An Indifferent Monday

Good afternoon, obsessive compulsive Stroock's Books readers.

Despite having had excellent sessions at the gym these last three days, we are fighting off the urge to head to the gym. Despite? Or because?

Philly Sports Wrap: at no time did we think the Eagles would win that game yesterday. All season the defense has been pretty damn good while the offense has been in some sort of Carteresque malaise. Obviously the offensive coordinator must needs go. Wide receiver AJ Brown too. 

As for the other games....meh. 

Were we a betting man, and we most certainly are not, we'd put the next mortgage payment on San Francisco.  

For some reason FB is dumping local New Jersey ICE protest news into our feed. Every time we see such a story we comment, 'Protest looks mostly White.' See what we did there? Zinging them on two fronts. Bastards. [Why?-Ed]. Frustration. Ennui [I would take you more seriously if you stopped pronouncing that 'N-U-I'.

DOGE Report. 

We have begun the final read through of World War 1990: Ireland or Whatever it's Called, Probably Ireland. This is it. This is the final read before formatting. 

We are working on the World War 1990: Thatcher's War interlude chapter. This chapter links the invasion planning session with the opening aerial campaign. 

We have promised our Arab (from a country that doesn't have a peace treaty with al-Yahud) proofreader that their people don't got nuthin' on the Irish when it comes to sectarian violence [Hey, what about me?-Ed]. Sorry, Ed. You bailed nearly a decade ago, newt. 

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 1/11/26

A good Sunday morn, Stroock's Books reader(s) of all faiths, except the Protestants [Hey!-Ed]. Shut up, Ed. You're C of E and therefore belong to no organized religion. 

On Substack, a Jew hater thinks he got our goat because we called him a retard. We informed this retard that we tell all the retarded Jew haters who show up in our timeline that they're retarded. Also gay. Why? Because we enjoy telling the gay and retarded Jew haters that pester us that they're gay and retarded [How old are you?-Ed], 52, luv, 52. 

Iran beat...we're not really allowing ourselves to get optimistic about the Iranian protests. Six years ago, we thought Hong Kong was going to burst. How did that turn out? This blog admits that between Covid and the Stolen Election, 2020 took a lot out of us. We remain circumspect, restrained even. The body count rises.

We do allow ourselves to imagine this scenario,' Hello, Ayatollah? Yeah this is Donald Trump. Listen, I’m about to transmit your exact GPS location to you. Leave the country in 12 hours and I’ll let you live. And don’t try running to that mountain bunker in the north. We got that locale too. Get packing. I gotta go.' It's plausible after Maduro. 

Minneapolis beat: no big riots yet but stress is building. The left outrage/pressure may become too much and blow. Given the escalating fraud scandal, the Party may feel it has no choice but to foment a riot. You voted for this, Minneapolis. We once again ask, if Minneapolis burns, should Trump send in the troops? Or does Trump 'let it burn' - thank you Mayor Wilson Goode. 

NFL wrap...will Packers' coach Matt LeFleur become available?  

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 1/11/26...The read through of World War 1990: Ireland or Whatever it's Called has gone so well we may do it again this week. It's hard to explain why we think it's a good idea, or what it will accomplish, but we know what we mean even if you people do not. A second read through would be good craic, good craic for sure. 

Saturday Updates

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

We got in a Judaism last night. First time in a while, actually. There are reasons. We'll make those reasons known at the appropriate time. 

We still haven't seen the riots we expected in Minnesota. We'll chalk it up to weather, commonsense, and the Party deciding riots don't help the revolution, for now. 

We've had an excellent week at the gym, with a our normal routine of stretching, calisthenics, pushups, tension bands, rope pulley and rower. We added an alternate day cardio routine. Why not?

NFL update: FB tells us we posted this four years ago: 'Re Giants: Burn Joe Judge at the stake. Defenestrate Dave Gettlemen. Send Tim Mara to the Gallows. Blow up the stadium. Leave no two stones together. Sow the field with salt. Biblical level destruction is the only solution.' And here we are. As noted yesterday, the Giants are probably waiting to see if a few other top coaches become available this weekend. 

The Things:

So, we decided we need to do more book hustling this year. Our first act was to post more on Substack about events, writing, and simple, ham-fisted links to our novels. We've been starting the mornings off this way, instead of blogging. Substack is our first step. So far, so what. Sales are down. Honestly, we don't know what else to do.*

We had an excellent week with World War 1990: Ireland or Whatever it's Called, Probably Ireland. We read through all but one chapter and the epilogue. We may or may not finish today. 

