Saturday Updates

This is post 4857

Well, well, look who greeted us this morning:

This time the gout is on the left, rear ankle. How pervasive is it? We had gout in our dream, which was pretty weird to begin with. See, we were covering Russia's glorious liberation of Ukraine for Inforos when we were captured by a death squad of beautiful a Ukrainian fem-bots. and...So much for our gym and long walk plans this weekend. Looks like we'll knock off another Russia/Putin book. We're thinking the Ruskis in Syria.

The Bridgewater Breeze reports on the Bridgewater town meeting about the Z'Kye Husain situation. The usual statements were made. Bla-bla, racism, bla-bla change. This incident has broken our brain. On the one hand, there was a fight. On the other hand, the cops shouldn't have handcuffed* the kid. On the gripping hand, look at the professional racists jerking the incident dry. Does one really want to be on their side?

It is this blog's opinion that the Russians are, albeit slowly, winning the war. The footage of destroyed Soviet, sorry, Russian equipment is impressive, this blog admits. Zelenky is the greatest Jewish hero since Charleton Heston. 

But the Red Army grinds on, as is its wont. The Ruskis have offered a ceasefire in a few areas. The press thinks this is a humanitarian gesture. Suckers. The Ruskis are getting civilians out of the way and using the time to gather their strength. 

How does the conflict end and what comes next? 

We have yet to hear back from our KGB handler in Moscow and believe he's been assassinated by Ukrainian Nazi commandoes. Thoughts and prayers.

The cancelation of all things Russian continues. Mark my words, the next time Hamas picks a fight with Israel, the cancellers won't stop with Israel. No. They'll insist on cancelling Jews too. Expect to see protests in front of synagogues.  

We think the gout attack is stress related because we busted our hump all week on World War 1990: The Weser. We read each section: Intro, The Americans, The British, The Confederates...and then we read them again. We're pretty happy with what we've written. At this stage in the process one is nagged by the thought, 'Yes it's good. But can it be better?' Never let the perfect be the enemy of the good. We are nearing the end.

Remaining to-dos are unit checks; making sure 1/7 Arty is 1/7 Arty throughout, writing a few last scenes, seeing if there are seams into which we can put some ideas plus other odds and ends. We'll see. We'll be done by the end of the month. No need to write 'Inshallah' at the end because what will be will be and we shall all eat lamb in paradise. 

We'll spend our gout ridden weekend reading through the Great Salvation of 1976 printout. We didn't get through much of it this week.

Exit question: Does knocking off The Weser this month (it's being knocked off with extreme prejudice) clear things out to work on The Final Storm next month?

[I got an exit question for you -Ed]

Oh?

[The Great Nuclear War of 1975 is done, complete fin-Ed]

[Why not press the PUBLISH button, knobhead-Ed]

Dunno.

*See excessive 'officer safety' in your modern policing handbook.

Yet Another Dispatch from yet Another Z'kye Husain Protest in Bridgewater

Another day, another Z'kye Husain protest in Bridgewater. Al Sharpton was supposed to make an appearance and we hoped for a selfie. 

We wore a blue and white Somerset Patriots cap and our gray Property of the Mars Congressional Republic Navy hoodie. The MCRN lettering and logo confuses people and makes them stop wondering why we're there. One of the town employees letting people into the building (see below) spotted our hoodie and complimented.

The rally was organized by attorney Benjamin Crump. This was the biggest Z'kye Husain crowd we'd seen so far. We could go 200 on it if we had to. This was a mostly black crowd and almost nobody was from Bridgewater. Plenty of print and TV media were present. We counted half a dozen cameras. Al Sharpton was a no show (damn it!), but representatives from his National Action Network were there. Also present were some members of Israel United in Christ:

Those guys were preaching to an audience of one: me. We had a hard time following. Even after taking some of their lit and visiting what we must admit is an impressive website, we're not sure what they're about. 
 

NJ.com captures events perfectly: 'But Crump’s presence, and Sharpton’s advertised one, brought out local activists who said the two men were opportunists. “This is poverty pimping,” one shouted. The two groups faced off in the Bridgewater Municipal Center plaza outside the police station, Crump and his team with a microphone stand while the group of local men talked through a public address system they had brought. Eventually, Crump brought his press conference — including his legal team, some local activists he had coordinated with, plus Z’Kye’s family and credentialed media — into a multipurpose room inside the police station.' The situation grew quite acrimonious and members of the two groups never did stop yapping away at each other. 

