Space Force and IDF hold joint exercise in Bolingbrook (Fiction)

By Reporter X

Without notification, the United States Space Force and the Space Division of the Israel Defense Forces staged a mock invasion of Bolingbrook.

According to anonymous officials at Clow UFO Base, they almost launched interceptors to attack the approaching paratroopers and dropships. They were called off at the last second after Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth called. Despite the late notice, Hegseth insisted he did nothing wrong and that Jesus had already forgiven him. 

Said one female official, “I told him next time to contact us before landing troops in Bolingbrook. He called me a DEI hire. I said he didn’t earn his position and that he ran the Defense Department. I couldn’t understand his reply, and I think he slipped off his chair before disconnecting.”

Karen, who didn’t provide her last name, claims she spied on the so-called beachhead. She claims to have overheard an argument between a Space Force commander and the IDF fleet commander. According to Karen, the IDF wanted to drop actual bombs, but the Space Force commander refused.

The IDF commander replied, “But we’re the only IDF branch that hasn’t inflicted civilian casualties. Please?”

“No!” Replied the Space Force commander. 

“But Israel had the right to exist.”

“And we have the right to invade any country that disobeys us!”

“I’m telling Bibi!”

Eyewitnesses reported seeing 12 men entering Fountaindale Library carrying orange foam cylinders. Half wore Space Force tactical uniforms and half wore IDF uniforms. 

The leader of the Space Force team approached the front desk and said, “Pretend we’re armed and show us where you would keep the fake ballots.”

When a patron accidentally dropped a book, the IDF squad leader yelled, “Ceasefire violation!” The witness said the IDF members aimed their foam cylinders and started making shooting sounds. 

The Space Force commander shook his head and yelled, “Ceasefire!  Now!”

The IDF soldiers pretended to keep firing.  

“I said ceasefire!”

“This is a ceasefire,” one IDF soldier allegedly said. “They can’t shoot at us, but we can shoot at them before they violate the ceasefire.”

When the war game ended, Hegseth had a videoconference with the troops. Witnesses claimed Hegseth delivered a rambling speech    At one point, he said, “Real men commit war crimes.” He later said, “I wish all the Jews would hurry up and move back to Israel. I want to see the Second Coming of Jesus, God damn it”

The speech ended when an IDF general said, “Can we just skip to the part where you give us everything we want?”

The President’s Chief of Staff refused to let President Trump comment on the deployment.

In the background, a man who sounded like Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “You know the moment this war ends, they’ll convict me. You understand what I’m going through! Right?” After a short pause, he said, “Mr. President? Are you still alive?”

Trump replied, “Your temple has three missing walls. My ballroom has four walls, and a basement. A very deep basement.  You have a shallow wall.”

“Oy vey!”

Also in The Babbler:

Clow UFO Base cancels UFC match
Record number of residents applying to be alien abductees
Brookie chatbot argues with Copilot AI.
God to spare Bolingbrook 

Quick follow up on Jey McCreight

Back in April, trans rights activist Jey McCreight was violently assaulted in Chicago. Jey escaped, but, but had to be hospitalized, and needed surgery. (Details in the linked story).

Jey, who used to be a member of Freethought Blogs, recently founded BeyondXandY to advocate for transgender rights and show that biology is non-binary. They had been promoting the launch prior to the attack.

Today, Jey is recovering and has a GoFundMe to cover their medical bills and lost income. As of today, it’s about $10K short of the goal.

In an interview, Jey said they would keep working on BeyondXandY. Considering all the hate they’ve endured, going all the back to the founding of Atheism+, I’m impressed with their resilience and dedication to social justice.

“Wheel in the sky”

I can’t help but notice that Journey’s extended farewell tour is coming to Chicago in October. Even though there’s only one original member left, and two members from their most successful lineup.

Seeing the ads reminded me of the only time I saw Journey live. They were performing in Oklahoma City in support of Frontiers, and a friend of mine was able to get tickets for one of the three sold-out shows. The seats were in the nosebleed section off to the side of the stage. Fortunately, there were projection screens and a camera crew that allowed us to see what was going on, if we weren’t fortunate enough to be on the floor.

Looking back, the show was arena rock at its peak. Singer Steve Perry knew how to work the crowd. No one protested whenever he asked the crowd to sing the next verse. Not that he needed the audience to sing along. His voice was in full form that night. The set list was packed with the hits. The band seemed to effortlessly move from high-energy songs to moving ballads. For teenage me, this wasn’t just a concert, it was an event.

Turns out, that was the last tour with the lineup that recorded Escape and Frontiers. The drummer and bassist were fired during the recording of Raised on Radio. Steve Perry left the band after that tour. Since I didn’t go to many shows as a teenager, I was fortunate enough to see them at their commercial peak.