We conceived of and began writing the interlude chapter in World War 1990: Thatcher's War. This chapter is coming along just fine. TW is 40,000 words. 

*Say Twitter again, motherfucker!

The Friday Fek

Good Friday afternoon and good Shabbos, Stroock's Books Kibbutzim.  

The anticipated riots over the death of that Good woman in Minneapolis have yet to materialize.* There's always hope for the weekend. It's a good thing the Vikings aren't in the playoffs. Lord knows the trouble protesters would make at a Vikings game, or how the NFL might try to martyr that woman. Exit question: has the Party determined that riots won't help the revolution? 

However, Protests are gaining momentum in Iran. We remain cautious but hopeful. Suggestion. A B-2 strike on Iranian leadership might be helpful, no? 

John Harbaugh Giants watch: still nothing. Okay, we admit there may be some other great coaches available after this weekend. Lafleur out of Green Bay and McDermott out of Buffalo. You'd have to be morons to fire either one of them, though. We admit we've got our heart set on Harbaugh. Mmmm....shiny. 

DOGE Report: We blew right through the second chapter of the Battle of Derry in World War 1990: Ireland or Whatever it's Called.

We're making slow, incremental progress on the Thatcher's War interlude chapter. After causing all that havoc in New York City, Ingham's going to pay a visit to an old friend he dumped in New Jersey in the beginning of the war. 

*You know, we're not entirely unsympathetic. We don't want that woman dead, for certain. But we ourselves are a husband, father of three, and more or less respectable [Meaning?-Ed] Meaning we don't do dumb shit like confront the police. Reminder, resisting arrest and fleeing the scene is NEVER a good strategy for a police encounter. 

Thursday Nostalgia Threefer*

[*Threefer, not a thing - Ed].

Good afternoon, loyal Stroock's Books denizens and fans of fair to middling material from a bored author and blogger. 

We've no insights in events into Minneapolis other than to say we are surprised there were no riots last night - which was a little disappointing. Maybe tonight? We'll keep our fingers crossed [You want riots?-Ed]. Did we say that? [No, but you're also not saying that-Ed]. Exit question: send in the troops or let it burn?

We've been going back over what we blogged in the wake of George Floyd's death. We were horrified and outraged at the actions of Officer Derek Chauvin. We imagined jumping through the computer to ring Chauvin's neck. Today we say without hesitation that Derek Chauvin did nothing wrong. Which is why we waited before opining on the ICE officer that shot that woman in Minneapolis. Anyway, we'll blog about and link to some old George Floyd related posts as/if events warrant. Until then, here's what we wrote for Inforos* in the wake of George Floyd's death:

On Monday 25 May, Dereck Chauvin was a respected officer of the Minneapolis police force. By Friday, he was unemployed and charged with one count of murder and manslaughter for killing George Floyd. Over the course of that time, riots erupted in cities across America. And, just like that, the Wuhan Coronavirus was no longer the number one news story in America.

The night after Officer Chauvin killed George Floyd, protestors took to the streets of Minneapolis to demand justice. Fearing a violent confrontation, Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey ordered police to back off. Without a strong police presence, the protests turned violent. Rioters looted dozens of businesses in downtown Minneapolis, burned several buildings to the ground, and even overran the 3rd District Police Station. Americans watched as a long line of police cars fled the scene, rioters in chase. It was an anarchist’s dream. The riots spread across the country.

In Los Angeles, rioters battled the police, set fire to dozens of buildings, and looted stores along the toney Rodeo Drive. Police made hundreds of arrests. In Chicago, looters rampaged down Michigan Avenue and injured dozens of officers. Chicago police arrested hundreds. To contain the riots, authorities closed highway exit ramps into the city and raised the Chicago River bridges. Rioters shot and killed a Federal police officer in Oakland and wounded another. In Nashville, rioters set fire to city hall. In Portland, rioters attacked banks, looted the city’s shopping mall, broke into and trashed the justice center municipal building. In New York City, rioters attacked police with Molotov Cocktails. Rioters broke the façade of CNN Center in Atlanta. In Washington, a mob tried to storm the White House grounds.

