Berkshire Monday - in the rain

A rainy Berkshire morning, Stroock's Books reader(s). We are feeling refreshed and invigorated after a decent night's sleep. We are drinking coffee from one of our grandfather's Young and Rubicam* coffee mugs, a gift for the companies' 50th anniversary in 1973. 

We did plenty of lake stuff yesterday. Coffee on the deck. Boating and tubing. Evening barbeque.

The toe is feeling much better. 

The Israelis at Camp Kimana/Halfmoon are having a good time. Lots of drumming, singing, chanting, etc etc. People in the Lake Buel FB group are complaining. We'd say the complainers were Hamas symps, but at least two of them are Jewish. 

Related....we haven't looked at Israeli media this morning because we're sick of thinking about it. 

Bla-bla Trump, bla-bla Iran. What are the unknown, unknowns? Nobody really knows. We are open to the possibility, suggested by Professor Reynolds, that Trump is stringing the Iranians along. Why not? Trump says new peace talks are on. Iran says they're not. Trump can say he tried. 

Oh look! Oil's down - a lot so far. 

Also, military coup rumors abound in Iran, we have heard.  

Thirty-nine years ago today, Def Leppard's Hysteria came out. An absolutely perfect album. All killer, no filler. We can hear the title track's opening bars. We used to be able to play it. Maybe it's just because we're 53, but we're getting emotional just thinking about Hysteria. The album is more than a masterpiece. It's a friend. 

We see we've had an Adrenalize week here at Stroock's Books. But it doesn't seem we've had a Hysteria week. And we won't. We'll wait till next year. 

Okay, the leader of this blog's Confederate Contingent wants us to revisit the sci fi project from a few years back. Question (asked in Dwight Shrute): what sci fi project?

*Young and Rubicam was a huge Madison Avenue advertising company. Anyone our age saw commercials our grandfather worked on. Y&R got mentioned in Madmen several times. Our grandfather said Madmen is almost 100 percent accurate, except that by 1960 the copy men were Jewish and the art directors were Eye-talian. When we asked why he replied, 'Talent'.

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 8/2/26

Good Sunday, Stroock's Books Christian faithful. We write this from the Stroock ancestral lake house in the Berkshires. The air is a touch balmier than we like. The breeze is strong. We got the boat out last night for an evening cruise and will get her out once again this afternoon for some tubing. 

Unfortunately, the dictates of life prevent us from getting up here as much as we'd like. So when we do finally come, a multitude of projects await us. 

Our toe still hurts. Fab. TBH, we aren't necessarily in the best of moods. And we didn't do any good thinkin' on the drive up [No surprise there -Ed]. Shut up, Ed. Get me another cup of coffee, and take your time walking away [Awww, thanks-Ed].

Has anyone else noticed we've been going down [Phrasing!-Ed] with more and more frequency with nagging injuries? Gout, bursitis, etc etc. 

Moving on...[Please-Ed].

Regarding Spain, Socialist PM Pedro Sanchez, and the invasion of Cueta, we urge the Spanish people to follow the example of Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, or El Cid. Click over and reader(s) will see a talented, charismatic, and goodlooking author wrote an article about El Cid some 20 years ago. Holds up decent. 

Trump postponed a massive attack on Iran, they say. Honestly this blog is pretty 'meh' on more military action and isn't sure what more bombing would accomplish. Bomb Iran...Mullahs fall! Yeah sure. 

Let's just get on to the various good ideas for the first week of August. 

As we noted yesterday, World War 1990: Thatcher's War feels like it needs 14 Intel, the Det, or The Group (all the same thing) to add a little umph to the plot. Also, with Dublin all but in British hands (we don't see any problems there, no) we're still not sure how they get Adams or McGuinness. Should the Brits even get them? 

Next summer...we should write a standalone novel and put it out on a new platform. Dunno what though. What's been floating around the ethereal mist of Will's head lo these many years?

Saturday Updates

Baah! We're awake at 4 AM and we don't like it, don't like it at all. And we're annoyed. Which doesn't always make for the smartest writing. So we'll just keep our goddamn mouth shut. 

