Will's Last Good Idea for August, 2026

A faire Sunday morn to Christian reader(s) of the blog except the C of E types. The Presbyterians, too. Oh, and the Methodists. In fact, pretty much all the mainline Protestant denominations. They're a weak, feeble lot. And they don't much like Jews. [You know, you have a long line of Presbyterian preachers on your mum's side. And all that Kentucky heritage is Methodist-Ed] And? 

We told the parking lot guy, a portly young man in a bad uniform and yellow highway jacket, with as much politeness* as we could muster, that the parking lot policy was retarded. 

'The policy is retarded,' we said.

'Well they don't want people parking in the dorm parking lot and unloading their car,' the parking kid said. 

'It's move in day,' we replied. 'Where am I supposed to park. Na, I'm going to park here.'

Anyway, Oldest Daughter is moved into her dorm. 

Will's final good idea for August: A second Korean war, probably alternate history. But it rhymes with the first Korean War. US/South Korea defeats the Norks. China intervenes. But this time there are no restrictions on US actions. We pound Manchuria and hammer the Chinese coast. 

[You know, this could be...-Ed] Don't say it....[a post WWIII World War 1990 novel, World War 1990: Korea. Make it after the election of 1992 with the new president having to deal with the crisis-Ed] Fuck![I can tell by your cursing you like the idea-Ed]  Fuck! [See- and you already have a vague plan for an apocalyptic 2000 war between Israel and Iraq-Ed].

Stroock's Books will toy with this idea all week. 

*The late Mark Stroock II once said in a Young & Rubicam meeting, 'Tell them, indirectly, to go fuck themselves'.

Saturday Updates

Good morning, Stroock's Books weekenders. The air is cool. The sky is clear. This looks to be a fine day. 

We saw some fine pitching and defense last night during the Somerset Patriots 3-1 win over the Akron Ducks. 

We are preparing to decamp to the Stroock Northern Strategic Direction for Labor Day. 

This Venezuelan oil agreement seems like a big deal. What would Tommy from Landman say? We need to watch season two. 

The Things. 

We got off to a good start on our Soviet sub story in the 5th nuke novel but haven't done any work on it in a few days. That's two half-finished stories. The 5th nuke novel is 49,000 words. Ten thousand more words and probably one more story and we have a novel. We're shooting for 60,000-65,000 words. 

We worked all week on World War 1990: Thatcher's War. Yesterday we got hung up on the Dublin airport attacks scene. This needs a lot of work. There follows the battle of Howth. The readthrough of the second half of Thatcher's War is 70 percent complete. We are generally meh. 

Thinking and Pointing

Shabbat Shalom, Stroock's Book's kibbutzim. 

We are tired and sore after an unnecessary gym session. Today we rest...Because we're taking in a Somerset Patriots game this evening. First pitch is at 6 PM.

We got plenty of rain yesterday and this morning. 

We've been starting the morning at the Donut for several weeks now. This morning the kid behind the counter handed us our coffee before we ordered it. Reminder, like metric numbers or common core math, Starbucks is the mark of the beast. 

Our friend from a European country that has an NFL team named after its ancestors reports, 'The king is dead. Long live the king'.

At The American Thinker, an interesting article on why a subset of American women, the AWFULs one supposes, is so unhappy. A miserable, SSRI binging, wine gulping, suburban woman is safer than the Queen of Sheba, more comfortable than Queen Victoria. They are a societal problem, a problem not quickly solved, a problem not fixed within our lifetime. Reminder: feminism is ALWAYS bad for women. 

Related...We remain in awe of the WNBA's incompetence. With all the trans and gender shenanigans these last few years, how did the league not have a plan, policy, and legal argument in place for when some rightwing culture jammer declared for the WNBA draft? We point in the most Sophie Cummingham way possible. Go with God, Enes Kanter Freedom and Royce White, you civil rights pioneers.   

Campaign note, national: This article at JNS more or less makes the Jewish case against JD Vance. We don't care if Vance is campaigning with Tucker Carlson's money man (such is politics) or if Buckly Carlson is on Vance's staff. Tucker Carlson decamped to the Maine woods and went mad, as is well known. Are Vance's words and alleged criticisms of Israel a problem? Our answer to that question is...we don't know. We'd like Vance to give a speech on the Middle East, or something. Vance would be a formidable candidate. But this blog renews its endorsement of Ron Desantis. 

We dunno, what does the readership make of Vance and the 'Jewish issue'?

DOGE report.

Progress, progress. We're making progress. That's all we can say.

If it's Thursday, it's Down

Aye, a faire Thursday afternoon, you Stroock's Books reader(s), you. 

We had some rain early this morning with much more on the way. Here are the latest New Jersey drought numbers. Look at all that green. We're doing great.  

