran, and any action he takes afterwords will be relevant for a few weeks only. Iran, Bibi. Exit question: has Trump already given the wink and nod to Bibi?

Back to bashing Ireland, usual caveats apply...The Times of Israel reports: 'Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar called Ireland’s President Michael Higgins an “antisemitic liar” on Tuesday, not long after Israel announced the shuttering of its embassy in Dublin, citing “anti-Israel” policy.' Higgins it seems, accused Israel of wanting to 'settle' Egypt. Why would the Israelis want to settle Egypt? ToI also notes, '“Let us not forget that Ireland was at best neutral during World War II. At that time, the free world was fighting Hitler’s axis while Ireland sat on the side and did nothing.”' Heh, and quite right. 

Meanwhile, Politico Europe points out that Ireland is a goddamn defence freeloader. 'Freeloader' is the author's word, not ours. The author also points out that Ireland is dependent upon Britain to defend Irish airspace and territorial waters, which is even more hilarious than Ireland leaving the British Empire only to join the European Union. Brussels, not London, we guess. Ireland hates Britain except for when Ireland loves Britain. This blog once more calls for the reunification of Britain and Ireland. The last century of Irish independence would be an asterisk in the history books. Why not?

It is our understanding that Ireland used to be a good place for Jews. The land of Eire even had an Irish Taoiseach or mayor of Dublin or some such? [How much 20th century Irish history did you read this summer and you don't know?-Ed] Sorry, our brain is cluttered. [I'll say-Ed] Anyway, No longer is Ireland good for Jews.  Sorry, Ireland. There's only one reason to oppose Israel. Just one. And take it from a Hebrew, when Juden hass* comes, great trouble follows. Juden hass is always the canary in the coalmine. They always come for the Jews first, and before you know, you're the new Jews. 

Ireland, this goes out to you, courtesy of your fine guitarist, Better get used to being my used to be:

[Oh, he hates Ireland so much that Rory Gallagher makes cameos in War Night and World War 1990: Thatcher's War. What a knobhead-Ed]

A European friend from a country that has an NFL team named after its ancestors sends along this article by Mitch McConnell arguing for a muscular, interventionist foreign policy - especially vis a vis Russia. This blog is less hostile to McConnell than most MAGA hats, he did give us Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Comy-Barrett. Still, we don't agree with much in this piece. McConnell represents a GOP that no longer exists and it's time for him to go.** Nevertheless, here's the case. 

[Okay, knobhead, what's your foreign policy then?-Ed] Nothing east of Suez, as the old imperial grandees might say. Americans out of the Middle East, unlimited arms and an all-encompassing hall-pass for Israel. The Abraham Accords. Force a deal between Zelensky and Putin. In the Pacific, greatly expand our military presence in Okinawa and Guam. And an ironclad guarantee to Xi that if he attacks Taiwan, America's first action will be to launch 154 Tomahawk missiles at the Three Gorges Dam. 

*Dublin did offer condolences on Hitler's death. 100 percent appropriate.

**By the way, if Speaker Johnson pushes this hideous 1,500 page spending bill through the House, it will be time for him to go too. Stroock's Books is 100 percent comfortable with a government shutdown. 

Will Goes the Full Cromwell

Good afternoon, what remains of Stroock's Book's readership. 

More blessed rain last night and this morning. 

NJ.com reports the great New Jersey bear hunt has been highly successful this year. 

Another $2000 on our car. Mother!@#$@! That's American, not Canadian. 

Segui...

In Canada, Justin is on the brink, they say. We accidently created an account at the National Post this morning trying to find out what's going on. They don't have much to say. We know nothing, except that today should be interesting. Over to you, Mr. Trump. 

Meanwhile, the German government has collapsed. We don't care. But Ynet has a story on Christian Democratic Union leader Frederich Merz, one of the contenders for chancellor. Ynet says he's pro-Israel. 'Since October 7, Merz, like nearly all CDU members, has expressed unwavering support for Israel and its right to self-defense.' Merz pledges to crackdown on Juden hass in Germany. Whatever. This blog endorses AfD. 

The Israelis have shuttered their embassy in Dublin. Good. Ireland is an antisemitic country, who's government has given unwavering support to the killers and rapists of 10/7.  Ireland's also been on the ass-end of the English-speaking world for over a century. A nation which had nothing important to say about the great issues of the 20th century, yet revels in its own perceived moral superiority. They left the British empire only to join the European Union, which is hilarious, and were for years ruled by a gay dude from Mumbai. Don't the Provos feel bloody stupid now? And I got news for you, there, Paddy. Dublin ain't that nice. We can't write World War 1990: Thatcher's War soon enough.

[What the hell are you on about? You have not one, but two short stories in War Night taking place in Ireland. And you can't stop listening to Rory Gallagher-Ed]. What the hell do you know about it, Ed? You're from Liverpool. [I know the name of the Irish Taoiseach, and that they had an election this month-Ed] They did? [And please, you had a lovely time in Ireland in 2019-Ed]. True. [And I can't help but notice that your renewed hatred for all things Irish, and what's up with that anyway, doesn't extend to Whisky and beer.-Ed]

The Israelis are making preparations to strike the Houthis in Yemen, says Israel Radar. Israel Radar also says an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear sites is more likely. Yikes. Or not. The Israelis almost certainly know everything they need to know about Iran's nuclear program. The IAF has shown it can strike Iran at will. Exit question: Is the talk of an attack on the Houthis a bit of strategic misdirection? Oh look, someone bombed the Houthis today. Bibi: 'Who? Us? Trust me, when one gets bombed by the IAF, one is left with no doubt. Ask Gaza.'