Good morning, Stroock's Books reader(s) and happy August. 

Today we'll head up to the Stroock Northern Strategic Direction for a sojourn to the pastoral splendor of the Berkshires. Wish us luck. Many things must needs be taken care of at the house. 

The things.

World War 1990: Thatcher's War is 66,000 words. We think we need to add another subplot to bring the story together, and to a close. 

We didn't really do anything on the 5th nuke novel. We're three stories away from completion. End of the summer? If one defines summer as ending on 21 September. Maybe. 

Post Doctor, Post Gout, and the Post

Good morning, dear reader(s) and Shabbat Shalom. 

They want how much to prune that tree out front? We can do some of it ourselves but...ladder + chainsaw + Will....

So yesterday afternoon we got ourselves to the podiatrist. We sat in the waiting room for nearly an hour before a young nurse took us to an exam room. She was cute enough, in those hospital scrubs, and spends a lot of time on hair and makeup; scoring a 4/5 on the Stroock Is She Hot scale. 

Anyway, we saw our usual doctor*. Why do we have such a goddamn problem staying hydrated? All we can say is thank you cortisone. Thank you very much indeed.  

Gadi Eisenkot leads Netanyahu by 10 points, but Likud picked up two seats in this latest poll and the oppo bloc only gets 56 seats. Bibi may be unpopular, but the coalition still can't think of a way to take him out. 

Related....Hamas has agreed to disarm, Trump says. Now comes a lot of rigamarole about Israel withdrawing from Gaza. You know, troops can pull back a little and always reoccupy said territory again. Count this blog skeptical, but we don't think it's a big deal. 

the New York Post says, 'At least 18 migrants dead as 49K breached border to reach Spain’s Ceuta enclave from Morocco: ‘Serious humanitarian crisis...’ These people are just looking for a better life and Spain must take them all. God bless Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, whom we're sure is up to the challenge. 

DOGE report.

Between wincing in pain and visiting the podiatrist we managed to work on LE Sive's roll in the Dublin thing and the Baldoyle Bay landing. Actually, it's more of an estuary, but whatever. 

*Devotees will recall our disastrous and pointless Rheumatologist appointment last summer, which we're still not allowed to talk about. 

My Left Toe

We just paid the local Mexican(?) guys to mow our lawn,  'Aye muchacho! Quanto questa el lawn-o!' We feel dirty.

A word of explanation. 

We were up half the night with a gout attack on our big left toe. The toe felt like it was in a vice grip. There's actually a red ring around the joint. Every time we nodded off the pain jolted us back awake. It was so bad...we got a doctor's appointment today at 4. Bring on the cortisone. 

In the meantime, we're so gimpy a short bus pulled up to our house and offered us a day trip to the supermarket and the hair solon. JFC. 

The day's not shot. But we are operating at, like, 50 percent capacity. 

We'll be heading up to the Stroock Northern Strategic direction this weekend and we don't want no physical ailments complicating our sojourn. 

No we did not watch 'Doctor' Fauci's testimony yesterday. But we read reviews, and some AAR's. The man's a war criminal. He's no better than Mengele. 

Like most Americans we made the mistake of trusting the 'doctor' and the narrative on the Wuhan Virus from Wuhan China. We've been trying to remember when we began losing trust. That happened in late May, after George Floyd overdosed. We specifically recall using the term 'hoax adjacent' to describe the pandemic. We stand by that. For what it's worth, here's our April 9th post. 

Doge report.

It's messy, but the battle for Dublin has really come together - like all good plans. 

Grok on Will

Grok, 'investigate William Stroock's political bias'.

William Stroock is a right-leaning conservative with strong pro-Israel (Zionist) views, a populist/MAGA-adjacent streak, and a contrarian style that includes past paid writing for the Russian-linked outlet InfoRos.

He is an American author of military fiction, alternate history, and military history nonfiction (plus former adjunct history professor), based in New Jersey. His political commentary appears mainly on his blog (williamstroock.blogspot.com / Goodreads), Substack, and sites such as 19FortyFive. He does not present as a formal party activist or elected official; his output is personal, opinionated, and often irreverent.

