War...Lunch and Civil and Boxed

Good morning, reader(s) of Stroock's Books, and happy Thursday. 

We got some needed rain yesterday, a summer storm with plenty of wind and thunder. The storm broke the heatwave, and temps today will be in the 60s. 

Our library is reorganized, reboxed, and restocked. Two days lifting and carrying 30 + boxes of books was a heck of a workout. Related...This post from 2018 got some traffic yesterday, the beginning of our gym saga. 'Wish us luck, indeed'.

Related...Middle Daughter's Civil War test is tomorrow. We are not allowed to help or even mention the war in any way. We've offered Middle daughter $20 to make reference to 'The War Between the States' on the written part of test. Of course, our late grandmother, whom reader(s) of this blog will know well, often made reference to 'The War of Northern Aggression'.

So Itamar Ben Gvir, one of Netanyahu's coalition ministers, mocked and taunted the latest Gaza flotilla detainees. We actually don't care that he did so. But Ben Gvir's actions have caused a diplomatic kerfuffle with lots of Euros expressing outrage, yada-yada-yada. Honestly, the man's a cancer (as is Smotrich) and the sooner he's out of government, the better. We may endorse the Opposition Bloc for that reason alone. 

To that end, the Israeli Knesset is about to dissolve. The latest polls show a hung parliament with neither bloc gaining a majority and as usual, Netanyahu's Likud winning the most seats. Honestly, the best outcome would be a Netanyahu/Bennett coalition. This would push the government toward the center a bit and force Ben Gvir and Smotrich out. But would Bennett agree?*

As far as Iran goes, this blog believes Trump is negotiating like a patient man who knows he has all the advantages.  

Twitchy reports on a generational war, triggered by Shark Tank's Kevin O'Leary laments $28 lunches. Quite right Click on over to be amused by the kid's bewilderment. Seriously, kids. You shouldn't be ordering out lunch every day, anyway.  When we were a senate intern in the summer of '95, we'd get a bagel and cream cheese, chips, and a Diet Coke - $2.25. That's still less than ten bucks or quid in today's money. Back in our Northern Virginia office days, dining out for lunch was a Friday treat. Usually we'd hit a chicken joint called Ranch-1, about which no more will be said. 

DOGE report.

We slug on, writing things and making improvements. 

*Only a fool enters into a coalition agreement with Bibi. 

Will is Boxed

Another balmy morning, another scorcher here in New Jersey. 

We remain bored with Substack and indeed, posting is down. Our Substack don't seem to be growing or selling books. We are miffed. 

So...those five Indiana state senators last week, Senator Bill Cassidy Saturday, Representative Thomas Massie (so much for the GOP turning against Israel) last night, enemies of Trump within the GOP have gone down in flames. Senator John Cornyn is going down next. Good. The GOP is a Trump party. It's a MAGA Party. As we wrote a few years ago. 

This from Powerline about possible GOP presidential matchups in two years is interesting. Vance has faded some while Rubio has risen some. This blog supports Ron Desantis (rumored to be Trump's next AG). Desantis for us. But taking stock - Vance, Rubio, Desantis - is an embarrassment of riches, no?

Devotees will recall our basement was flooded during Hurricane Irene in 2021. Our library has been boxed up ever since. Yesterday we began the process of unboxing the books, organizing the books, and reboxing them. This is preparatory to our anticipated writing of magazine articles about the AEF and the American Revolution. 

Now we've got boxes with labels like 'WWII-Pacific' and 'Saddam + Arabs'. We did not realize we had so many Civil War books, and what's with all the books about the Wehrmacht? The job is about 3/4 done. We'll finish today. Boy, are we sore. [Why not get some new book cases? When we put together this glorious library...

Those book cases were forty bucks (or quid if that helps you) a pop.  Now they're like, a hundred and we'd need, by our calculations, nine of them. 

We've yet to hear back about our AEF overview article query. We should send out another query today. 

Huh, we forgot about this quickie list article we wrote about the AEF. That's eight articles. Note we are sitting on, like, half a dozen unpublished pieces.