Amid the riots were acts of humanity. In Brooklyn, protest organizers stood in front of the entrance to a Target store and held off would be looters. In Louisville, peaceful protestors locked arms and formed a human shield around a riot cop who’d been cut off from his unit. Peaceful protestors in Washington stopped an agitator from hammering the sidewalk into throwable pieces of rock and handed him over to police. In Michigan, the Genesee County Sheriff took off his helmet, put down his baton, and walked in solidarity with the marchers. Newark protestors were entirely peaceful and danced in the streets. In Minneapolis, hundreds of volunteers helped business owners clean up.

Eyewitnesses tweeted photographs of black clad rioters armed with bricks, rocks, batons, and makeshift shields in many cities. Internet sleuths posted screen captures of Antifa pages coordinating efforts throughout the nation. The NYPD intelligence unit concludes that Antifa has planned these riots for some time, has trained medics and bicycle scouts, and is using encrypted communications. Antifa operatives have prepositioned pallets of bricks and Molotov cocktails for use during the riots.

On Saturday, Attorney General William Barr announced that far left extremist groups using Antifa-like tactics had infiltrated the protests. On Sunday, President Trump declared Antifa a terrorist organization. Barr followed with a statement that said, in part, ‘Federal law enforcement actions will be directed at apprehending and charging the violent radical agitators who have hijacked peaceful protest and are engaged in violations of federal law.’ He also said Federal Joint Terrorism Task Forces would identify and locate Antifa organizations.

After the police and National Guard reasserted control in Minneapolis on Saturday, Minnesota politicians tried to explain why they left the streets to the rioters all week. Mayor Fry justified abandoning the 3rd Precinct station to the mob saying, ‘The symbolism of a building cannot outweigh the importance of life.’ Governor Tim Walz said police and the National Guard weren’t in the city streets because they were protecting the Minneapolis Federal reserve and other important institutions. Walz ludicrously claimed the riots were the work of ‘white supremacists’ and ‘outsiders’. Publicly available records show the vast majority of those arrested in Minneapolis came from Minnesota. State Attorney General Keith Ellison urged rioters to focus their ire not on the National Guard but the police. Ellison also claimed outside ‘provocateurs’ were responsible for the chaos. Ellison himself is a former member of the anti-sematic nation of Islam and publicly supports Antifa. He’s not the only Democrat supporting the Minnesota riots.

New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio’s daughter was arrested over the weekend. Much of America’s cultural and political elite sympathize with the rioters. Thirteen Biden campaign staffers have contributed to the so-called Minnesota Freedom Fund, an organization helping rioters post bail which has already received thousands in donations from celebrities. Keith Elision’s son tweeted his support for the Antifa riots, as did Tim Walz’s daughter, and the daughter of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar the Islamic Firebrand from Minneapolis.

Minnesota is a blue state with a Democrat governor and attorney general. Minneapolis is a Democrat city that sent radical Islamist and Democrat Ilhan Omar to Congress. The cities’ last Republican mayor left office in 1961. The killing of George Floyd is a Democrat scandal, and these are Democrat riots.

Holds up, no? 

Pointless nostalgia Part One....FB tells us that on this day nine years ago we saw Rogue One for the second time in 18 hours. We loved Rogue One, obviously. Alas Rogue One has not aged well and we've no urge to see it again. Rogue One remains the least worst Disney Star Wars movie. 

Pointless Nostalgia Part Deux...FB also tells us that eleven years ago today we went nuclear. When someone asked why we replied, 'A magazine is refusing to pay me my money.' Ah, Decision Games. So it's eleven years now, is it? We think they last published a piece of ours they'd been sitting on 3 years ago. They're still sitting on submitted articles of ours. Bastards. 

Pointless Nostalgia Part Tres...fourteen years ago, 'Spent a pleasant afternoon at the Meadowlands.' That would be the Giants' 24-2 annihilation of the Atlanta Falcons in the wildcard round of the playoffs. That was a lot a fun. It's been a long time, been a long time, been a long lonely, lonely...Well, you know. Exit question: why isn't John Harbaugh the Giants' new head coach yet?

DOGE Report: we are through the first chapter of the Battle of Derry. We are pleased. We'll do the second chapter tomorrow. 

We are working on the Thatcher's War interlude chapter. We wrote a new scene introducing Murphy which will segue to Ingham and Clarke. They'll probably be visiting Romanov in the Fairview Nursing home in New Jersey. 

*Ah, Maxim, Maxim. We wonder how you're doing. We miss this gig. Oh well. We miss a lot of things. 

Harbaugh or Har-Blue?

