Will's Good Idea for the Week of 7/19(!)73

Greetings from the beach. 

It's 7:03 in the morning. We're sitting in front of a big picture window overlooking the beach. The sun is shining down. We hear the waves. No one else is awake. Never mind, they're awake and complaining. 

For the second summer in a row, we are staying someplace other than the ancestral Stroock Long Beach Island vacation haunt at Sea Place Condominiums just a few blocks north of us on Amber Street. If one Google Street Views Sea Place, one sees us sitting on the porch of condo C1.

We drove through a torrential downpour to get here yesterday. We left home thinking there'd be a gap in the rain coming in from Pennsylvania. There was no gap. Instead, there was an hour of heavy rain seemingly following us down the Garden State Parkway. The sky was an odd gray/blue color, probably from the Canadian smoke, bastards. Nevertheless, we got here. 

We watched Jaws last night, you know, to get in the mood. 

On a side note, we turn 53 today. 

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 7/19/26.

We got nuthin' folks. 

When we weren't concentrating on not running off the road in yesterday's downpour, we tried to come up with an ending to the DEW Line story. We also tried coming up with another nuke story. We did not come up with another nuke story. 

We approach this problem in two ways. First, what is a situation, what is a place...? To put it another way, what would happen if one were in, say, Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Second, what would a particular character do in this story. We can think of neither people nor places....but maybe a story in the deep south is a good idea. 

On the bright side the battle for Howth is coming along fine, in our head. Those interested should check out Howth on Google Earth. This is going to be a fun chapter. Kind of like the French scene at Ouistreham in The Longest Day. Kind of. 

Saturday Updates

Good morning, Stroock's Books weekenders. Our foot is bothering us. Our knee is bothering us. We have a rash. And we're heading down the shore this afternoon. Wish us luck. 

The things.

We tidied up the 5th nuke novel a bit and finished (more or less) the hippie commune story. The 5th nuke novel is 44,000 words. 

We worked on World War 1990: Thatcher's War all week. We have written Operation Sunday, 2 Para's (heh) assault on Dublin Airport and started Operation Monday, the landing at Howth. 

We had fretted for some time about how we were going to present these battles. We didn't want to repeat the Battle of Derry in which we jumped from A to B to C and back again. So we're describing the battle from the POV of the FCA commander and a bird's eye narrator. We're finding the latter quite challenging, actually. We shrug.  

World War 1990: Thatcher's War is 62,000 words. 

Jewy on a Friday (Which makes sense)

Good morning (or afternoon, anyway), people of Stroock's Books, and shabbat shalom. We awake tired, sore, and groggy. 

At the gym yesterday we just could not get lose and cut off our workout. Also we're having a minor and home treatable medical issue which we don't want to exacerbate. Why risk injury just before the beach? Everything is sore. It's definitely time for a gym break, which we've known for a while. 

So we watched Trump's election fraud speech last night. Okay. We're not sure what the point of all this is. Why drag this out again? That being said, Trump won. We saw them steal the election in real time. 

In Israel, The Jerusalem Post has yet another poll with bad news for Netanyahu and the coalition. This is interesting, 'The poll found that 83% of voters oppose the inclusion of Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties in the coalition...' Please. The poll shows Likud is down to 22 seats. This is not surprising. We ourselves could vote for Gadi Eisenkot, had we a vote. This blog awaits events. 

Oh look, Ehud effing Barak has something to say, so says the AP. Do click over, reader(s). The piece is amazing. Ehud, you see, has opinions about what the Israelis should do in south Lebanon. And the man who cut and run from south Lebanon overnight in 2000 worries that Israel is repeating the mistakes of the past.  The man who tried to turn the country over to Yasser Arafat* is the worst PM in Israeli history. There is no close second; Olmert probably. 

More on the Jews. Another interesting article on Gadi Eisenkot. So far, he's keeping the Haredi at arm's length. Reminder, a Haredi draft law is this blog's top domestic priority. 

There's some interesting questions about with whom Eisenkot would form a government, Haredi or Arabs. He says neither, more or less. We'd be open to forming a government with the Arabs, as it's an opportunity to address their concerns and improve their lot - and thereby strengthen the state. Reminder, Hamas thought they could spark an Arab-Israeli revolt. 

