Wednesday from the Beach

Good afternoon, people of Stroock's Books. 

We had another pleasant day at the beach. The sky was sunny. The air breezy. The water cool. We're having to manage our right big toe a bit. It's still bothering us. But so far, so good. We can deal with a bit of soreness. The toe is red. As are we from all the sun. 

Ah, FB tells us that six years ago today we were in Ireland. Seven years ago today we were in Paris. Before the dark times. Before the Wuhan Virus from Wuhan China. They killed our planned 2020 trip to the Low Countries and back to Paris. Bastards. Now these places are too expensive, unsafe and not, shall we say, very European. [Stop whining, knobhead. You're at a pricey beach condo, enjoying the morning breeze- Ed]. 

The IDF has approved the latest Gaza plan. Frankly we're skeptical this new plan will ever be carried out. It's a negotiating ploy...which seems to be working, as Hamas is in talks with Egypt about implementing a permanent ceasefire under terms quite favorable to Israel, so far. Have the Arabs had it with Hamas? Maybe?

Just so reader(s) know, Israel has more than it's fair share of nutcases. The Times of Israel reports: 'Two decades after Disengagement, settler activists see a rare opening to make the Strip Jewish and are working relentlessly to corral political and public support for their plans...' This is insane. In 2005 the Israeli government under Ariel Sharon uprooted about 10,000 people from settlements in Gaza, baruch Hasem. Get Gaza out of Israel and keep Gaza out of Israel. These people are fucking nuts. 

Jersey Beat: There are 140 year old water pipes in New Jersey? NJ.com says there are: 'Repairs begin in 140-year-old pipe [in Patterson] that broke, affected water for 200K people in N.J.' Dang, a waterpipe laid down in 1885 lasted till 2025.  Anway, the article goes on to talk about aging water infrastructure in the region.