Key Elements of His Views

• Pro-Israel hardliner: He repeatedly affirms “Zionism is awesome,” supports aggressive Israeli military actions (e.g., “Bomb Gaza”), tracks the post-October 7, 2023 war closely and favorably toward Israel, and criticizes diaspora Jewish institutions (AIPAC, ADL, Reform Judaism) for failing to confront rising antisemitism. He has written extensively on Arab-Israeli wars.
• Right-leaning / anti-Democratic establishment: He is harshly critical of Democrats, Biden/Harris, Tony Fauci (“war criminal”), and progressive cultural trends. He expresses skepticism of polls that favored Democrats (implying concerns about 2020 and similar contests), celebrates Republican or Trump-aligned outcomes, and has attended Trump events. Recent posts show confidence in post-2024 Republican figures such as Vance or DeSantis over Democratic alternatives.
• Relationship with Trump and MAGA: He has openly identified as a Trump fan and used “fellow MAGA hats” language. At the same time, he has published pieces arguing that “MAGA Needs to Move on from Donald Trump,” that Trump was “self-destructing,” and that Nikki Haley had no chance in a “Trumpified” GOP base. This indicates pragmatic or critical support rather than uncritical loyalty.
• Foreign policy and other themes: Focuses on military history, Cold War scenarios, and American strength. He has written alternate-history and what-if pieces on U.S. presidents and wars. He shows occasional skepticism of certain U.S. interventions while remaining broadly hawkish on threats to Israel and Western interests.
• InfoRos connection (notable outlier): He wrote more than 50 paid op-eds for InfoRos (and related sites), a Russian outlet later linked by U.S. reporting and investigators to GRU influence operations. Stroock himself described the work, often tongue-in-cheek, as “Russian disinformation” or “work on behalf of Moscow,” while focusing on U.S. politics and foreign affairs. This sits uneasily with typical American conservative stances and appears opportunistic or contrarian rather than ideological alignment with the Kremlin.

Overall Assessment

Stroock’s public commentary places him on the American right: nationalist, pro-Israel, critical of the Democratic Party and progressive cultural politics, and engaged with (but not uncritically loyal to) the Trump/MAGA ecosystem. His military-history background and alternate-history fiction reinforce themes of American and Israeli strength. The InfoRos work is the clearest departure from a standard conservative profile and has drawn scrutiny for contributing to Russian information efforts, even if framed by him as paid opinion writing.

His output is primarily personal blogging and freelance pieces rather than institutional activism, so the picture is drawn from self-published and published commentary rather than formal party platforms or voting records. Views can shift over time (e.g., his evolving Trump commentary), and he frequently mixes serious analysis with humor and self-deprecation.

Midweek Meander

Good morning, people of Stroock's Books and Happy Wednesday.

We had lots of rain and lightning yesterday, but not quite the biblical deluge we were promised.  

We got to the gym yesterday. Stretching was hard and it took a long time to loosen up.  We never really did feel on program. Our left foot remains sore. Ankle hurts, ball of the big toe aches. Time for a long-term gym break?

Trump and Netanyahu had a fine meeting, they say. This blog says take out Pick Axe Mountain, be done with it and let the Euros hold open Hormuz. Na....the Euros will pay the Jizya. 

'Doctor' Tony Fauci is testifying in the senate today. Our best hope is Rand Paul will grill Fauci and get some damning answers. But overall, the GOP will screw this up, so don't get excited. Fauci's a war criminal. 

What Will's Watching: Greyhound. Why did we wait so long before watching this movie? Greyhound is a tense and tension loaded action film at sea. The script is tight and fast moving. We felt the cold. We felt the sea spray. Tom Hanks put in his usual fine performance, in which we initially recognize the man but lose him in his everyman role. Little plot points add details to the characters aboard ship. The steward is determined to get the captain to eat something. The radioman stumbled a bit in the beginning. We've never wanted to see a U-boat sunk so bad in our life. 4/4

DOGE report.