Related, the Bridgewater Breeze reports that someone hung a 'Fuck BLM' banner and several American flags on the Route 22 pedestrian walkway. Some members of the Bridgewater/Raritan Community FB group were really worked up about it. One called the DPW. Getting American flags taken down, eh?  There was lots of talk of white nationalists and white supremacists. Someone wondered if Putin was involved. The road to victory in Ukraine runs through Bridgewater, every military analyst can see that. 

Oh! Look ma, I'm on TV! Watch the video from My Central Jersey and you'll see us loitering in the background:

Police Blotter: Brisco

NJ Mall Fight – My View. This is my perspective of the Bridgewater Commons Mall fight that took was reported by NJ.Com. As a 24-year veteran of law enforcement, I believe I am more than qualified to comment of the actions of the two Bridgewater Police officers involved. 

In a nutshell, there was absolutely nothing wrong with the actions taken by either officer. Both subjects were actively fighting when the officers arrived and each officer moved to control one of the combatants. One teen was already on the ground and an officer assumed positive control and immediately started handcuffing him – at which point the teen did not immediately comply and submit to handcuffing. Simultaneously, the female officer took control of the other teen, who immediately ceased his aggressive actions and appeared to comply with her verbal commands. The female officer then went to assist her partner in controlling the other teen. 

The only change in the officer’s tactics that I would recommend would have been to handcuff the “compliant” teen immediately. However, from the perspective of the female officer, it appears she perceived a greater threat to her partner and went to assist. Alternatively, OC spray could have been deployed against both subjects immediately upon the arrival of the officers. The fact that this is under investigation by the county prosecutor is ridiculous and political pandering.

World Waring It or Not

Here in New Jersey the state Covid case count continues to spike. At this writing, this year's November spike doesn't look to be as bad as last year's November spike. We'll see. Last year we had a lonely Thanksgiving. This year, family is coming. 

Yesterday's transmission rate was 1.11. Deaths are steady though, 15-20 per day, which is no consolation to the bereaved. Our own Bridgewater is seeing about 10 cases per day. Overall Bridgewater, a town of 44,000 + has 3,324 cases since March of last year and 109 deaths. 

Elsewhere in Bridgewater parents have been complaining to the school board about kids getting too much homework, The Bridgewater Breeze reports. There's a lot of it, that's for sure. 

The latest local 'get vaxed!' advertisements are slightly less condescending than those previous. Do note we've never seen a New Jersey 'get vaxed!' ad. These are all NYC ads. Mayor elect Eric Adams* can't move into Gracie Mansion quick enough. 

We are 2/3rds of the way through The Great Nuclear War of 1975. We're finally feeling it. We're finally seeing it. The MS feels like a novel to us. There's the novel. The Looking Glass scenes are coming along great too. The Falkland's chapter awaits. We don't feel mentally, emotionally, or spiritually prepared to edit it. We'll get to work this afternoon.

We also had some success with The Final Storm and we finally see a way to wrap up the Crimea scenes. So the Italian/Israeli chapter will be more or less wrapped up this week. Unless we get crazy and want to add a Soviet POV, do some stuff with all those Kilos in the Black Sea Fleet. Maybe.

We've spent a lot of time hemming and hawing this week about the novel to write next. We're on the verge of overthinking, a problem that surely would have surprised our parents and teachers 30 years ago. We thought, 'Do we really need to write another World War 1990 novel right now?' And then we remembered we just wrote a pair of non-World War 1990 novels. Still, we'll think of a couple of non-WW1990 ideas. 

Informal, off the record conversations show you people prefer World War 1990: Battle of the GIUK Gap for the next project.

However one thinks about the matter, we will need something to write in 2022.

*Pssst. He's really a GOP.

With the Protestors and Novel Notes

Last Saturday the Bridgewater Raritan School District hosted a Covid vaccine clinic at Eisenhower Intermediate School. 