Since then, I’ve diversified my tastes in musical genres. After college, I got drawn into the “Alternative” music scene and wrote about it for a zine and a twice-a-month publication. I would have been called a poser if I’d mentioned enjoying a Journey concert. But now, I can listen to and enjoy any kind of music.

Journey wasn’t innovative as the performers I would hear later in life. But for an arena rock band, they were excellent. I don’t know about the current incarnation, but I don’t need to see them in concert again. I’m happy with the memories I already have.

This performance of “Wheel in the Sky”  is from their Escape tour in 1981. It seemed like an appropriate song while to reminisce about the band.

Jerusalem Day in 2026

Rabbi Adam Chalom of Kol Hadash Humanistic Congregation reflected on Jerusalem Day 2026 and the consequences of the Six Day War. I learned that before the invasion, there was a neighborhood next to the Western Wall. After the invasion, the neighborhood was torn down to make room for a plaza for visitors to the Western Wall. Sadly, tearing down homes in the West Bank is still a recurring pattern after 60 years.

Note: I serve on the board of Kol Hadash.

Bolingbrook PR firm tries to counter Iran’s AI Lego videos (Fiction)

A still from an AI Lego video produced in Iran. In the video, a US pilot shot down in Iran is being chased by Iranian officials.

A still from one of Iran’s AI Lego videos. (From Explosive Media)

Inside Bolingbrook’s Barber’s Corners Media, six Muslims, three men and three women, were in a focus group to judge a proposed social media campaign. The owner of the firm, Charlene Spencer, introduced herself, asked for honest opinions, then started then started playing a video.

The Claymation-style video opened with a woman, wearing an Iranian flag headscarf, standing in the middle of the bombed ruins of Tehran. The woman cries clay tears and says she lost because Iran’s leaders are dead. Suddenly, two female soldiers, US Army and Israeli Defense Forces, parachute from the sky and land next to the woman. The panelists’ jaws drop as the IDF soldier puts her arm around the Iranian woman’s shoulders. The IDF soldier says she’s here to lead Iran towards freedom and points towards a pillar of light. A hip-hop-style song starts, and the Prophet Muhammad appears, wearing gold chains and leather clothes. The hip-hop Muhammad starts rapping his praise for President Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The panelists erupted in anger.

“You can’t show an image of the Prophet!” One of the panelists shouts.

“Why?” Spencer asked.

Koran Chapter 21, verses 52-54! Images of the divine lead to idolatry!”

“We’re not asking you to worship this video,” Spencer responded. “We’re just trying to improve Bibi’s and Trump’s reputations in Iran.” The panelists screamed in disgust. “So rapper Muhammad doesn’t work. What if we replaced the Prophet with the ghost of the Shah? He could perform ‘Guess Who’s Back’?”

The panelists left the conference room in disgust.

“Don’t forget your coupons for a free meal at Naf Naf Grill!” Spencer yelled down the hallway. One of the panelists shouted an unprintable comment about Zionism as she left. Spencer shook her head. “This is much harder than we anticipated.”

Barber’s Corner Media is one of several covert social media firms attempting to counter Iran’s AI Lego propaganda videos with pro-US and Israel videos. To date, none of their videos have resonated with test audiences. Other firms have tried making their own AI Lego videos, AI-generated vertical dramas, and cartoon animation. While Spencer respected Explosive Media, the group behind the videos, for “making a murderous theocracy look cool to Western progressives,“ she insists BCM is on the right track with their Claymation-style videos.

“If Claymation can make dehydrated grapes cool, it can make Trump’s aggressive ceasefire look cool too!”

In a focus group of progressive influencers, Spencer showed a video of thousands of Claymation protesters being executed by the Iranian government. Spencer then asked if the video would make them more likely to support Trump’s “Not a war war” against Iran and the US’s blockade of the Iranian ports.

User Southernpunk on Substack said, “There’s no truth in your video, while there’s a truth trapped inside the AI Lego video. Just like the truth of (the University of Oklahoma’s) awesome football team is trapped inside Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium, and if you’ve ever read the Daily Oklahoman, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“What?” asked Spencer.

“You should join us on the porch, where we talk about these things without the tomfoolery of the Epstein Class keeping our noses buried in the red dirt. And if you’ve ever put your nose in red dirt, you’ll know what I mean.”

Political influencer Andra Berghoff nodded and pointed at the ceiling.

“What are you pointing at?” Spencer asked.

Berghoff replied, “Oh, I just do that whenever I’m listening to someone I agree with. It’s a habit I developed from inserting myself into other people’s clips.”

