A rare double-miss as we had neither the time nor the inclination to post over the weekend. Just think reader(s), you were there to see it, or not see it in this case. We had Youngest Daughter's bat mitzvah this weekend with services Friday night and Saturday morning. There followed a grand party at the Somerville Elks Lodge and family staying with us through Sunday afternoon. Several thousand dollars later here we are.
Our Saturday Speech killed. Of course it did. We were once a highly skilled and charismatic college professor known for knowledge, passion, wit, and good jokes [He recycled the same jokes every semester. I know. I was there-ed].
We were at Friday services, conducted by Youngest Daughter as part of her bat mitzvah, when the Israelis struck Iran. 'What now!?' we asked as our Rabbi announced the attack at the beginning of services. 'They couldn't wait, like an hour? Son-of-a...!' So it seems the Israelis struck several Iranian missile and drone production facilities as well as some air defense assets, doing great damage. The Israelis hit Iran where and when they wanted and the Iranians could do fuck-all about it.* And on Shabbat too.
The Israelis say the ground op in Lebanon will only last another week or ten days as they dismantle Hezbollah's border bases. However, the IDF seems to be prepping the battlespace for an advance further into Lebanon. Meanwhile they're systematically bombing Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut and expanding the aerial campaign to Tyre and its environs. What's the Israeli plan? We don't know. We do know one thing. The imams are right, the Jew is clever.
On Sunday we caught a good part of the MAGA rally at Madison Square Garden. Late in the afternoon it occurred to us that Trump was holding a second convention nine days before the election. Trump's was actually the least interesting speech we saw, as once more his remarks seemed random and unfocused. Trump's gonna Trump. He did look and sound good, though. Related we saw a big Trump billboard on Interstate 287 here in northern New Jersey, and the Trump stickers and lawn signs have been coming out. Something's happening out there.
We've resisted talking about the election because, well, because we just don't want to sit around analyzing polls anymore and risk feeling bad. November 2020, as the Dems systematically stole the election, was probably our worst month this decade and we'd like not to relive the experience. What a dank fog we fell into. At no time did we think Trump could stop the steal. And we were right.
Most polls show Trump and the GOP with the momentum and the lead. A few polls say Kamala is wrapping things up. Someone is really wrong, and someone is gonna be really right. In 2022 it was the Democrat outlier polls that turned out to be right. In 2020 the RCP polling average underestimated Trump's support by 2.9 points. In 2016 the RCP average under-estimated Trump's support by 2.4 points. Have pollsters figured out how to poll Trump voters? If they have then it's a close race.** If not Trump will win by at least a few points.
Predictions? None. But the GOPs have every reason to be optimistic.
Winning the race may be the easy part. The Daily Caller has a piece about the day after the election. Expects riots and lawfare.
Saturday Updates on Monday: We spent all week working on War Night's Australia story. It's almost done. From there we have to do the nuclear arty story and the Soviet Salyut story. After that, who knows? War Night is 61,000 words.
Will's Good Idea for the week of 10/28/24. We might take a week and not work on any novels at all, and instead super-focus on internet stuff, two, maybe three blog entries and lots of posting on Substack. It's a thought.
Sports Wrap: Mrs. Stroock's Nittany Lions won Saturday, allowing us a pleasant evening after a long day. The Eagles won on Sunday. Cincinatti made the Eagles great again. The Eagles are not as good as the margin of victory suggests, and coach Nick Siriani is a madman. Mrs. Stroock rejects author's idea of bringing on Bill Belichick to coach the Eagles next year, rejects it with extreme prejudice. As for the once more hapless Jets, we can't decide on OMG or LOL. Either or. The rising Steelers with their big, strong, and tough defense are playing our Giants tonight with their small, weak and wimpy offense. God help us all. We caught a few innings of the World Series, the Dodgers are up 2-0. Sorry Yankees fans, the Dodgers are a better team. We're amazed at how little we care about the Yankees.
*So much for Russia's vaunted S-300 SAM system. We were writing about the S-300 back in the 2000s. Reminder, never rely on Soviet, sorry, Russian equipment. Never.
**Note, Trump is still leading, but if this were a ballgame one wouldn't change the channel.
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