Book sales are an art not a science, an art without reason. A squiggly, Jackson Pollack postmodern kind of art. Yesterday we saw a massive spike in book sales for no reason we can discern. And no, the spike isn't due to sales of Israel Strikes which we've been plugging here. 

New idea, and probably a bad one. Assad's War: A Novel of the New Middle East. A decade from now, Hafez Assad, oldest son of the late president, leads an exile army against ISIS in Syria - backed by Russian muscle. This would be a predictive novel, and an excuse to speculate about what the Middle East and Europe will be like in a decade. It's perfect summer sneak in fodder. 

Green Monday and Blue Big Blue

We did it. Yesterday the air was cold, but still. We had an Arturo Fuente and a big glass of Bushmills. Our first in a month. We got cold, but it was totally worth it.*  

Ah, rain again this morning, blessedly so. The Asbury Park Press has an interesting write up of the current water/drought situation in New Jersey. Nut-graph, as the J-school losers would say, we've got a long way to go. [Really, you think rain reports and reservoir levels are more interesting than drone spotting? -Ed] Fine, here's NJ.com's latest drone report. Another nut-graph, Feds confirm people are seeing drones. Duh.

Mrs. Stroock's Eagles took care of business against the Steelers yesterday, beating them 27-13. The Eagles held the ball for nearly 40 minutes, including more than ten minutes on the final drive and didn't allow the Steelers to score in the second half of teh game. The Steelers aren't as good as we thought they were, and the Eagles are better than we thought they were. We're gonna say it....the Eagles are big, strong and tough.

The hapless Jets managed a win against the more hapless Jaguars. The Giants are a pathetic mess. We watched a few snaps.  Ugly, no good. We've seen some bad Giants seasons in our 51 years (1995, 2003, and 2017 come to mind), this is worse than them all. At 2-12, ownership cannot bring back head coach Brian Daboll and GM Joe Schoen. They're career record is 17-31-1.

The Israeli throttling of Syria continues apace. This morning we see they bombed SAM sites and a SAM depot - triggering local seismographs. Cool! Hostages negotiations with Hamas are progressing, they say, on terms more favorable to the Israelis. Also cool. 

Weird novel idea: five years from now Assad returns to Syria, backed by the Ruskis. Excuse to analyze Ukraine War, write about Ruski arms, and speculate about the future [Assad apologist-Ed]. He's better than Isis.  [Putin lackey-Ed] He helped Assad kill a lot of Isis in Syria and worked closely with the Israelis. Reminder, we revoked Putin's coveted Stroock's Books award. 

*We read a couple of War Night short stories while we were out there, Alberta rancher and young white house staffers. Both look good. For that matter, we've noticed that the short 4,000 word stories seem a lot better than the longer ones. We'll read Voodoo Genie today. We still need to figure out story order. Also, we need to figure out what these stories are called. Lot's to do [And you're fucking around Twitter seeing if Stephen L Miller has said anything in the last 12 minutes-Ed].

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 12/15/24

Good morning, Stroock's Books readership, such as it is. 

Huh, the more we post at Substack, the worse our sales get. Actually, sales are declining because World War 1990: The Final Storm and World War 1990: Norway, are running their course.* The physics of books sales is (are?) undefeated. They're almost backlist books now. If we hadn't written a pair of short stories this year War Night would almost certainly be in print. 

Or would it? We admit to spending some mental energy yesterday thinking about one last War Night story. Of course, the story is titled War Night and would be the main story. We're talking 10,000-15,000 words. We felt some vague juju for something about the Politburo, but are reluctant to revisit the Kremlin and Red Square, for obvious reasons. 

We had another idea yesterday, at the gym, as is our wont. What if we wrote a To Defend the Earth novella, maybe 20,000 words and charge $2.99 for the ebook?

And those are Will's Good Ideas for the week of 12/15/24.

*But it does make one wonder if efforts to build audience and sell books via social media are futile. 

Saturday Updates

A good Saturday morning to Stroock's Books reader(s). Not you, Canada. Screw you and your nancy-boy PM.

Hot Air reports on drone sightings here in New Jersey, including an investigation by our own Senator Andy Kim (for whom we voted) at the Round Valley Reservoir. That's about five miles from Casa de Stroock, and we spotted the drone formation Kim documents coming east toward our house. Last night we went out with Youngest Daughter to drone spot. We saw now drones but picked out Orion, Mars and Jupiter. So that was nice. 

The Things.

We had a rough week with our Brit Evacuation story, but we got the intro set up the way we wanted it. 

We read halfway through War Night. Are we entirely pleased? No. But we are pleased enough. Yes, we have entered the melancholy phase of the editing process. Acceptance is sure to follow. Outstanding remaining issues: Story order, adding a few more stories, writing a story titled War Night. Honestly that last issue may be the biggest issue. 

Also, thank you, Reader Unkown for reading Morning Suns. Glad you enjoyed it.