Berghoff later said she wasn’t persuaded by Spencer’s video. Specifically, she found fault in the argument that Iran should be bombed because it is a theocracy. “Just because Iran is bad doesn’t give us the right to bomb them. All men on the Internet are bad, but I don’t think we should bomb all of them.”

Reporter/Commentator Aaron Parnas added, “We have breaking news. The problem with your videos is that the producers don’t seem to understand Iranian society. Say what you will about Iran, but Explosive Media understands the fault lines of our US society and knows how to exploit them. What are the fault lines in Iranian society? Do you know who their controversial celebrities are? Do you even know how many political parties Iran has? Until your company does basic research, your videos will just be offensive and unpersuasive. Spread the word and follow along for all the latest news.”

Spencer rolled her eyes. “When did I get old?”

Also in the Bolingbrook Babbler:

Richard Dawkins flirts with Brookie, Bolingbrook’s chatbot
Clow UFO Base ban betting on Starship launches
Editorial: Epstein files a distraction from Trump’s authoritarian takeover of USA
God to smite Bolingbrook on 5/13/26

 

Two of my books are on sale!

Two of my books are on sale for $0.99 each until the end of May: A Fire in the Shadows and The Rift.

They’re both part of my Bolingbrook Babbler Stories series, an Urban Fantasy series with an ensemble of main characters. Think of them as taking place in an alternate universe from the web stories I post here.

Cover of A Fire in the Shadows by William Brinkman

A Fire in the Shadows

Lydia, a vampire who regains her empathy and compassion, is the main character in A Fire in the Shadows. Hunted by traditionalist vampires, ridiculed by her blood family for her feelings, and required to hide from human society, Lydia desperately seeks someone to love and end her loneliness. When she turns her attention to towards Sara, the editor of Babbler, she thinks she’s found the perfect person. But another group of vampires is interested in Sara. Can Lydia protect Sara and overcome a vampire’s greatest enemy: Love?

Action-packed, entertaining, and haunting in its delivery, author William Brinkman’s “A Fire in the Shadows” is a great entry into the Bolingbrook Babbler Story series (Goodreads Reviewer)

The Rift is Elevatorgate with an Urban Fantasy/Sci-Fi twist. Tom Larsen is a skeptic blogger who sees himself as a defender of truth against the

The Rift

feminist invasion of the skeptical movement. When he finds out that his rival, Jamie Kyle will be in Bolingbrook to address a gathering of feminist skeptics, Tom forms an unholy alliance with the Bolingbrook Babbler tabloid to infiltrate the gathering.

But when he discovers that the Babbler’s stories about monsters and aliens are real, his world view is shattered. The truth Tom thought he was fighting for is no longer clear. Jamie might not be the enemy after all. The skeptical movement he devoted himself to has a hidden agenda for the future of humanity.

And the rift in the skeptical movement that Tom helped start, could tear Bolingbrook apart. Can Tom face the unbelievable truth and save his hometown?

Four stars. Engaging and well written. (Nonstop Reader)

If you want to catch up before reading my latest book, Revenge of the Phantom Press, this month is a good time to get the eBook editions of The Rift and A Fire in the Shadows.  Plus, Lydia and Tom will get together in the next book.

My consolidated response to the AI generated emails targeting authors

Like most self-published authors, my inbox is flooded with scammers using AI generated emails to trick us. Some impersonate book club organizers. Some promise to promote your book, and use AI generated summaries to trick you into thinking they’ve read any of your books. Some will even impersonate famous authors, and pretend to be interested in helping out a fellow author. Accepting any of their offers could result in loss of money, subpar service, or worse.

Instead of waisting my time replying to all their emails, I’ve decided to consolidate my responses into this one post.

  • Yes, your book club  may feature any of my books. No, I will not pay you to feature my book in your book club.
  • Yes, you may write a review of any of my books, assuming you’ve read them. No, I will not pay you to review any of my books.
  • Thank you for your email, famous author. Let me reply using your official email, instead of your Gmail account.
  • You want to interview me for your video series? I won’t pay you. Especially if my videos have more views than your videos.
  • If I ever want to hire a publicist, I know who I would reach out to. This person didn’t send me a blind solicitation. If I was able to find them, that tells me they something about publicity/marketing.
  • You want to make one of my books into a movie, but I have to pay you first? Sorry, I know an Academy Award winning producer who would look at my books for free, if I asked.
  • No, I will not pay an influencer to pretend to like my books on YouTube/TikTok/Instagram, etc.
  • I’m not William Brinkley and I think the Brinkley estate doesn’t need your help to publicize The Last Ship. (Real eMail I received.)
  • I’m glad one of my books changed your life. No, I will not buy a service from you. Please leave a Goodreads review instead.
  • I don’t recall ever sending you or anyone else a query letter.