So CIA director John Ratcliffe was in Moscow. Wonder what he was talking to the Ruskis about? 'This comes directly from the president,' clears throat. 'If you attack a NATO country we'll take these half dozen economic actions against you, declare a no-fly zone over Ukraine, and sink every ship in the Black Sea fleet? Comprende? Da? Good!'

Thursday Downer: this video on living with bipolar disorder seems about right. Or is it? We've never been as up as these people are describing. In some ways we're just naturally morose. Always have been. We do like the second cases' exercise regimen. Damn right exercise fights depression. God bless endorphins. Which is why we're hitting the gym in an hour despite a slightly sore knee. 

These people are on way too many drugs, in our opinion. We're on one, which we hate, despite what it does. We don't get high or low much anymore. We're steady. Even. Another word for our condition is numb. Reminder the highs are never as high as the lows are low, and we'd gladly give up the former even if it means losing the later. 

Campaign note, national: are normies really going to care who Hasan Piker is? In our opinion the GOP is counting way too much on linking Dem/DSA candidates to him. 

DOGE report.

An excellent day with the Battle of Ardee, yesterday. The chapter still needs work, clarification and articulation. But we are pleased. 

We read through a couple of problem scenes this morning. By the time we were through with 'em those scenes were a lot less problematic. 

We've got, like, two chapters left. And we need to write the Irish Ranger Wing raid and the conclusion. 

If it's Midweek, it's the Midweek Meander (with AC/DC asides)

A good midweek morn to Stroock's Books reader(s) everywhere except Canada. Bastards. 

Autumn looms. Right now, the temp is 59 degrees, American. Feels a bit early for such cool temps, even in New Jersey, no? 

We are sore from an afternoon at the gym. But we've two good (enough) nights of sleep. 

We are neglecting our lawn. 

We see no one bought Blooms yesterday. Thanks. We blame Canada.

This blog has no insights to offer on the passing of Dolly Parton. We're just not much of a Country music fan. Seriously, we can name, like three Dolly Parton songs. Three. Parton was one of those 'everywhere' celebrities of our childhood. We recently saw 9 to 5 for the first time in a couple of decades, a movie that was on cable all the time for a while. Parton is one of the reasons why that film is so much fun. Go ahead and give 9 to 5 a rewatch. Otherwise, kaddish. 

FB tells us that 11 years ago today we saw our last AC/DC concert, this one at the Meadowlands. Note, our previous AC/DC concert was at the old Giants Stadium just before they tore it down. AC/DC is on tour again, but we don't feel the need to see a show. They're old and so are we. 

Well how 'bout that! Back in Black just came on the radio here at Dunkin Donuts. Must be a sign. Easily one of the ten best chord progressions in rock. 

Related...2006...or our last good semester subbing. That autumn we were enamored with 1990s ACDC. Reader(s) should do themselves a favor and listed to 2000's Stiff Upper Lip. This is smooth yet gritty blues based album. Stiff Upper Lip was only six years old when we found it, but for us in 2006, 2000 might as well have been another planet. House, baby on the way, job, novel completed, a few magazines articles in print and many more coming. Seriously, click that link. 

We agree with this, 100 percent: 'Arguing against antisemitic lies is futile. Antisemitism must be confronted for what it has become: a political weapon against Jews and the Jewish state.' Go the full Andrew Breitbart. Turn the camera around and accuse the accuser. Of all the causes in all the world, why have you selected the Jews? Reminder, there is only one reason to oppose Israel. Just one. And it's ugly. Oh, and don't forget to bomb Gaza. 

Campaign note: we've spotted half a dozen Rebecca Bennett for Congress signs in our neighborhood. We're not surprised. Bennett's supporters are motivated, and who can blame them? She's a heck of a candidate. We also saw some Corey Booker signs. We didn't even know he was up for reelection. We've no idea who Booker's GOP opponent is. We did spot one Tom Kean sign. His campaign does strike us as aggressive, confident even. Kean has 100 percent name recognition, his father was a popular governor. He's also got a substantial money advantage. But money isn't everything.* 

DOGE report. 

We approach the tasks at hand with a mixture of ennui and resignation [Stop pronouncing ennui 'n-u-i'-Ed]. Get bent. 

Another chapter down in World War 1990: Thatcher's War. Today we read the Battle of Ardee chapter [Oh, fuck no -Ed]. Oh fuck no is right. 

We continue cleaning up the sub story in the 5th nuke novel. 

*Which is why GOP millionaire Doug Forrester was unable to buy himself the governor's mansion or a senate seat in the 2000s. 

Will Embraces Tuesday

All right, decent (enough) night's sleep. 

A good gym session, yesterday. All our numbers are down though. Is that fatigue or more likely age? One wonders. 

