250

Good morning, Stroock's Books kibbutzim and Shabbat Shalom. The president called for a national day of Shabbat tonight, Shabbat 250. We will be acting accordingly. Jews have never had a better friend in the White House. 

Oh! And happy Jerusalem Day.

It's also 'Nakba' in which 'Palestinian's commemorate something that didn't happen.

Medical brief...yet another doctor not hitting the panic button and ordering more tests instead. We find this off putting and are close to judging this endless series of doctor's appointments a waste of time. 

War of the ants...we've seen, maybe, three ants in the last 48 hours. 

We dunno, what else we got?

It seems the Israeli Knesset will dissolve and elections will come a bit early. Right now we'd give the edge to Naftalli Bennett's center-right Together Party and the oppo block. But the campaign (and events!) may change things. Sooner or later Israel must needs move on from Netanyahu. We are open to persuasion that sooner is now. 

Speaking of campaigns and events, let's see what's happening in the Mother Country...The campaign against Kier Starmer continues. Frankly, we kinda hope Starmer survives. The worse things get, the better in the long run. And no, we don't trust Nigel, not one bit. Britain deserves this. 

DOGE report.

Slogging through the Nueva Segovia chapter. We'll finish the slog today. Which does not mean we've finished the chapter. But the chapter will look much better than it did on Monday. 

Thursday Downer and Daughters

Good Thursday morn, persevering Stroock's Books reader(s).

Yesterday Oldest Daughter finished her last final exam. We picked her up and brought her home. First year of college....complete. Wow. Less than a year ago we were planning her high school graduation party (the party was great). What can a father say?

We've yet another doctor appointment today. What drugs is this one going to want to prescribe? In the last month we said no to two doctors. Wish us luck. 

And we'll have yet another doctor's appointment late next week.

[Just what is going on?-Ed] We'll report as events warrant. We're a bit down about all the medical visits and issues. And other things too. And that's the Thursday Downer. 

Meanwhile, Middle Daughter is learning about the Civil War and made the mistake of asking us a question, at the end of which she complained, 'I ask you one question, and you won't stop talking for an hour. Ugh!'

We saw Middle Daughter's Civil War work sheet and noted her teacher wrote that she refused to refer to 'the Confederacy' as the southern states were in rebellion, and everyone knows the Civil War was about slavery and went on with a diatribe against the 'Lost Cause'. 

The first part is silly. The Confederacy was, in fact, a thing. It had an executive, a legislative branch, and all the trappings of a government.  However, she's right about the Civil War being about slavery and the 'Lost Cause' view on the war, while understandable, is also bunk.

In fact, Middle Daughter asked us, 'Dad, what do you think about the lost cause?' We answered, 'Well, it's complicated' to which Middle daughter replied, 'Ugh!' The southerners weren't the first people to concoct a romantic myth about their defeat. 

Our own grandmother (born in Naches, Mississippi, raised in Waterproof, Louisianna), who married the first Yankee that came along and managed to keep her southern accent after living in New York City for 50 years (or enemy territory as she called it) used to tell us that, 'Lee was a gentlemen and Grant was a drunk' and proclaimed, 'The South shall rise again!'

We noted this daddy/daughter discourse on FB. Middle Daughter looked and asked, 'Dad, why is everyone arguing about the Civil War in your post comments?' We replied, 'Because that's what people do, dear.'

And rounding out the Stroock's Daughters activity sheet, yesterday evening we attended Youngest Daughter's coral concert. The singing was just lovely, a mix of songs from America across America, India to Korea (Onyong! IYKYK). Delightful. This being Chindia, let's just say we could pick out Youngest Daughter in the rafters pretty easily.  

DOGE report.

We spent yesterday rewriting the Nueva Segovia intro chapter. That's it. That's all we did. Once again, we plan, god laughs. For as it is written: we plan, god laughs. 

Midweek War Civil

Happy midweek, people of Stroock's Books. 

As The New York Times and Nick Kristof blood-libel the Jews*, Hot Air tells us of a new report detailing the Gazan's mass rape and sexual mutilation of Israelis on October 7th and afterwords. Do not turn away. Look. See. This blog insists, absolutely insists that the readership clicks on over and reads Hot Air's story about the sexual atrocities Hamas committed against the Jews, 'redefined evil'.

