Through Thursday

A fine Thursday morning, you brave reader(s) of this most mid of mid blogs. 

The gout subsides further. All it took was one anti-inflammatory pill, reinforcing the notion that we actually had bursitis. We'll be hitting the gym this afternoon.  

So, the House passed the SAVE voter ID act. Bully for them. But the SAVE Act won't make it through the senate and even if it does, the Dems will just find a resistance judge to block it. The SAVE Act will spend the next 2-3 years tied up in court and won't impact the 2026 midterms at all. Still, the House GOP delivered something the MAGA hats wanted and wrong footed the Dems.

Theory...at some point one of these Resistance judges will hold a Trump DOJ lawyer in contempt and order him arrested. Trump responds by sending Homeland Security to arrest the Resistance judge. And away we go. 

DOGE report. 

Another chapter of World War 1990: Ireland read through. We remain pleased with what we are reading. Just little things here and there. That's the game. 

Every day the Managua Campaign set up chapter gets just a little bit better. [Why are you working on the Managua Campaign and not Thatcher's War?-Ed] Because we don't want to OD on the Irish and their infernal problems. 

Looking over A Line Through the Desert's Amazon page this morning, we think it's time to update the description, etc. Afterall it's been unchanged for...17 sod-bollocking years (thank you M. Steyn). In the meantime, won't some kind soul by a copy of A Line Through the Desert which took up two years of our life? This labor of love. This work for which we suffered so.

The Grognard really wants us to write World War 1990: Battle of the GIUK Gap this summer. We'll see.

Midweek Meh

Good morning, Stroock's Books associates. 

The gout subsides. Actually, we're wondering if this is bursitis. Bursitis also sucks. 

Temps will climb all the way to 40 today. Heat wave. We may do something stupid this afternoon. We'll see. Fun fact, we've now gone...let's count here...nearly eight weeks without a cigar (26, December). We're enjoying the streak, TBH. Nevertheless, one deserves a treat every once in a while, doesn't one? We'll see. 

Wow, a win for Trump and the nation as the January jobs report comes in at +130,000 higher than expected. We mention this because we saw the trade deficit is increasing (a sign that Americans are buying more imports). Locally, gas prices are inching upward, another sign the economy is going good. 

Here in New Jersey, our old Congressman, Tom Malinowski, was defeated by some Jew hating, Bernie acolyte whack job in the primary to fill the seat vacated by Governor Mikie Sherrill. Good. We hate when congresscritters move districts like that. Get a job, Tom. Anyway, NJ-11, meet your next congresswoman. 

Trump talks about an Iran deal while assembling a mighty host. Meanwhile the Israelis are planning to renew the war on Gaza. War is a lot easier to wage when they enemy isn't holding hostages. This is a point we made back when the original deal was inked. 

DOGE report.

Two chapters of World War 1990: Ireland read through. Just a few minor things here and there. Once again, that's the reason why we read the physical proof. 

We had an excellent morning with World War 1990: The Managua Campaign. We introed General Stiner arriving on the border to meet the various Honduran, El Salvadorian, Guatemalan, and Contra commanders. Pro tip, you can usually use an arrival scene to show troops massing, equipment, stockpiling of supplies, etc etc.  

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 2/8/26....No. No (but in Spanish). Nyet! Nein! Nay....World War 1990 the Managua Campaign should exclusively be about Nicaragua. [Meaning there should be a novel called World War 1990: Cuba?-Ed] Meaning there should be a novel called World War 1990: Cuba. Reminder. Had we written World War 1990: Castro's Folly today, it'd be two novels. 

However, we are reminded of the words of the President in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. Just because we can do a thing does not mean we must do that thing. Or as Lord Humungus once said, 'Just walk away...' We wrote that before we consulted some of you people. 

Tuesday Gouty

Good afternoon, Stroock's Books reader(s) whoever and wherever you may be.  

Baaaaah! More gout this morning. We may hit the gym anyway. Sitting around and doing nothing ain't doing no good. Pain is often a wonderful clarifier. Yeah, we wrote that a little annoyed. 

Trump meets with Netanyahu today. While US/Iran talks go on, Iranian rhetoric is decidedly defiant and bellicose. Meanwhile the US moves military assets into position. There are THAADs and F-35s in Jordan. TACO, Trumps detractors say, then he takes out Fordow and abducts Maduro. 

Were we Iran, we'd be more cautious. But the mullahs really don't have a choice but to talk smack, do they? The mullahs must act like the strong horse here, lest their battered people get any ideas. As we always say, the more bellicose the Arab's rhetoric, the more impotent is the Arab. Given their performance during the 12 day war, this blog believes the same is true of the Persian. 