DOGE report. 

The Dublin airport assault and the battle for Dublin is really coming together. Right now it's big and messy. 2 Para hits Dublin airport, Operation Sunday; IYKYK. 

*'Just how many of our daughters do you want, Yasser?' Ehud Barak asked. Just kidding. Everyone knows Arafat didn't like girls. 

Dimmed by Canada

Baah! Even when we sleep well we sleep oddly with random intense dreams of people past. We shrug and drink our coffee. 

Effluvia from the Canadian wildfires has reached New Jersey. The air is smoky, like sitting around a campfire, and there's a vague haze coloring the sky. The sun is orange/brown.[You mean pink?-Ed] Yes, that's it. Screw you, Canada. 

England went up 1 nil against the Argies yesterday and played defense the rest of the game. NFL fans recognized this strategy, the prevent defense. Every NFL fan knows the prevent defense prevents you from winning. As so it did here. 

Also, reader(s) may have seen stories about the Norway's Erling Haaland bringing home a stuffed raccoon from his FIFA World Cup foray in America. We thought this curious. Our man on the ground in Norway informs us that they don't have racoons in Norway, little bastards [The racoons or the Norwegians?-Ed]. Every American knows racoons are a public menace. 

Don't be fooled by that cute little bugger. That is the face of the enemy. He'd kill you and everyone in your family if he had the chance. 

At The Times of Israel, a good article on the Israeli's efforts to hunt down and eliminate anyone and everyone remotely involved in October 7th. Defense Minister Israel Katz said, 'They are marked for death wherever they are.' Good. From Pharoh to the Ayatollah, one fate awaits all enemies of the Jews. 

Related, also via TOI, the oppo block led by Gedi Eisenkot would win 61/120 Knesset seats, right now. We won't go into the ugly details, but the Knesset has been passing a flurry of Haredi friendly legislation lately. We don't like it one bit. That's Netanyahu trying to secure his right flank. 

We've noted this date before, five years ago to be exact. But 25 years ago today we moved from Arlington Virginia to our rustic farmhouse in bucolic Peapack, New Jersey. We knew we'd been living in Northern Virginia too long when on the day of the move, people were complaining about a heat wave, and we didn't think it was that bad.

We've lived in the same house for 21 of those years. We're a New Jerseyan now, there's no getting around it. A Jersey guy, if you will. We've disavowed our New York heritage and take a weird pride in New Jersey.  

A lot's happened. 

Grogged not Grog

Baaah! We are groggy. Can't keep our eyes open, but can't go back to sleep. If we're going to feel like this anyway, we might as well drink at night. More coffee. 

We found a couple of books to read at the beach, which we will be hitting this Saturday. Wish us luck. 

We ordered a couple of Operation Rising Lion T-shirts. 

A deal is finalized for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq by 30 September, they say. Good. Now do Syria. Whoops, looks like they already have. Exit question: is this a prelude to US troops taking Khark Island or some other important piece of Iranian territory? 

Related...Victor Davis Hanson talks about the evolving legacy of George W. Bush. Lo those many years ago this blog staunchly defended W. We still do, really, though we're not really that kind of conservative anymore. Here we are making the case for W in 2017.  And here we are making the case against W way back in 2015, Taking a Look at W, the Bad. And that's how you got Trump. 

More...the bombing of Iran continues, and Trump is talking about Bridge and Powerplant Day again. If you have to shoot, shoot. Don't talk. This blog is generally pleased, though. 

DOGE report. 

The battle for Dublin airport is coming along fine. The pov character is developing nicely. 

We spent a lot of time thinking about nuclear war stories and editing the hippie commune story. 

Axe to Pick

Afternoon, Stroock's Books, and happy Bastille Day. Vive le France! Lafeyette, we are here!

We're having a scorcher today through Thursday. 

We approach the coming days with a sense of melancholy and angst [Again?-Ed]. 