I do feel sorry for the legitimate book club organizers trying to reach authors for legitimate bookings. We’re just buried in spam emails right now. If it’s bad for me, I can’t imagine what it must be like for more established authors.

Time Traveler arrested in Bolingbrook for posting on X (Fiction)

Bolingbrook’s Department of Paranormal Affairs arrested a time traveler accused of posting on X in 2023. According to sources within the DPA, the time traveler went back to 2023 and posted a highly distorted photo of President Donald Trump raising his fist following the 2024 Butler, PA assassination attempt. The traveler’s photo was first noticed this year, following the assassination attempt at the 2026 White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

Julia Z. Milton, spokesperson for the DPA said, “We take any attempt to corrupt our timeline seriously. Which is why did not notify the federal government until the suspect was turned over to the Temporal Enforcement Agency. Who knows how the Trump administration would have exploited a time traveler from the future?”

According to anonymous sources, the suspect was streaming the Correspondents’ Dinner at Starbucks. Five minutes before the shooting, he allegedly told another patron, “Keep watching. You don’t want to miss the false flag operation.” Somehow, the DPA overheard the alleged conversation. They arrested the time traveler when he left Starbucks and confiscated his pocket time machine.

When questioned, the time traveler demanded access to “GemiGrok” because he couldn’t think for himself. The traveler later confessed to being from the future and deliberately creating an anachronistic photo on X. According to the traveler, “GemiGrok” told him it was okay to post the photo because skeptics could the account was a private account that was set to public after the assassination attempt. Therefore, they could argue the image was created in 2026, not 2023. If the public didn’t accept that explanation, skeptics could dismiss the image visual pareidolia. Later, the traveler said it didn’t matter because all tweets would be erased after Gemini and Grok merge.

An investigator, who asked not to be identified, said, “GemiGrok gave that time traveler bad legal advice. I guess AI hallucinations will still be a problem in the future.”

When reached for comment, Presidential Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, after insulting this reporter, said, “Just wait until the Correspondents’ Dinner is rescheduled. Bombs will be dropped!”

Also in the Babbler:

Space Pope to visit Clow UFO Base
Trump renews demand to move the Bolingbrook Golf Club closer to O’Hare
Clow UFO Base cracks down on aliens smuggling Iranian oil
God to smite Bolingbrook on 5/1/26

Bolingbrook braces for massive global ‘transquake’ (Fiction)

Will a trans rights group unleash a powerful global earthquake on April 25? Bolingbrook officials aren’t taking chances.

“Sure, it sounds preposterous,” said John, a village official who didn’t provide his last name. “But this country has been at war against the trans community since the second Trump administration started. It’s only a matter of time before they strike back.”

A new group, Beyond X and Y, announced (or threatened) to unleash a worldwide “transquake”  on April 25. Its leader, Dr. Jey, attempted to unleash a “boobquake” back in 2010. On 4/26/10, Dr. Jey encouraged women around the world to wear immodest clothing. Officially, the event was an “experiment” to test Iranian religious scholar Kazem Rajabi Seddiqi’s claim that immodestly dressed women cause earthquakes. A major earthquake occurred during that day.

“We were lucky they didn’t unleash a global Earthquake that day,” said John. “But Dr. Jey has had years to prepare for this quake. So we need to be prepared, too.”

The official purpose of “Transquake” is to “test the right’s hypothesis that trans joy is too powerful.” While the official event is in Chicago, countless unofficial events will also happen on that day.”

“Maybe nothing will happen,” said Pam, another village official who asked not to be identified. “Maybe Chicagoland will collapse into a massive hole. Why take the chance?”

Both officials urged residents to stock two weeks of canned goods and buy survival gear. If the quake occurs, they suggest residents get outside, instead of standing inside a doorframe. However, they don’t expect Lake Michigan to produce a tsunami that could reach Bolingbrook. 

Dr. Jey denied that Transquake would unleash a global disaster. “The real global disaster is transphobia. Beyond X and Y believes trans joy is natural, while transphobia is learned. It’s time to stop teaching transphobia.”

Bolingbrook Mayor Mary Alexander-Basta would neither confirm, nor deny, if the village was preparing for a global disaster on April 25. “Bolingbrook is a great place to live, but we always plan for the worst.”

Also in the Babbler:

Negotiations between the Space Pope and JD Vance break down
Residents say Iran-US war is ruining their weekends
Palatine cat wins award for ‘best late-night party animal’
God to smite Bolingbrook on 4/27/26