Autumn is creeping up on us. As we write this the temp is 55 degrees, Fahrenheit. In support of Trump's economic war on Canada, we're banning Celsius and metric numbers. Socialist bastards. Go eat a moose.

FB tells us that on this day in 2025 we moved Oldest Daughter into college. One year later she knows everything. It's like...[Dealing with 19 year old you?-Ed]. Exactly.

Campaign note: we saw a television commercial in which incumbent GOP congressman Tom Kean touts his support for Medicare and Medicaid. Memos must have gone out arguing that the Dem/DSA axis is vulnerable on healthcare, we suspect. The 90s GOP this is not. 

Unrelated...

Sometimes we feel like Sam Rothman at the end of Casino, putting down our pencil and staring forlornly into the distance as we recall the good old days; in our case our adjunct professor days. Sometimes we drive past Raritan Valley Community College and whisper, 'RVCC...RVCC...' We've even toyed with the idea of reapplying. 

A friend and former colleague who's still there urges us to do so. We came up with many reasons why we shouldn't. 'You are putting up obstacles to yourself,' our friend said. 'You're goddamn right we are,' we replied. 

Lord knows what's in our personnel file. We imagine an interview going something like this, 'It says here you resigned with three weeks left in the semester and when the department head said you can't do that you replied, "Just watch me" Pierre Trudeau style. And later when the department head told you might as well be saying "Do you know who I am?" you replied, "and?" Our words were something like, 'I bring a lot of value to this institution including dozens of articles and six novels and it's about time someone recognized that.'*

This Jason Arday scandal is giving us second thoughts. [Why? Did you think of offing yourself when it all imploded?-Ed] No but we had a stiff drink or three. The great Stephen L Miller supposes that large swaths of academia are defending Arday's plagiarism because they too are plagiarists. Miller is a lot smarter than we [Not hard to be-Ed]. No, Ed, it isn't. Plagiarism must be everywhere in academia.

We have never plagiarized. 

 And then there's all the woke craziness. 

All right, all right. If they called, we'd listen. 

They are not going to call. 

Our revenge has been literary. Won't some kind soul read Blooms?

DOGE report.

We read through the RAF aerial attack chapter in World War 1990: Thatcher's War. The ground invasion chapter awaits. We approach those chapters with...[Don't say it!-Ed]....great fear and trepidation. 

A decent round of editing what we already had in the 5th nuke novel's Soviet sub story. It's looking...okay, but we don't really know how we're getting to where we want to go. 

*The adjunct coordinator who triggered the crisis has one book in print with like, two reviews. Screw them. 

Keaned Out?

Aye, a new week here at Stroock's Books. [It's a new week everywhere-Ed]. It is, Ed. It is. 

Bah! Another rough night. No idea why. 

Yesterday was our 28th (!) wedding anniversary. What can a man say? Neither one of us wanted to celebrate. Heck, for our 25th anniversary we went to the Cheesecake Factory; with the girls. We wouldn't have had it any other way. 

Holy Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem. We knew Israel imported a lot of foreign workers, but not this many. The Jerusalem Post: 'Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been rapidly replacing its Palestinian labor force with foreign workers. 250,000 foreign workers are already in Israel, and their number is set to rise to 330,000.' Those jobs used to go to Gazans and West Bank People. Just another consequence of the war Hamas started.

Wow. A sign of good economic growth, no?  Israeli's economy is so strong it's got a labor shortage. Impressive, Bibi. Most impressive. Once again, we point out that only Bibi could have gotten Israel to where it is right now.

Report from New Jersey's 7th Congressional district. This race pits incumbent absentee Congresman Tom Kean Jr (he took off several months to check himself into the nuthouse and no one knew what was wrong or where he was)* against former Navy pilot Rebecca Bennett. Bennett is an excellent candidate, a clone of governor Mickie Sherrill, who won handily last year. 

Right now, Kean and Bennett are fighting the campaign on YouTube. We can't watch a video without seeing ads for both campaigns. Bennett is slamming Kean for taking a hundred days off while voting against paid leave (hard to argue with that). Kean is touting his work getting the SALT tax deduction limit raised (a big issue in affluent New Jersey). 

Also Kean is running ads pledging to defend Medicaid and Medicare. Which is an odd place for a GOP to be. Is this part of a national GOP strategy to claim the Dems/DSA will take away Medicaid and Medicare?

Anyway, the only poll we could find on NJ07 is from late June and shows Bennett winning 47-43. That's not bad for Kean, actually, given the circumstances. Kean, the GOP, and outside groups are certainly spending like he has a puncher's chance. Still, we think Kean's absence makes him extremely vulnerable. Bennett's ads on same are devastating. Advantage: Bennett. 

With Tom Kean after one of several phone bank sessions in 2020. He last that race.