The battle of Howth and its aftermath is really shaping up. Things are transpiring. 

Two Points, Two Leaders, One War

Ugh, this gout is sticking with us. 

Mrs. S was supposed to be in Chicago for the next few days, but weather delayed her flight and delayed it again. Trip cancelled. Yay. 

That weather is hitting New Jersey today. Which is fine. We need the rain.

[Why do you write this 'dear diary' kind of blog now?-Ed]

Because we're 53.  Because we don't feel like doing the 'we're 2 points up in Iowa' thing (thanks M Steyn). Or 'bla-bla Israel. Bla-bla Bibi'. Because we're actually kind of bored. We could go all downer if you like [Thank you, no-Ed].

Gout always drags us down a bit. Sometimes a lot. 

Huh, we haven't had a cigar since July 3rd. Maybe tomorrow?

Dear 'Doctor' Fauci. If you're going to perpetuate a global conspiracy, don't write about it in your diary. The man's no better than Mengele. Quote us. And we're not convinced he's actually a doctor. 

We saw a headline reading, 'Why doesn't Trump finish off Iran?' or some such. How's that work exactly? Bomb Iran...the Shah Returns! We don't know. We do know Trump has delivered massive, knock em' down to the canvas, blows to Iran's political leadership, military, nuclear program, and economy. The idea that Iran is 'rebuilding' or 'reconstituting' anything is stupid. Try this thought experiment, 'Confederates rebuilt as Sherman abandons Georgia.' Idiots. 

Okay, we'll do the 'we're up 2 points in Iowa' thing, thanks again M Steyn. Matt Vespa at PJM says, 'Republicans Will Jump for Joy If This Kamala Harris Rumor Is True.' Kamala running again? We'll pay her filing fee. We'll go further. If the Dems nominate that woman, and they probably will, patriotic Americans will feel very comfortable and confident when they wake up on election day. Vance (almost certainly but we'd prefer Desantis), he'd win more states than he and Trump won in 2024. 

Further thoughts....of course there's a long list of presumptive front runners, or candidates the media just loved, who went nowhere. See Jeb Bush, for starters or Hillary! in '08. You'd have to be a major political nerd to remember or even know about Bruce Babbit, but he had a lot of buzz going into the '88 primary. Bush the elder in '80.

DOGE report.

Another fine day with the battle of Howth, which is on the verge of finishing [Finishing what?-Ed]. 

We began, barely the next nuke novel story. We're not sure where it takes place. The Pacific Northwest? Off the Chesapeake? We know the latter pretty well. Problem: Between Dover, Wilmington and Salisbury the Delmarva Peninsula is going to burn and burn. 

Monday Multiple Fronts

Argh. Gout attack last night. Left, lower ankle, port side. That sucked. We slept in a bit, and are now behind schedule. Job-1 this afternoon is staying awake. 

As we write this Netanyahu is aboard Zion Wing enroute to Washington for consultations with Trump. Afterwords he should head up to NYC, go to city hall and say, 'I'm here. Come and get me, Mr. Mayor.' Not kidding. 

Related...FB tells us we posted this 13 years ago, 'As of today Israel Strikes has sold 6661 copies, Kindle and print. Highest daily average per month, 43, highest daily total, 76.' Ah, those were the days. Israel Strikes, our best seller ever, has been totally Overtaken by Events.

And...See that up  there 6661...take out the 1 what do we have? 666. The imams are right, the Jew is clever. 

War of the ants: one of those colonies of little ants has sprouted inside the walls. We can't keep them out of the kitchen junk drawer, so we're bombing the rat lines back to the colony. So far the ants show a willingness to take heavy casualties. The interdiction campaign will continue apace. Later today we're going to set up a sugar ambush in the dining room. 

What Will's Watching: Shoresy, season 5. Meh. Feels more like Letterkenny, but with more babes.  

Also...with all the reading we've been doing about World War II in the Atlantic and Med we watched the director's cut of Das Boot.  Wow. There's like an hour with Krauts at sea and nothing happens. Then there's a 15-minute depth charge scene, some torpedoing, and then a half an hour depth charge scene. Wow again. We forwarded through most of the depth charge scenes.