Related...Hmmmm should we have our design people do a new cover for Pershing in Command? We did that one ourselves.

DOGE report.

More slogging through the Battle of Choluteca Gap. Each day we make the chapter better.

Bill Clinton (!) (?)

Good morning, intrepid reader(s). Another scorcher today. Another day in the freeze box.

For a variety of reasons we were seriously torqued off last night. 

Bloodwork back already...the number remains not good. Mor tests a-coming. We are torqued off again. 

Trump delayed Iranian strikes once more. We hear the concerns. Trump looks bad, timid for the moment. But he also holds the cards here and can unleash unfathomable destruction whenever he wants. TACO? Really? Ask, well, Iran. Ask Maduro. Remember, Netanyahu is notorious for not making a decision until he has to. We suspect Trump is doing the same here. We remain patient. 

Iran is talking tough. Reminder, the more bellicose the rhetoric, the more impotent is the rhetorician. 

In his column titled 'The GOP's reversal of fortune', Colonel Schlichter notes something interesting about Bill Clinton, 'Bill Clinton was no conservative, but don’t confuse him with his clueless wife. He understood that for a Democrat to succeed, he had to make the Democrat Party safe for normal people to raise their families and walk the streets.' Quite right.

Bill Clinton's been out of office lo these 25 years now. We voted for the man in 1992 (no regrets, it was time) and against him in 1996 (Bob Dole, meh). Time passes, and Clinton's little ticks that annoyed us have faded from memory, as has our late 90's hatred for the man. All that's left is Clinton's record. So let's have a look at it. 

Clinton's first two years in office were a mess filled with petty scandals (the White House travel office, White Water) punctuated by Hillary Clinton's failed healthcare reform bill. That woman ruins everything she touches. The end result was a Democrat wipeout in the midterms.

Bill Clinton recovered after the budget battle and government shutdown of late 1995 and was easily reelected, though the GOP maintained control of the House and Senate. 

Clinton didn't do a whole lot in his second term, and mainly focused on keeping his approval ratings high. These were in the high 50s and lower 60s for most of his second term. Clinton micro-governed, worried about small technical matters and made sure he was on the popular side of most issues. The strategy worked. Clinton left office with high approval ratings, 66 percent according to Gallup. 

The economy roared. 

The Monica Lewinsky affair and impeachment dominated 1998. The senate acquitted Clinton and the country moved on. 'I did not have sexual relations, with that woman, Ms. Lewisnky,' is Clinton's most famous quote. 

It is true that Bill Clinton has several legislative accomplishments to his name. NAFTA, the Crime Bill (boy that was controversial at the time), welfare reform in the first term, and the 1997 Budget Act in the 2nd term which capped spending. 

NAFTA is a net negative now, no? The Crime Bill piggy backed on already falling crime rates brought about by innovative mayors like Giuliani, Daly, Riordan, and Rendell. Welfare reform was good. The 1997 Budget Act helped balance the budget. 

In foreign policy, Clinton brought about the Dayton Accords - peace in Yugoslavia, and won the Kosovo War. His Peace Process machinations in the Middle East were disastrous and led to the Second Intifada. Clinton let Bin Laden get away. 

The 1990s were good, there's no getting around it, and Bill Clinton was president. He was a peacetime president, with peacetime problems, which he mostly handled. Clinton was very often his own worse enemy. Was the country better off in 2000 than it was in 1990? Absolutely. We rate Bill Clinton's presidency a success, and give the man a B.

DOGE report. 

We worked on the Sandinista counterattack scene yesterday. It was messy. We made it a lot better. We still have plenty of work to do. 

We have begun researching the DEW line story.

AEF Greens and IDF Blues

Good morning, Stroock's Books supplicants, and happy Monday.

We barbequed yesterday. Which was nice. We had a couple of beers as we barbequed. Which was also nice. 

More bloodwork today. We sigh forlornly. 

We're in for a real scorcher today, 95 degrees. Thank the gods for our brand new AC unit, which operated just fine yesterday. [You're still worrying, though-Ed]. Yes. [Why-Ed?]. Don't know. 