We await events, but doubt Trump will make a bad deal just for the sake of making a deal, Barry Soetoro style. 

In the YooKay, Kier Starmer tries to quell a Labour Party revolt amidst calls to resign. Don't get too excited. Time was, UK leaders resigned out of a sense of honor. But that was the UK and this is the YooKay where the left is never held accountable. This blog remains skeptical Nigel would be any better than Kier. 

DOGE Report: We spent most of yesterday working on World War 1990: the Managua Campaign. The planning and set up scene is getting better. 

Go to Google Earth...the plan...One contra force under Dimas (look him up), will cross the border at Trojes and advance SW through the Nueva Segovia River Vally. Once Sandinista forces are drawn out, a second Contra force under Mike Lima (look him up), will cross the border at Ocatal and take the town, cutting off the Nueva Segovia River Vally. In this way the Honduran border is secured and the main battlespace is flanked prior to the primary advance.

In stage two, a Pan-American/Contra force will invade northwestern Nicaragua and advance southwest toward Managua under cover of American air support and naval gunfire. 

Proofreading of World War 1990: Ireland has begun in earnest. The proofer has the physical proof. We ourselves read the prologue chapter of World War 1990: Ireland.  Even at this stage we found a few things to fix. That's why one proofs the proof. Reminder, one must always needs be the last one to read one's book.

Super Bowl Post

Good Monday afternoon, reader(s) of Stroock's Books. 

Baah! Another gout attack. This time in the right knee. Too many pigs in a blanket last night. Mrs. Stroock always makes a fine Super Bowl spread. 

Super Bowl XL was unremarkable, meh, mid - in retrospect. But during the game we were entertained. 

The Seahawks' excellent defense exposed Patriot's QB Drake Maye, who looked overwhelmed and out of his depth the entire game. Bad picks and bad fumbles [Your phrasing implies there's good picks and fumbles-Ed]. The game's signature play is Maye getting obliterated and fumbling, with said fumble being returned for a touchdown (okay it was really an interception). 

Announcers Mike Tirico and Chris Collingsworth were good. We are aware that Collingsworth annoys a lot of people, but we don't have a problem with him.   

We didn't mind the Bad Bunny halftime show, but we didn't really know what was going on, as he sang in Spanish. His singing didn't strike us as very good, though. Guests Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin, now they could sing. The production was well done and aesthetically interesting. Yes, there was a Latin theme and a bunch of Latin American flags, but heading those flags was the Stars and Stripes, which is important. That's just our in the moment, 'Were we not entertained?' reaction. 

Charlie Puth's national anthem was boring.  

The commercials were mostly unremarkable. This was the Super Bowl of AI and weight loss drugs. We did enjoy the Dunkin advert full of 80's sitcom characters. But we would, wouldn't we?

Moving on...

The great Stephen L. Miller points out that Substack is lapping up mainstream journalists and featuring them. That is, Substack is becoming a platform for mainstream media castoffs like Jim Acosta and Jennifer Rubin. The Bulwark and The Dispatch thrive there. Alert reader(s) will recall we've been toiling away on Substack for a couple of years now. Every day we wonder if we're wasting our time. Maybe it's time to leave Substack. If so, we'll leave in a blaze of glory. Let's see, who/what can we call gay and retarded today?

Related, on his AMA podcast, Miller asked our question, 'Would your beer league hocky team be competitive in the NOSHO?' We fanboiyed we totally fanboiyed.

Saturday Updates/Sunday Good Idea

Aye, a fair Sunday morning to all you Stroock's Books people out there. And a cold Sunday morning as well. The cold snap is getting to us, giving us multiple things to worry about. The snap won't break till tomorrow. 

We wrote Saturday's post, got busy and never got around to hitting the PUBLISH button. We did some work on World War 1990: The Managua Campaign and ran half a dozen errands, culminating with sushi. 

We said we thought the Olympic opening ceremonies would be gay and retarded. Turns out we liked the Olympic Opening ceremonies Friday night. The dancing was interesting in a low key sort of way. The Italian National anthem was a pleasure to watch. 

Related...a friend from a European country that has an NFL team named after its ancestors is flaunting his nation's dominance in Winter Olympic gold medals.

In NYC, the snow isn't cleared, the garbage is piling up, and the Islamist mayor is quoting the Koran. New York City asked for this. New York City voted for this. And New York City deserves this. 

A foreign friend asked for our thoughts on the latest Trump nontroversey. We replied, yeah, Trump is awesome. We don't care. 'But...but....' We don't care. 'Yeah...but...but...' What part of we don't care is unclear? 

Super Bowl: we're having a few friends over to watch the game. This blog believes the Seattle Seahawks will decisively beat the New England Patriots. We've no thoughts on the Bad Bunny thing, but will be watching as we have three teenaged girls here at home. 