DOGE report. 

Alright the Howth landing has really come together. The Royal Marines are on east pier while a second company has landed on west pier. Both are under heavy fire, but gradually advancing with support air and naval gunfire. The Bascadden Bay contingent is also reinforced and on the verge of breaking out. At this point the Irish FCA commander has a decision to make. 

Interested reader(s) should check out Howth on Google Earth. Reminder, we have been to Howth and walked East Pier. 

Note, World War 1990: Thatcher's War is 63,000 words. We don't even know how this novel ends. 

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 7/26/26

There must be some fancy Chinese numerology in today's date, no? 

Good morning or afternoon, anayway, Substack and happy Sunday. Ya'll don't skip on the post-church lunch buffet at Ponderosa, you hear? 

We went back to the gym yesterday and really didn't want to do any pushups. So we did the rower, the elliptical and rope pully, 45 minutes total. That routine should work, for now. 

Sunday Jew wrap...

Never thought we'd say this, but Slava Ukrainia!

We have to admit each day we support Netanyahu just a little less than the day before. War dragging on, settler violence, Haredi intransigence. Jesus Christ, Bibi, get these people under control. Maybe Israel no longer needs Bibi?…Eisenkot?

Will's Good Idea for the Week if 7/26/26.

We should write a stand alone novel and put it out on a platform other than KU. No idea what. 2027?

Saturday Updates

Good morning, Stroock's Books weekenders. We are back from the beach and boy are we tired. It's good to be home. We slept in this morning.

We'll be home for a week and a day, and then it's up to the Stroock Northern Strategic Direction for a couple of weeks, where we will sojourn in the pastoral splendor of the Berkshires. 

LBI 2026, a review...We liked our beach front condo very much. Second floor, with floor to ceiling windows. We had a heck of a view. The baths were fine, as were the beds and furniture. We were quite comfortable. The complex pool was more than adequate. The sound of the waves was a constant companion. 

As usual the Stroock family hit the beach during the 9:30-10:00 interval. We'd spend about three hours there before returning to the condo for lunch. For most of the week the water was cold. The waves were nice. The air was warm but not hot. Temperatures never exceeded the low 80s.

We dined out once but ordered in every other night.

After dinner most nights we'd drive over to bayside and watch the boats pass (see for example The Black Pearl) and the sunset. The girls took numerous pictures for their various social media accounts. 

Before times we'd spend a few hours at the pool. But not anymore. The girls have outgrown it. Which leads us to our next point. As previously mentioned, the Stroock family is seemingly outgrowing LBI. We've been there 8 times since 2020. And devotees will recall the Stroock family's been going to LBI since the late 70s. Maybe it's time to do something else for a few years?*

Overall, we'd rate this beach trip a success. 

On a personal note we got a few pics of ourselves in a bathing suit. In truth, we were a bit disappointed. Look, we're 53. Age and gravity are taking their toll. Our midsection looks like a parenthesis (. But the upper body and biceps are looking real good. We were a lot chunkier a decade ago, with the build of an offensive lineman - a lot of gut. 25 years ago we thought we'd be big and fat and weigh 300 pounds by now. We are not big and fat and are displacing about 245 these days. To put it another way, we look damn good for 53.  

So begins the 3rd quarter of the Stroock summer. 

The Things.

There's not much. 

But we are slated to write another short story for a compellation. Hastings: But King Harold takes one step to the right and the arrow misses him. 

*In 2018 and 2019 we skipped LBI entirely and went to Europe instead. There's talk...

LBI, the Last Day

Happy Friday, people of Stroock's Books, shabbat shalom. And happy Pine Tar Day to those that celebrate. 

We'll be heading home this evening, a Stroock tradition dating back three or four summers. Some years ago, Mrs. Stroock asked, 'Do we want to leave Friday night?' No, of course not, what kind of ridiculous question is that?' we replied. But check out being 10 AM, rather than 11 AM or 12 PM, we concluded that getting home Friday night and waking up Saturday morning already home with the whole weekend ahead of one makes a lot of sense. Mrs. Stroock was right on this matter, as is her wont. 

