Chag Sameach Let's Eat

For as it is written, the Holy One, blessed is he...

Chag Sameach, Stroock's Books readers. Last night's seder went off just fine. Pharoah never knew what hit him.

The seder felt a tad quick this year. Though Mrs. Stroock denies speeding things along, we finished in plenty of time to watch her beloved 76ers play the New York Knicks. Note to NBA playoff schedulers. A playoff game on the first night of Passover might not maximize viewership in the New York and Philadelphia markets.

The leader of this blog's Confederate Contingent has kindly invited Oldest Daughter to attend Ole Miss, which it should be said, was Eli Manning's school. We take the opportunity to note once more that, despite contemporary misconceptions, the south was long a place where the Jew was welcomed. Much of our family is buried 

in the Jew's Hill section of the Natchez City Cemetary, Mississippi. 

The ten Passover plagues from Haggadah: Dam, Tsifardeah, Kinim, Arov, Dever, Shkhin, Barad, Arbeh, Choshech, Makat b’chorot. Gives us chills every time we recite them. May they fall upon Gaza. 

Sky News: 'The US State Department says the militant group has signaled it does not want a ceasefire agreement in the war.' Even the Shimon Peresists* at the State Department have figured it out. Israel media is reporting that Shin Beit believes just 40 hostages remain alive. In their last offer Hamas proposed releasing 20. We doubt even that many live. Finish it, Bibi. Also from the Haggadah:  '‘Pour out your fury on the nations that do not know you, upon the kingdoms that do not invoke your name, for they have devoured Jacob and desolated his home. Pour out your wrath on them; may your blazing anger overtake them. Pursue them in wrath and destroy them from under the heavens.’

The Times of Israel reports, 'The Israel Defense Forces is readying to evacuate Palestinian civilians from Gaza’s southernmost city in Rafah ahead of its planned offensive there against Hamas, according to a report Monday.' Another story this morning has a satellite photo of tent cities being built outside of Khan Younis. In the spirit of Passover, Stroock's Books proposes the Rafah assault be codenamed Operation 11th Plague. 

Meanwhile Israeli battlefield preparation in Lebanon continues. 'Mohammad Khalil Atiyeh, a Hezbollah operative killed Monday night in an attack on southern Lebanon's Arzoun, was a senior member of the terrorist group's elite Radwan force, according to Lebanese media reports on Tuesday,' reports Ynet.

Dune Part 2 Notes Part-I**: Director Denis Villeneuve made an interesting directorial choice in the way he portrayed the emperor in Dune Part 2. In Lynch's Dune and Sci-Fi Channel's Dune, the emperor and his palace are highly articulated with lots of followers, handlers, and regalia. But in his Dune, Villeneuve goes minimalist. We see Emperor Shaddam and Princess Irulan in a garden contemplating events over a board game. The effect is very understated.

We're not announcing a breakthrough, but we did kinda-sorta got an idea for War Night and other Stories of the Great Nuclear War of 1975. What if the main War Night story was about General Haig (who readers will recall was SACEUR at the time) fighting the conventional/nuclear war in Europe? Upon this idea we shall dwell. Right now we're reading through the Titan II missile silo scene, Razorback-1

*Shimon Peresism:  The naive belief that if the Jews concede everything, the Gazans and West Bank Persons will stop wanting them dead. Named after Israel's Quisling loser prime minister and 'peace process' fanatic Shimon Peres. See also Tom Friedman.

**We'll be writing about Dune Part 2 for as long as we have something to write about Dune Part 2. We all know that David Lynch's Dune, while it has some strong visuals, is a convoluted mess. We've preferred the Sci Fi Channel's version ever since it aired in 2000.