Lebanon 'ceasefire' update: the Israelis hit 30 targets in Lebanon. Let us explain to the doomers, once again,  While Israel maintains 'ceasefires' with Hamas and Hezbollah, the IDF demolishes terrorist infrastructure in Gaza and Lebanon south of the Litani.  

Okay, we had another AEF Great War magazine article idea, the German view of the Meuse-Argonne offensive. We have the report of the general who commanded German forces. We shall see. 

So we couldn't find a copy of Pershing in Command and had to order one. What the heck? 

Yes, we're geeked up at the prospect of writing a few AEF articles. But we've only made one pitch so far. Let's see what happens with that pitch. 

So the gig this week is to go over the Battle of Choluteca Gap and make it better. Wish us luck. 

We have a vague sense that from there, Pan-American and FDN forces move swiftly south but stop on the outskirts of Managua, where a standoff ensues. There will probably be an interlude taking the reader back to Cuba. 

Will's Good Idea(s) for the Week of 5/17/26

Good morning Stroock's Books Christian reader(s) and happy Sunday. Don't forget to enjoy the post-church lunch buffet.

Oooo...temps will hit 90 today. 

Israel placed second in Europe's totally gay [Unnecessary!-Ed] Eurovision song contest last night. Take that boycotters Spain and Ireland. Britain finished last, because Keir Starmer is a malicious little communist. 

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 5/17/26

First: so yesterday we went through our publication list and came up with seven articles about Pershing and the American Expeditionary Force:

-Learning the Art of the Great War, Against the Odds, 2011

-Pershing's Hammer, The Meuse/Argonne Offensive, Military Heritage Magazine, 2011

-Doughboys First Battles, Military Heritage Magazine, 2014

-Battle of the Marne, Strategy & Tactics Magazine, 2014

-Pershing and the AEF, Military History Matters, 2018*

-Meuse Argonne Offensive, Military History Matters, 2018*

-Hunger Liggett, Strategy & Tactics Magazine, 2021

We wrote articles published in 2014 and before while researching Pershing in Command. This is how we taught ourselves Pershing and the AEF. 

We've pitched a bird's eye view AEF article to one magazine. Maybe we'll pitch some others. Why not an article about the US Army in 1917? How about a piece about Robert Lee Bullard, commander of the 2nd Army. 

Second: so we've spent a while thinking about Summer Sneak in projects and we've decided doing World War 1990: Battle of the GIUK Gap is a no go. We've three half finished novels. Let's worry about finishing those first. We looked and we haven't even opened World War 1990: Ireland in two months. 

Last: so we thought of a story idea for the 5th nuke novel, Cam-1 the Distant Early Warning post on Jenny Lin Island in the Canadian arctic. The jet ski travel show we like, Dangerous Waters, visited Jenny Lin and a station is still on the island, though it's automated now. We don't actually know the story or what happens, we just know we want to write it. Something upon which we may dwell this week. 

*British! Look at us [Yes, look at you-Ed].

Saturday Updates

Good morning, Stroock's Books weekenders and happy Saturday. 

A few days ago, we shaved our winter beard but left the mustache. We look awesome and based in the Tom Selleck style. Our daughter's absolutely hate the mustache. 

We got in a Judaism last night, shabbat 250, just like the president wanted. 

The Israelis assassinated Hamas' military head last night. Another one bites the dust. 

Israel agreed to a 45 day ceasefire in Lebanon. Let us attempt (once more) to explain the situation to doomer morons out there. While the 'ceasefire' is in place, Israel hits targets of opportunity in Lebanon and destroys Hezbollah infrastructure south of the Litani. 

The Things.

We sent out a magazine query about writing a 5,000 word article on Pershing and the AEF for the 110 anniversary of America's entry into the Great War. Why not?

We worked on the Managua Campaign's Nueva Segovia chapter all week. The chapter is a lot better than it used to be. But we still have some work to do. Next week we'll work on the Battle of the Choluteca Gap chapter. World War 1990: The Managua Campaign is 51,000 words.

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.