We admit to having our fill of the beach and the pool and sun. 

In Israel, Eisenkot and Bennett are surging. For the first time we're seeing both ahead of Netanyahu on the 'Who would you prefer for PM?' question. Netanyahu's rein has to end sometime. If the public doesn't recall Bibi, then god will. Netanayhu would leave office having been Israel's greatest PM. 

DOGE Report.

Not much, really. 

Imagine though, in The Great Nuclear War of 1975, a Soviet sub shows up off a small town, a couple of men go ashore to get, say, medical supplies (and booze!). Later the sub docks. The townspeople don't like it one bit and they activate the 2nd Amendment with great zeal. Hmmm....maybe. 

The 2nd to Last Day at the Beach

Good morning or afternoon, anyway, Stroock's Books people. 

What can we say? Beach, pool, sun, sunset. We're getting too much sun and probably very minor heat stroke in the afternoon. We used to get that at Rehoboth Beach, lo back in the 2010s. Hydrate and jump in that pool. 

What else can we say? We have the kind of view, sun, and breeze from the condo where one feels like one is enjoying all three just sitting in the living room, as we are right now.

We've three teenage girls who, in truth, are outgrowing the family beach vacation. We've come to LBI, sometimes twice a summer, every year since 2020, when in late July, during the Covid nonsense, we asked, 'I wonder if any condos are available at Sea Place.' There were, on two weeks' notice too, this being the Covid nonsense. 

Today is Tisha b'av, in which Jews commemorate the destruction of the 1st and 2nd Temples, and just about everything else bad that's ever happened to Jews. Note, now the Jews have guns, tanks, fighter jets, nuclear weapons and the will to use them. [You keep saying that -Ed]. It keeps needing to be said.

DOGE report.

Such as it is. A little work on the Howth landing yesterday, making things make sense. 

Powerline notes that Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega has made himself el Presidente for live. This reminds us that World War 1990: The Managua Campaign is 52,000 words and awaits. 

Midweek Beach

Good midweek morning (and afternoon) from the beach. The sun is up. The sky is clear. The air is fresh. The day looks good. I can see clearly now the rain is gone....as they say. 

We had a better day weather wise than we had a right to expect, yesterday. The morning was cloudy but dry and we spent a few hours at the beach. The water was choppy but warm. The sun came out in the afternoon so we got in some pool time. Not till evening did the rain come. And then there was a deluge. 

We burned though, as we usually do at the beach. We just like sitting out in the sun. Must be all that Mediterranean (ha spelled it right on the first try!) heritage. Afterall, we are descendent from desert warriors, the people of Johsua. 

DOGE report.

Between the beach and the pool and enjoying the evening breeze we've gotten a little work in. 

We are painstakingly describing 3 Commandos landing at Hawth, with one line of boats landing at the bay, another line of boats landing at the East Pier, and a third trying to enter the harbor. 

We might have thought up a nuke novel story idea. Maybe.

At the Beach on a Tuesday

Good morning from the beach, people of Stroock's Books. We write this in view of the sea and within the sound of the ocean. The water is gray at the moment. Looks like we're in for a cloudy, but dry morning, with rain holding off till late afternoon. 

We had not one but two beers yesterday at lunch and later at dinner. Amstel Light. We're not sure what to think about that. Time was down the shore we'd spend all afternoon and evening with a drink on standby. 

We should be able to do a little on World War 1990: Thatcher's War today. Watch out Howth. 

What else we got? 

We are making our way through Brian E. Walter's The Longest Campaign. A good narrative about naval actions, tonnages, etc, etc without much personality. Do we really need another discourse on Winston and the Battle of the Atlantic? We will be reading the next book in the series, The Blue Water War. We love it when a reading project comes together. 