Do not turn away. Look. And know that everyone in Gaza is culpable for the sick evil Hamas unleashed. Israel needs Sherman. Israel needs Curtis Lemay. Bomb Gaza. 

Meanwhile the IDF continues dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon. 

And in Austria, Israeli singer Noam Bettan waded into a sea of European hate and advanced to the Eurovision song contest finale. 

On to nicer things...

Last night Middle Daughter lamented, 'I ask you one question about the Civil War and you won't shut up for an hour!'

That question was, 'How many years did the Civil War last? Five years? Ugggggh!'

We then mentioned a few of the battle she would learn. The Wilderness, Cold Harbor, Spotsylvania, the Atlanta Campaign, Sherman's March to the Sea....'That's all the battles?' She asked. 'That's all the battles in 1864,' we said. 'Ughhhh!' Middle Daughter replied and stomped off. 

War of the ants....light activity. We saw one ant this morning. 

DOGE report.

We started reading the FDN Nueva Segovia chapter and are more or less pleased. By the end of the week we will have read through and edited the whole thing, and it will be time to put that chapter and the FDN set up chapter into the sit phase where we don't think about it for a few weeks. 

*Israeli rape dogs, Arabs will believe anything. The imams are right, the Jew is clever. There was a time when that sentence was funny. When it was so over the top and out of place as to be a farce. It's not funny anymore, is it? Not when the mayor of New York backs pogroms against Jews. 

Tuesday Post Without Title

Good morning Stroock's Books reader(s), you brave few. 

War of the ants...we saw a few live ants yesterday and spotted several carcasses this morning. We've passed the tipping point, we're sure. It's time to address Congress, and assure that august body that victory is near.

Let's recap the political things, shall we? The US Supreme Court struck down race based congressional districts. The Virginia Supreme Court voided the state's gerrymander referendum. Various red states are furiously gerrymandering their congressional maps. And Dems are acting with the grace and circumspection which we've come to expect from the party of Jefferson Davis. It's been a great week or ten days for the GOP. Enjoy it. This blog warns reader(s) against Victory Disease.* 

What Will's watching...Borat. Saw it on Netflix last night. We have to admit, the Jewish jokes aren't as funny as they were in 2006, when they seemed so ridiculous they were farcical. 

Meanwhile terrorists carried out an anti-Jewish pogrom in Brooklyn last night and the New York Times' Nick Kristoff is blood-libeling the Jews. 

Times have changed and the eye twitches. 

DOGE report.

We read through and greatly improved the Contra/FDN prep chapter in which the reader is introduced to several Contra Comandantes in scenes where Contra commandos are marching over the mountains into the Jalapa River Valley and such. Readers meet US air liaisons. One was born in Nicaragua and is returning home. Another is a Spanish fluent Texan wearing a tan vest, mustache, and aviator sunglasses. Gen-X readers may recognize this action figure. 

In reading through the Contra/FDN prep chapter we added a few scenes. 

Honestly this is scutwork, and it will be several more readthroughs before we are truly happy. 

*Year on year inflation 3.8 percent. As we were saying...

Various for Monday

A cloudy good morning to Stroock's Books reader(s) in the United States, Commonwealth, and across the globe. 

We ourselves awake with a touch of plantar fasciitis, which is better than waking up with a touch of gout. 

Oldest Daughter is home from college after a very successful first year. 

War of the ants...we saw one ant yesterday. We are moving inexorably toward victory. 

PJM reports: 'Bombshell Evidence About the 2020 Election Is Coming'. We remain skeptical. Which is to say, remaining unaccountable for one's misdeeds is a Democrat specialty. Which is not to say that Trump didn't win. Trump won. Upon this hill we will fight. Oh, you think the election was fair? Got any evidence for that, or na? Do you also believe in the tooth fairy? Reminder, believing the 2020 election was fair is the conspiracy theory here. 

We remain paralyzed, unable and unwilling to write American Revolutionary War articles. No idea why.  Organizing our boxed up library would be a way to stoke our own interest. Back in the day, by which we mean 2021, our American Revolution books took up an entire bookcase, about a hundred books in all. 

One American Revolution thought. Historians sometimes portray Washington as an 18th century Fabius avoiding pitched battle with the British Army. The men of the American Revolution (like their British counterparts) were raised on Plutarch and other Roman historians. They looked to Roman examples to define Washington's character.