Across the street from Eisenhower was a small anti-vaccine protest. A FB notification made us aware of the protest a few days before the event. 

We drove over to Eisenhower and introduced ourselves to the protestors. One attendee asked what newspaper we were with. We held up our hands, said, 'Oh no. Were not a journo' and explained who we are. We held out our phone and showed a few pics of us at last summer's Bedminster Trump rallies. 

We spent about half an hour amiably chatting with the protestors.  Organizers said about 20 people showed up overall. Out of curiosity we asked a few protestors which GOP presidential contender they preferred in 2024. All said Trump. We asked if not Trump who?  We heard DeSantis a couple of times. We suggested Chris Christie. We were met with mocking laughter and scorn. 

Yesterday we worked on The Final Storm's Crimea scenes and came away wondering if we needed to work in a Soviet POV character, maybe two. In fact, we are wondering if we should work in some sort of Soviet submarine action against Task Force Gladius and Task Force Aigle. We began the Israeli scene but really have no idea where it's headed.

Also yesterday we read the first 50 pages of The Great Nuclear War of 1975. It looks good. We added a few things to make it look better. One reads an MS a dozen times, then on the 13th read one finally see's something one can do to make one's MS better. Winter 2022 for sure.

We plan. We hem and haw. We plan and god laughs at us. By our original plan we write one WW1990 novel that advances the plot forward, then we write one WW1990 novel that goes back and looks at something that happened before Arctic Storm. Via that plan the next WW1990 book should be The Final Storm. The previous WW1990 book was Nederland (back), the one before that Three Seas (forward). 

Then there's our bourgeoning ideas for World War 1990: Battle of the GIUK Gap. We need a merchant convoy POV for that....there's always something to write. What to write in 2022? GIUK Gap or Esercito Italiano?  

The fire of creation is the best part.

Saturday Updates

A great week at the gym; two sessions on the treadmill, two on the weights. The weights are grueling and leave our knee sore, while the treadmill does not. Huh. 

We see House Dems passed the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill last night. Within is $12 billion for the Gateway Tunnel linking NJ to NY. We agree with Hot Air.  It's nice to see New Jersey get some pork money. 

Elsewhere in New Jersey, the infection rate is back over 1. There's no ending Covid. We see people with masks and smolder with rage. What is wrong with you people?! Masks do nothing! Psst...sooner or later, we're all going to get it.

We liked Edward Durr, the one man campaign who defeated Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney. NJ.com reports that Durr tweeted mean things about special protected groups with extra rights. Now we love him. As we commented on NJ.com's FB, who cares?

Here's Bridgewater's election night map for Somerset County Commissioner courtesy of once and future commish Felipe Pedroso: 

See that blue blotch? We live just south of it. What's up with that?

The things.

We had a slow but steady week of writing The Final Storm. The Italian/Crimea chapter, while nowhere near completion, has taken shape. Italian Tornado bombers, Italian F-104s, Israeli F-16s, the view from Task Force Gladius and Task Force Aigle. We anticipate finishing the Italian/Crimea chapter rough next week. We're going to get optimistic and predict the airstrike scenes are completed by the end of this year. 

We could throw some submarine action into the Crimea chapter. Actually, at this point in the war why wouldn't Soviet submarines launch conventional strikes on the US mainland? There's always Granma. Maybe the Backfires return to the Crimea? Recall that Travado and his Sarissa Flight of F-104s dealt with them in Three Seas. 

Our beta reader gave back The Great Nuclear War of 1975 and was happy with what she read. No form, plot, or structural problems for her whatsoever. We may look for another beta reader. That said, this  is confirmation of what we already know. We are very good at what we do. We are writing a trio, maybe a quartet of scenes in which a pair of officers from Looking Glass, which has been idle on the tarmac at Gillette (WY) regional airport since Missile Night, try to piece together the war.

We had planned to release 75 at the end of this year. We plan, god laughs. For as it is written, we plan god laughs. Maybe we just pissed off Kek. We have four novels in various states of rough draft. In addition to 75 there's 76, The Final Storm and The Weser, which is probably closer to being ready to go than The Final Storm. The summer was busy and tough. 

There's lots of work to do but we can finally see everything coming together. How did that happen? First slowly, then all at once. 2022 will be the year of the four novels. 