Good afternoon, Stroock's Books reader(s), such as you are. 

Another rare miss for this blog yesterday, as events overtook us. We plan and God laughs.  'Lo, thou shalt planeth, and God shalt laugheth' as one may find in the Book of Damnitall, Daminitall to Hell Another Goddamn House Problem, chapter-1, verse-1.

So about 12:30 yesterday we were running our dishwasher, already prone to electronic malfunction, when we grabbed a garbage bag from under the sink. We found water, too, and plenty of it. One need not have a tech school degree in plumbing to realize the system had sprung a leak. We found the source of the leak, the dishwasher hose running into the garbage disposal. We hoped for a quick solution and tightened the clamp. No go, it still leaked - a lot.

A man's got to know his limitations, Dirty Harry Callaghan told us lo those many years ago. After 52 years on this earth, and 20 in this home, we know ours. We called a guy we know, who removed the hose and found that the end connector had disintegrated. Removing the hose required yanking the dishwasher out and worming one's way through the dishwasher housing to find the hose latch. Indeed, we were wise to recognize our limitations. Fortunately, the guy we know can fix anything and is quite reasonably and competitively priced. If you're in our area, drop us a line for his contact info.

Let's list home mishaps these last 365 days, shall we? Sump pump line froze over. Clothes Washer died. AC motor blower died. AC fan died. AC motherboard died (must we needs revisit the AC Wars?). Thermostat glitched. Cracks developed in back of fireplace. Furnace malfunctioned. Minivan center console became wonky. And now the dishwasher hose. We shudder. What's going to break tomorrow? 

On to nicer things...So the Ravens and coach Jim Harbaugh have parted ways. Let us imagine how Harbaugh's wife should have greeted him when he got home from the office yesterday, 'Honey, there's a Mr. Mara on the line for you. He said he'd wait....Coach? John Mara. Listen, I've sent a special courier with a signed check for you. I've left the amount blank. Why don't you just write in what you think is fair? See you tomorrow.'

DOGE Report: We are 45% through World War 1990: Ireland, Or Whatever it's Called. We are ready to read the Battle of Derry [Londonderry-Ed]. Shut up, Ed. You're from Liverpool. Sigh, for some reason the editor thought an RUC Land Rover Tangi was actually called a Tango. No, it's Tangi. Look it up. 

We did some more work on the first half of Thatcher's War. The first half is really coming together. We are on the verge of being pleased. 

The First Monday of 2026

Good afternoon fans of the finer blogs. And Merry New Year*.

We're trying something new, schedule wise, so expect to see this blog in the afternoons for a while. 

New York Sports suckhole. The Giants surprised us by taking care of business against the Dallas Cowboys. It's nice to see the Cowboys go 7-8-1 this year. Some people are criticizing the win, saying the Giants hurt themselves by moving down in the NFL draft. These people are football morons. The Giants already have a QB, so there just ain't gonna be that much difference between the 2 and 7 pick. How about ending a bad year on a good note with your rookie QB having a good game? 

The less said about the Jets the better. Ten straight losing seasons, 15 seasons out of the playoffs, 15 years of gangrene not Gang Green. The opposition blew out the Jets in the last five games. Headcoach Aaron Glenn is returning, which is unconscionable. The Jets are gonna Jet. 

Heck of a game last night between the Steelers and Ravens. Unfortunately, the Steelers' victory means the Steelers won't do something stupid like fire head coach Mike Tomlin so the Giants can hire him. It is said the Ravens might fire head coach John Harbaugh. Please. If I'm the Giants I call him up on the way home from packing up his office at the stadium and say, 'Name your price, man.'

2006 the Fix. Devotees know we like to think about what we were doing 20 years ago (2003 & Me, 2004 & More). Ah, 2006. Actually since we were substitute teaching we usually think of the year in terms of 2005-06. But everything that made the '05-'06 school year good continued right into the '06-'07 school year. We subbed. We put the finishing touches on A Line through the Desert. We wrote magazine articles. In fact, that September we'll have our first front cover feature in Strategy & Tactics Magazine, Marlborough's Art of War. Of course, our oldest daughter was born late in the year.

DOGE Report:

We've read the prologue and the first two chapters of World War 1990: Ireland, or whatever it's called. It's cracker, as the Irish would say. Just craic it is. Just craic. 

We also worked on World War 1990: Thatcher's War. The first act of the novel, about 20,000 words, is really coming together. It's also good craic. 

*IYKYK.