Ynet does a deep dive on the Iranian nuclear facility within Pickaxe Mountain. It may be invulnerable to even the GBU-57 Bunker Buster which destroyed Fordow, they say. This blog submits that the Pentagon has been working on this problem for some time and probably has something even bigger designed specifically for Pickaxe Mountain. But we're an optimist by nature. Stroock's Books awaits events. 

Kyle Smith reviews Heartbreak Ridge on the film's 40th anniversary. Do click over and read. We found this especially interesting, 'What I did identify with was Heartbreak Ridge's depiction of garrison life—the hanging out part of the military career, the bit between wars, and consequently the vast majority of your life in uniform. The soldiers (in this case, the Marines) play tricks on each other, goof off, go on runs, do whatever their day-to-day assignments may be.'

Forget combat, maneuvers, waiting in Saudi Arabia etc etc. Garrison life was the hardest part of writing A Line through the Desert. We just couldn't quite wrap our head around what soldiers did all day in peacetime. Honestly, the answer seemed to be not quite as much as civilians do on a 9-5. And hanging around a barracks at night was pretty much like dorm life in college. 

DOGE report.

We edited the hippie commune story. It moves fast, perhaps too fast. But it works.

We worked on the Dublin airport operation. It'll work, eventually. More Bofors 4mms, more crashing Chinooks. 

The Wait and Weight of Time

Baaah! An odd night following and odd day. Summer ennui? 

In our brief summation of the late Senator Lindsey Graham, we were remiss in not mentioning his defense of Judge Brett Kavanaugh. His was the moment of the Kavanaugh hearings farce. Enjoy. Our post on the matter was titled Right, Fierce and Terrible, but it should have been titled Right, Fierce and Lindsey.

Ed Driscoll talks about 90s nostalgia. This was the decade between the Cold War and 9/11. We 'watched the world wake up from history' Jesus Jones sang. Honestly, not much happened in the 90s. Heck the nation spent 1998 tearing itself apart over the Lewinsky affair. 

But the 90s had plenty of worries: AIDS, environmental doom and gloom. 

The 90's saw horrible humanitarian crises: Somalia, Rwanda, the Yugoslav Wars. The 90s had moral panics: Trash talk TV (Springer) and violent videogames. 

Older people can be forgiven for looking back at their youth and thinking things were great. We do (ahh, the carefree summer of 1990). And Generation X used to look back at the 50s the same way the Zoomers look back at the 90's now. 

Speaking of we watched American Beauty (1999) the other night, in which Kevin Spacey plays Lester Burnham, a middle-aged man fed up with his boring life. He quits his stifling office job and chases his daughter's pretty best friend. Les tells his young neighbor that he had to flip burgers all summer to pay for a stereo. When the young neighbor tells him that sucks Les replies, 'All I did was party and get laid'. Sure enough Les gets a job at the local fast-food joint trying to recapture the glory of 1973, to American Woman and All Right Now. Just perfect.  And sad. Because there's no going back. 

We ourselves find ourselves [Nice, genius -Ed] thinking back lo these 20 years to the summer of 2006. We were coming off a very successful year substitute teaching. We had a rough draft of A Line through the Desert. We are waiting with baited breath for Strategy & Tactics to publish our first big feature, Marlborough's Art of War. We awaited the arrival of our first child. We could play some guitar. This is also the summer we began putting on weight. We were 33. 

Whoa. Breitbart tells us the in France, Marine Le Pen beats all opposition, 'According to the survey, the RN leader would defeat Philippe by 54 to 46 per cent, Attal by 55 to 45 per cent, and against far-left La France Insoumise (France in Rebellion/LFI) leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon by 70 per cent to 30 per cent.' The French Deep State (le stat d'deep?) will do whatever it has to do to stop Le Pen. Within a year she will be imprisoned or dead. 

DOGE report.

The rough draft of the hippie commune nuclear war story is more or less done. More or less.  We've still no idea what happens up at the DEW Line. Those interested can Google and Google Earth the CAM-1 DEW Line site on Jenny Lind Island. Maybe it's just a plane landing. We dunno. 

We'll be working on the Dublin attack chapter all week in World War 1990: Thatcher's War. We'll show the attack on Dublin airport through the POV of the FCA battalion commander there. We're not sure what else.