Exit question: will leftists make some kind of trouble? Antifa? SSRI wine drunk pro-illegal wine moms? Maybe a player or two kneeling during the National Anthem? Stay tuned. Hmmm....we found an easy way to watch the TPUSA halftime show....

The Things.

We had an excellent week with World War 1990: The Managua Campaign. We have a rough draft of the US/Contra prep chapter. You know the, 'Mr. President, Operation Southern Storm. We'll advance on a two-brigade front...' scenes? Don't you people get sick of White House briefings? You don't? Okay.

The proof of World War 1990: Ireland is in the mail both to us and to the proofer. We await its arrival with great fear and trepidation. Wish us luck. 

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 2/8/26...We'll be reading the World War 1990: Ireland proof and wrapping up the latest chapter in World War 1990: The Managua Campaign. We'll not get back to World War 1990: Thatcher's War till we're done with the Ireland proof. We don't want to OD on Irish stuff. 

Fook it Friday

Happy Friday Stroock's Books kibbutzim, and shabbat shalom. 

The Olympics start tonight. The ceremonies are going to be gay and retarded, aren't they? 

We're still enjoying the bitching and moaning by all the Washington Post journalists fired by Jeff Bezos (PBUH). Like they have a right to lifetime employment at a business that's losing a hundred million dollars a year. You know what, we've been laid off, not invited backed, eased out, and just plain shit-canned. Toughen up, buttercup. And learn to code. Screw them.

Jews, a couple of new polls in Israel. One shows a hung parliament (with Likud winning 27 out of 120 seats), one shows a majority for Netanyahu's coalition. In a preference for PM poll, Bibi gets 52%. The Israelis must have elections by October. The rumor is Bibi will call for elections this summer. Either way his political position improves each week. It seems the era of Netanyahu ends when Netanyahu says it ends. 

So here's a twitter post showing video of a Sioux Nation meeting. The poster calls the meeting a pow-wow, but we don't know what the proper Sioux term is and we like to be respectful. Speaking of, alert reader(s) will see a man dragging a 7th Cavalry flag on the floor, the 7th Cavalry being Custer's unit. Why shouldn't Sioux commemorate their great victory? But why desecrate the 7th Cavalry flag?

Do note in this and other videos the Sioux are walking proudly with the Stars and Stripes.  Would the Sioux position in the United States not be analogous to that of the Confederates after the War of Northern Aggression. The Johnnie Rebs are notoriously proud of their victories over the Yankees. But we've never, ever, scene a Johnny Reb desecrate the Stars and Stripes. Robert E. Lee was a Christian gentleman of course, though he was soundly whipped on the field of battle, by Yankees.

Thru Day Thursday

Arrh...ye  stout reader(s) of Stroock's Books and avast! 

We awake with a touch of the gout. Reminder, it's not the gout that sucks. Uric acid is easily broken up. It's the aftermath. Those thousands of tiny crystals leave one's muscles sore. 

We hit the gym yesterday afternoon out of sheer ennui [Dear lord, stop pronouncing it N-U-I-Ed]. That's three days in a row. Actually, we had a vision. We've been wanting to change up our exercise regimen. How 'bout elliptical, rower, elliptical, rower; 15 minutes per? Upon this idea we shall dwell. 

Iran talks are back on, they say.  Our guess is that the Gulf Arabs wanted Trump to take one more stab at talks before Operation Don't Piss Me Off. But that is only a guess. Meanwhile Iran has seized two tankers in the Gulf. Again, Iran can be a nuisance, but Trump has the leverage.  He can afford to be patient. Exit question, why does Iran seemingly want a fight?* 

When we say we come from a journalism background...

...we mean we come from a journalism background. This includes a grandfather that wrote for Barons and the New York Times and a father who was a producer at NBC news. We ourselves wrote for our HS and college newspaper. It's not much, but it's how we learned who, what, where, when, and why. Few modern 'journalists' are capable of what we were capable of at 19. Just the facts. Here we are doing actual reporting. Here we are doing some more actual reporting. It ain't rocket science. 

At Hot Air, Mark Judge writes about the ongoing massacre at The Washington Post. Breitbart has more details. Do click on over and enjoy. It moved, a little. Screw these people. If we saw one of them drowning, we wouldn't lift a finger to help. Okay, that's a little too far. We'd toss them the rescue buoy, but we wouldn't get wet.  

President Nixon is enjoying The Post's implosion, from up there. 

DOGE report.

We started three scenes in World War 1990: The Managua Campaign. Two of them are about the Contras moving into position. We like these scenes very much. 

What do we think? 

*Because at this moment the Mullahs are really trying to piss off Trump. What are the unknown unknowns?