Note, Plutarch was not a historian in the way we think of historians*. He was a moralist, using historical examples to define good morals and character. For example, Alexander was an overambitious glutton who couldn't stop conquering. Ceaser was of bad character so the senate assassinated him. This style of history is why we have stories about George Washington in the cherry tree. Washington was of good character and won the war and was a good president because of that character.

The first modern history is Edward Gibbon's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Gibbon was in many ways a moralist too. The Roman Empire fell because it became large and gluttonous. Gibbon's not wrong, is he? But unlike a lot of moralists, Gibbon looked at the primary sources (think of those Penguin Classic histories at the book store) and used them to interpret what had happened. 

DOGE Report.

We worked on the Contra intro chapter yesterday and are diligently trying to make this chapter make sense. These are important character introductions. We shall continue doing so today. 

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 5/10/26

Good morning, Stroock's Books reader(s) and Happy Mother's Day. Mrs. Stroock doesn't care much about Mother's Day, she's far too practical, and is more interested in her 76rs tonight than Mother's Day. Mrs. Stroock's been without her mother for 24 years. Ours has been gone for eight years now [Well that's a hell of a downer. Is today Thursday or something?-Ed]. 

We awake tired and groggy. Also, we're sore from three days in a row at the gym.

[You're just a good time this morning, aren't you?-Ed].

We are...we are. 

A report in the WSJ claims the Israelis established a secret base in the Iraqi desert to support airstrikes in Iran. Cool. The Israelis totally imitated Israel Strikes. Otherwise Israel Strikes has been totally overtaken by events. Baah! Still a good novel, though. 

Let's get right to it...Will's Good Idea for the Week of 5/10/26.

We've been watching some videos and reading some articles on book sales, rankings etc. We're really not learning much and a lot of these tips and ideas seem dubious. 

We have not committed to writing World War 1990: Battle of the GIUK Gap. 

To restate something we stated a few months ago...we've got two half finished World War 1990 novels. We know for sure we're doing Esercito Italiano, Saddam's War, and Election '92. We'd kind of like to get things wrapped up by 2028. Right? 

DOGE report.

We spent a good chunk of yesterday cleaning up a couple of Managua chapters. We'll spend today cleaning up the Contra prep chapter.

Saturday Updates

Good morning, Stroock's Books weekenders. 

We got in a Judaism last night. Our first in a while, actually. Changes in the works. 

Happy Victory Day, Comrades.

Even without the flag and tie we manage to look so Soviet in that pic, or Ruski, anyway. 

We remain baffled as to how our Triglyceride levels spiked from 204 to 692 in ten months. Glucose is up, slightly. We eat no differently than we did last July. Stress? We dunno. Devotees will recall last summer's AC Wars. Those were so stressful that Mrs. Stroock took the phone from us because she thought we were about to stroke-out. 

We are up about ten pounds. But this is muscle. We know this because last summer we benched 230 and now we bench 300. And our pants fit us the same and we're wearing belts we have to punch a whole into, so they're tight enough, not loose enough. 

So, alert reader(s) will have noticed we've been going to the doctor a lot lately.  We'll be going to the doctor a lot more for examinations and tests. Two more are in the works. One Thursday, one at the end of the month. This blog will deliver health updates as events warrant. 

War of the ants...very little ant activity yesterday and we've yet to see one this morning. The little bastards are probably regrouping. They're clever. 

Well, Labour lost 1,416 seats in Britain's local elections, the Tories lost 659 and Reform picked up over 1,500. The Greens and 'Muslim Independent Parties' also gained seats. As Mark Steyn says, the future is showing up. Labour's shellacking is nice to see, but we doubt it will amount to much in the long run. Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he won't step down. Honestly, those of us who loath the man should encourage him to remain in Number Ten for further torturing. Things will only get worse. 

The Things.

We are bored with Substack and sorely tempted to return to Twitter and do on Twitter what we do on Substack. We dunno. 

Okay, we had a great week with World War 1990: The Managua Campaign. Both Task Force Bolivar and the FDN have broken through and are proceeding south toward Managua. We're still not sure what happens next. Maybe we have both groups arrive on the outskirts of Managua and then...standoff. 

World War 1990: The Managua Campaign is 48,000 words.