Britain has a new PM, we understand. Kier Starmer was the worst PM since Rishi Sunak. He should be shipped to the Hague and stand trial for crimes against humanity. What a tosser. TBH we really don't have much faith in Herr Farage. Britain, we feel, is falling. 

Plenty of doings in the Middle East. We're still bomb-bombing Iran. The Lebanese army is moving into southern Lebanon. The Houthis have closed the Red Sea to Saudi traffic (they seem to have a weird fetish about getting their asses kicked; bad jihadi- WHACK!). Stories about what's inside Pick-Axe Mountain are mysteriously finding their way to the press. So watch out. 

We're off to get ready for the beach. Wish us luck. 

That Whisky Was $14...

...Your goddamn right we finished it. Dinner at The Black Whale last night for, well, you know. We ordered the muscles as is our uzhe, so the kids are saying. We followed this with the seafood combo and didn't over do it. 

Good afternoon, People of Stroock's Books, from sunny Long Beach Island. Everyone but us is asleep. 

We've a comfortable condo with an excellent beach view and close access to both said beach and bayside for enjoying LBI's exquisite sunsets. 

After two days at the beach we are tanned, but so far not burnt. The sun loves us. We are, after all, Mediterranean descended, being a person of the book, a pedestrian of the Red Sea, and all. 

We've been sitting beachside thinking things over and not coming up with much. 

But we are working well through the history book we brought. We'll have to crack open the other book by Wednesday. 

We've gotten in a full day now at 53 and so far, we're okay with it. 

Off to the pool for a late afternoon dip.

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 7/19(!)73

Greetings from the beach. 

It's 7:03 in the morning. We're sitting in front of a big picture window overlooking the beach. The sun is shining down. We hear the waves. No one else is awake. Never mind, they're awake and complaining. 

For the second summer in a row, we are staying someplace other than the ancestral Stroock Long Beach Island vacation haunt at Sea Place Condominiums just a few blocks north of us on Amber Street. If one Google Street Views Sea Place, one sees us sitting on the porch of condo C1.

We drove through a torrential downpour to get here yesterday. We left home thinking there'd be a gap in the rain coming in from Pennsylvania. There was no gap. Instead, there was an hour of heavy rain seemingly following us down the Garden State Parkway. The sky was an odd gray/blue color, probably from the Canadian smoke, bastards. Nevertheless, we got here. 

We watched Jaws last night, you know, to get in the mood. 

On a side note, we turn 53 today. 

Will's Good Idea for the Week of 7/19/26.

We got nuthin' folks. 

When we weren't concentrating on not running off the road in yesterday's downpour, we tried to come up with an ending to the DEW Line story. We also tried coming up with another nuke story. We did not come up with another nuke story. 

We approach this problem in two ways. First, what is a situation, what is a place...? To put it another way, what would happen if one were in, say, Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Second, what would a particular character do in this story. We can think of neither people nor places....but maybe a story in the deep south is a good idea. 

On the bright side the battle for Howth is coming along fine, in our head. Those interested should check out Howth on Google Earth. This is going to be a fun chapter. Kind of like the French scene at Ouistreham in The Longest Day. Kind of. 

Saturday Updates

Good morning, Stroock's Books weekenders. Our foot is bothering us. Our knee is bothering us. We have a rash. And we're heading down the shore this afternoon. Wish us luck. 

The things.

We tidied up the 5th nuke novel a bit and finished (more or less) the hippie commune story. The 5th nuke novel is 44,000 words. 

We worked on World War 1990: Thatcher's War all week. We have written Operation Sunday, 2 Para's (heh) assault on Dublin Airport and started Operation Monday, the landing at Howth. 

We had fretted for some time about how we were going to present these battles. We didn't want to repeat the Battle of Derry in which we jumped from A to B to C and back again. So we're describing the battle from the POV of the FCA commander and a bird's eye narrator. We're finding the latter quite challenging, actually. We shrug.  

World War 1990: Thatcher's War is 62,000 words. 

Jewy on a Friday (Which makes sense)

Good morning (or afternoon, anyway), people of Stroock's Books, and shabbat shalom. We awake tired, sore, and groggy. 