Various and Sun-Drenched Graduations

Oldest Daughter graduated from Bridgewater/Raritan Middle School yesterday. We have to admit we were impressed with the school's graduation procedures. The speeches were short and to the point. In all 702 names were read; quickly, cleverly. Two officials were reading names, so there was no natural pause, just a bang/bang recitation. It took about 20 minutes. There were a lot of Li's and Zhou's and Gupta's and Patel's, but not as many as we anticipated. There are still many, many Italians in New Jersey. It was a scorcher, 90+. We got some sun. 

NYC's mayoral primary is today. The New York Post has endorsed Eric Adams. 'Eric Adams is unequivocally the best candidate to save the city. Pick him as your first choice on your ballot.' Quite right. Younger New Yorkers really do think those clean, safe streets are the norm. They've probably also listened to idiots reminiscing about the hard edged New York of the 70's. Schmucks.

We can't believe Murphy's lead isn't bigger. NJ.com reports: 'Gov. Phil Murphy carries a strong lead to win a second term in New Jersey against a Republican opponent who’s struggling to get voters’ attention, according to a new poll. The Fairleigh Dickinson University Poll released Monday shows Murphy, a Democrat, has a 15-point lead — 48% to 33% — over former state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, who won the Republican nomination nearly two weeks ago.'  Ciattarelli has nowhere to go but up and probably will a bit. We voted for Hirsch Singh in the Primary. There's really no reason to vote for Jack, as his campaign signs call him. So we won't. Murphy: He's no Cuomo.

Also, we advanced the plot of The Weser. Two Soviet divisions come down to hit the 8th Infantry Division. The British 4th Armoured Division hits the second in the flank, pushes through and then slams into the East Germans. We began an Apache scene and are proceeding slowly, with great trepidation. They're scouting things out, showing the terrain and what not. It's all flat farmland.

Back to The Great Nuclear War of 1975. We can't shake that foreboding feeling about our one-off chapters. As has been said, a full six pack but without the plastic thingy to hold it all together. Baaaaa, we're over thinking. As the Critical Drinker says, 'It'll be fine.' 

Anti-Asian Hate Crime Week: The Chindian Experience

This week it's back to The Great Nuclear War of 1975. We're finishing up the Argentine and Falklands chapter. The main plot is, of course, the ARA's attack on the Los Ilse Malvinas. [Why you bloody yank....Ed] The subplot involves an Argentine relief convoy sailing into Los Angeles. This allows us to show South America and Mexico, and of course Southern California. Now, now, no jokes about nuking LA from orbit.

We'll be blogging about Chindia all this week here at William Stroock dot Blogspot dot come. To kick things off, here's a fascinating article about Chindia, immigration and architecture: 'The west end of Bridgewater, New Jersey marks a series of densely populated suburban communities, known to the public as the “Milltown-Vanderveer” district, and [known] to its residents as “Chindia” for its predominantly Chinese-Indian demographic. The majority of Chindia’s two-story, single-family homes are inhabited by immigrants raising first generation Asian-American children. Stratton Meadows, a “Chindian” community'. The cars, the kids, the extracurricular activities are as American as can be. Que the Lee Greenwood.

You know, we've never seen a Chinese family move in here. It's always, well almost always, an Indian family moving in from Edison as the article points out. Just this month a Chinese family with college-aged kids moved out and you guessed it, an Indian family with school-aged kids moved it. 'Let me guess, you moved here from Edison and you work in IT.' 

For Monday Metal we give you Hong Kong born guitarist Herman Li:

Iraqing On

New Jersey is reporting 4K+ new cases of the WuFlu per day. Here in Bridgewater, the town is adding 5-10 cases per day.  The high school has reported several cases and is switching to remote learning immediately. We suspect the rest of the school district will do the same after Thanksgiving. We know people who got the Wuhan Virus, they report flu like systems but are doing OK.  Mrs. Stroock is making cookies for them later today.

It looks like Tom Malinowski has finally won the congressional race here in NJ07. We think he's a nice guy and give him a rating of SANE. Had the Dem's promoted freshmen like Malinowski rather than Ms. Venezuela and Somalia's Finest, they'd be in better shape. That pair and their dingbat colleague Rashida Tlaib are the Dem's future.

