Monday With the Dregs

Good afternoon from our local Dunkin Donuts, Stroock's Books coffee drinkers and others. The vibe is pretty active, as it's 2:35, the high school is out, and teenagers are stopping by to get a post school mocha-cappa-whatever. 

We had a pint yesterday and Mrs. Stroock's corned beef and cabbage, so far without incident. We await events. 

In comments reader(s) left a couple of interesting story ideas for War Night. The prison concept has been dealt with in post apocalyptic stories before. See for example Lucifer's Hammer and The Stand (TV miniseries), also Fail Safe, in which Walter Matthau points out prisoners would have very good protection from a nuclear blast. Which doesn't mean we can't work with the idea as well. Okay, a state trooper sees the horizon flash (someone's been reading out novels) and then what?

We spent a lot of time yesterday thinking about ways to expand our readership and suspecting our magazine ad in Military Heritage Magazine had failed. We got nothing, folks. We did go to a kind of LinkedIn for journos and writers called Muckrack, which had already listed us, and claimed out bio there. So here's our page at Muckrack. It's something.

In the Middle East, hostage negotiations continue but Israeli rhetoric, right up to this minute, remains bellicose. If the Israelis are to be believed, they will attack Rafah and destroy Hamas there. In a phone call with Joe, Netanyahu said Israel will attack Rafah. Let's hope so. This blog believes a truce and hostage/prisoner exchange would be a disaster for Israel.* Best guess: no deal. 

Rafah is not the end, nor is Rafah the beginning of the end.  The Jerusalem Post reports: '79% of the Israeli public believes there is no chance for peace with the Palestinians - survey According to the survey, 63% of Israelis believe that Israel should attack Hezbollah with full force at the first available opportunity or after the war.' 79% of the Israeli public is wise. There can be no peace with the Gazans and West Bank People. Only victory. 

Monday Metal. Before Jason Bateman was a serious 21st century actor, he was a 70s and 80s child actor. Anyone remember the short lived It's Your Move sitcom from 1984/85? We do. And on a whim, we looked up the one episode that everyone who does remember It's Your Move, seems to remember. Stroock's Books reader(s), we give you The Dregs of Humanity:

Exit question: What does the 'lead singer' shout before beginning the song? It sounds like gibberish. 'Break the law'? We dunno.

*Okay, the Israelis could admittedly use a 6-week truce to rest and recoup, prepare for operations against Hezbollah, and continue their smash and grab operations in Judea/Samaria. But we believe the government will be under enormous international pressure to make the truce a permanent ceasefire. The way to end the war is to win the war. That means winning Rafah.