At the gym yesterday we just could not get lose and cut off our workout. Also we're having a minor and home treatable medical issue which we don't want to exacerbate. Why risk injury just before the beach? Everything is sore. It's definitely time for a gym break, which we've known for a while. 

So we watched Trump's election fraud speech last night. Okay. We're not sure what the point of all this is. Why drag this out again? That being said, Trump won. We saw them steal the election in real time. 

In Israel, The Jerusalem Post has yet another poll with bad news for Netanyahu and the coalition. This is interesting, 'The poll found that 83% of voters oppose the inclusion of Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties in the coalition...' Please. The poll shows Likud is down to 22 seats. This is not surprising. We ourselves could vote for Gadi Eisenkot, had we a vote. This blog awaits events. 

Oh look, Ehud effing Barak has something to say, so says the AP. Do click over, reader(s). The piece is amazing. Ehud, you see, has opinions about what the Israelis should do in south Lebanon. And the man who cut and run from south Lebanon overnight in 2000 worries that Israel is repeating the mistakes of the past.  The man who tried to turn the country over to Yasser Arafat* is the worst PM in Israeli history. There is no close second; Olmert probably. 

More on the Jews. Another interesting article on Gadi Eisenkot. So far, he's keeping the Haredi at arm's length. Reminder, a Haredi draft law is this blog's top domestic priority. 

There's some interesting questions about with whom Eisenkot would form a government, Haredi or Arabs. He says neither, more or less. We'd be open to forming a government with the Arabs, as it's an opportunity to address their concerns and improve their lot - and thereby strengthen the state. Reminder, Hamas thought they could spark an Arab-Israeli revolt. 

DOGE report. 

The Dublin airport assault and the battle for Dublin is really coming together. Right now it's big and messy. 2 Para hits Dublin airport, Operation Sunday; IYKYK. 

*'Just how many of our daughters do you want, Yasser?' Ehud Barak asked. Just kidding. Everyone knows Arafat didn't like girls. 

Dimmed by Canada

Baah! Even when we sleep well we sleep oddly with random intense dreams of people past. We shrug and drink our coffee. 

Effluvia from the Canadian wildfires has reached New Jersey. The air is smoky, like sitting around a campfire, and there's a vague haze coloring the sky. The sun is orange/brown.[You mean pink?-Ed] Yes, that's it. Screw you, Canada. 

England went up 1 nil against the Argies yesterday and played defense the rest of the game. NFL fans recognized this strategy, the prevent defense. Every NFL fan knows the prevent defense prevents you from winning. As so it did here. 

Also, reader(s) may have seen stories about the Norway's Erling Haaland bringing home a stuffed raccoon from his FIFA World Cup foray in America. We thought this curious. Our man on the ground in Norway informs us that they don't have racoons in Norway, little bastards [The racoons or the Norwegians?-Ed]. Every American knows racoons are a public menace. 

Don't be fooled by that cute little bugger. That is the face of the enemy. He'd kill you and everyone in your family if he had the chance. 

At The Times of Israel, a good article on the Israeli's efforts to hunt down and eliminate anyone and everyone remotely involved in October 7th. Defense Minister Israel Katz said, 'They are marked for death wherever they are.' Good. From Pharoh to the Ayatollah, one fate awaits all enemies of the Jews. 

Related, also via TOI, the oppo block led by Gedi Eisenkot would win 61/120 Knesset seats, right now. We won't go into the ugly details, but the Knesset has been passing a flurry of Haredi friendly legislation lately. We don't like it one bit. That's Netanyahu trying to secure his right flank. 

We've noted this date before, five years ago to be exact. But 25 years ago today we moved from Arlington Virginia to our rustic farmhouse in bucolic Peapack, New Jersey. We knew we'd been living in Northern Virginia too long when on the day of the move, people were complaining about a heat wave, and we didn't think it was that bad.

We've lived in the same house for 21 of those years. We're a New Jerseyan now, there's no getting around it. A Jersey guy, if you will. We've disavowed our New York heritage and take a weird pride in New Jersey.  

A lot's happened.