We broke down and wrote a column for our KGB handler in Moscow and will submit it tonight. 

More late night writing yesterday. We wrote a scene about some Iraqi combat engineers led by a foreigner. We are eagerly reading about Saddam, Iraq and the Iran/Iraq War. 

Boy The Great Nuclear War of 1975 is a slog. At this rate we'll be lucky to finish this readthrough by the end of the December. Who knows, maybe the later stuff is better written.

Chindian Vignettes

We saw two Indian lads playing cricket in the field across the street. One of our Chinese neighbors asked if we wanted an N95 mask. Now where did he get his hands on those? There's a Wuhan China Virus from Wuhan China* FB group for Bridgewater. 

Four Democrat jerks have taken it upon themselves to slam any source they don't like, and no, they didn't like Tucker Carlson's interview with Governor Murphy** We've gotten in the weeds with these witch finders a bit. Sometimes it has to be done.

We made a new friend there, though, which is nice. She's a naturalized American citizen from China and a member of a local Chinese American society and has been posting about their charitable  efforts on behalf of hospitals. She's become curious about how Chinese Americans are viewed here, and sent me some written questions, which are fascinating. We invite reader(s) to chime in below:

What is your general impression of the ethnic Chinese population here in the USA

What is your general impression of the Chinese people in China

What is your general impression of the Chinese government?

Do you think the Chinese people in China are for or against the Chinese government?

Do you think the ethnic Chinese here in the USA are for or against the Chinese government?

In the hypothetical situation when China (current government) and US are at war, what percentage of ethnic Chinese in USA will support China?

Do you think China is a threat?

Do you genuinely believe ethnic Chinese in the USA is an integral part of the US and share your love of the country?

What news source do you use to learn about China and the Chinese people there?

For the coronavirus situation:

Do you think the Chinese government is to blame, and for what?

Do you think the Chinese people in China are to blame. and for what?

Do you think the ethnic Chinese in the US are to blame, and for what?

Did you know that many Chinese communities are organizing donations to the hospitals essential workers, and neighors in need. if you do, how did you learn about it?

What is your opinion about these donation activities?

The Chinese community here feel unsafe, because they are afraid that there might be hate crime from the coromavirus as they are ethnically associated with China. Do you think they should feel this way? what can help with this anxiety?...

We'll post answers when available.

*Sometimes called Covid-19
**Whom we think is doing a fine job.

Inforos Latest

Here's our latest piece at Inforos:

In response to the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak, President Trump holds daily press briefings in which he describes his administration’s efforts and spars with the media. He then hands the podium off to Vice President Mike Pence, chair of the Coronavirus Task Force. The former governor of Indiana comes across as cool, collected, and in-charge. Pence will probably be the Republican frontrunner in 2024. Last week, the press really focused on an important issue: is calling the virus the ‘China Virus’ racist? In true Trumpian manner, Trump scoffed. And so, he goaded the press into picking another fight that will make them look silly.The Wuhan Coronavirus is sweeping through the New York Metropolitan area...

Click on through to the other side.

Will's Campaign Sticker Archeological Jaunt: Anti-W

I remember when that one was new. Screw them.

Will's Campaign Sticker Archeological Jaunt: W

For whatever reason there are some really old campaign bumper stickers splotched around Bridgewater. We've been hunting them down. Here's the first:

Fifteen years after the fact, the Georgewbush.com is still up, though its purpose has changed. God bless you, Mr. President.

12/3/19 in New Jersey

At the intersection of Garretson and Country Club, this happened about happened a mile from our house:

A suspect was in custody after police asked residents to seek shelter as officers responded to a reported gunman in a Bridgewater neighborhood Monday night, officials said.

“Thanks to the outstanding work of Bridgewater police and law enforcement, he was taken into custody without injury,” Bridgewater Mayor Dan Hayes told NJ Advance Media Monday night.

We heard the sirens and our phone lit up as people texted this to each other:

Avoid Country Club Rd between US 22 and Garretson Rd. Reported man with a gun. https://t.co/FIWwYBdSpr

— Bridgewater Police (@BridgewaterPD) December 2, 2019