The Greens and the Blues

Good morning, Stroock's Book constituents. 

Gout sucks. Even a minor attack leaves one slow and hobbling and drains so much energy. We wake up this morning with residual soreness. Gout is also so random. We could be fine by lunch, or need several days to fully heal. Mother!@#$@!

Mrs. Stroock returns this evening. 

Phase-1 of the Israeli-Hamas ceasefire is over. Hamas still holds 59 Israelis, some of them dead. We've no idea what will happen next but negotiations will continue. Our sense is that phase-1 will be extended by a few weeks and a few more Israelis will return home alive. All rhetoric from the Trump administration looks positive as he's said what happens next is up to Netanyahu. In the meantime, the army is rested and ready. Raylen Givens, an excellent Israeli news gatherer reminds us that Bibi's way is sideways-diagonal, always fixed on a specific goal. Above all be patient. Patience has paid great dividends for Israel the last year. Update: additional hostages to be released this weekend in exchange for extending ceasefire?

In New York the Empire State Building was lit up orange for the Bibas family murdered so brutally by gleeful Gazans. In Paris the French lit the Eifel tower equally sympathetically for the Bibas family, which we point out again was brutally murdered by gleeful Gazans. For the moment Israel seems to have the world's sympathies. But as we said, for the moment. In just a few days the world will return to form. 

For example Hamas activists occupied a building at Barnard College. We saw a poll that showed only 33 percent of Democrats have a positive view of Israel. The golden age of Jews in America is over. 

DOGE report: yesterday we went through half a dozen scenes in the Battle of Derry and have set up the IRA driving the RUC from the Craigavon Bridge via sniper attack. Work is proceeding slower than we like but it is proceeding. I love it when a plan comes together. Also, our people are behind schedule editing War Night. Typical. We told them to start thinking about the cover, which should match the other books in the series but be set at night. We'll send them the back text today. 

A Line Through the Desert Week, the tally...well, it ain't pretty.  As of now we ain't moved no merch. No merch at all. We said A Line Through the Desert Week was an experiment. We learned something. Or confirmed something anyway. You can plug an unwanted book, or any product for that matter, and if people don't want that book, one's plugging the book won't matter. See also the Etzel or New Coke. [Thursday downer-Ed] Maybe just a bit.