(Vic in Great Pharoah’s grave inside the Great Pyramid of Cheops at Giza, 1990. From the revamped website. Photo Socotra).

Gentle Readers,

This is a banner day at Socotra House LLC. I have exciting news- well, check that. I have news that is mildly interesting and slightly expensive and will probably, as all things seem these days, to amount to not much.

Still, I am pretty jazzed this morning. I was just over at my web site (www.vicsocotra.com) to check out the work in progress. It was time for a make-over.

(From the Dawn of the Socotra Era. The web page circa 2004. Photo Socotra).

The Daily Socotra has been a presence on the web for a long time. Renee, our relentless Webmistress, joined the team more than a decade ago, and has been dutifully posting the stories daily since then.

The site got a major facelift and new format back in 2011, but never matured to the status that I wanted, which was to make it a destination that was useful in checking in, and a portal to other places to explore. Also a hesitant gesture in the direction of monetizing the process.

This has been a labor of love for a long time, and there ought to be a way to commercialize content, right?

I am not exactly sure how that works- advertising? Heavens. There is a lot to think about on that score. But it seemed like a propitious time.

(Web designer and master mixologist Brett at his evening job. Photo Socotra).

I have been drinking for a few years courtesy of movie-star handsome bartender Brett, who has a day job as a web designer. Over the last few months we came around to a deal by which he would take the site in hand and transition it to a new fresh look, which I stipulated should have a PayPal button, so concerned readers could buy Vic lunch once in a while.

We went live with it last night. It is a work in progress, and I encourage you to take a visit if you have a chance.

I discovered, to my surprise, that I am using WordPress now, and if I take some time and learn how to operate it, the site will be interactive and much more fun than it has been.

I also am intending to package the four books I think I have basically completed and offer them as e-books- both on the site and through Amazon.

That is another matter that requires some thought. I don’t mind giving away The Daily for free- it is part of who I am. But maybe if they are packed in a professional and lineal manner as the larger stories they represent, I can at least recoup the costs incurred in layout.

The first projects include the “Spooks and Spirits” book about our pal Mac, the Adventures of Raven and Big Mama, the bittersweet saga about the decline and fall of my parents, the Clandestine Service Cook Book, of course, and the almost complete “Stones of the District” saga. And the recent Car People project that was such fun that I barely thought about the various public outrages that seem to plague us these days.

I have another couple projects I can add- Civil War Battlefields from Gettysburg to Culpeper is another fun set, “Cruisebook” is a narrative about a cruise in the Med as the Wall came down. And of course, there is the original “Tattered Casebook of Nick Danger,” which an alert reader informed me is now available on Amazon for a low, low $499.

None of which goes to me, of course.

So this is an exciting day at Socotra House. I welcome your feedback- it is long past time I got serious on this crap, you know? And there is plenty of crap to get serious about, too. Let me know what you think- and let’s have some fun with it along the way.

Copyright 2014 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
Twitter: @jayare303

(The statue of Nathan Hale stands guard between the CIA Auditorium and the Original Headquarters Building (OHB). It serves as a constant reminder to CIA employees of the duties and sacrifices of an intelligence officer.The 21 year-old-Captain in the Continental Army volunteered to collect intelligence on His Majesty’s forces on Long Island. He was caught on his first mission, and executed. His last words, “I regret that I have but one life to lose for my country,” circle the base of the statue).

I did not stay awake long enough to watch much of the game, and as it turned out, it was a wise decision. Having retired with the arrival of the big storm-front, I was up equally early and casting about for something that did not involve beheadings or hashtag diplomacy against barbaric savages.

I found it in a marvelous new book by Kenneth Daigler, a professor at Georgetown University. If you are interested in tradecraft and the art of Human Intelligence, this is an invaluable addition to your library, and it take you far beyond the worlds of Nathan Hale and Benedict Arnold, the two spies we remember out of a much larger intelligence world in the rebellious colonies.

Bill Manthorpe, a retired colleague and former Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence, alerted me to the book, with his review below.

I bought it on Kindle, since I am trying to lean down my holdings of paper volumes in what will probably be a mobile library in the near term. And as for me today , I am going to face the music and motor down to the farm to cut the pastures. And yes, I will stop to get safety goggles on the way. It is the intelligent thing to do.

Kenneth A. Daigler, Spies, Patriots and Traitors: American Intelligence in the Revolutionary War (Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2014).

This is a unique book both an interesting history and useful textbook. As a history, it is impressive in both scholarship and readability. I had previously done considerable reading on the Founding Fathers, the Revolution, its military campaigns, and intelligence. Yet, I learned much that I had not known about what went on behind the scenes before and during the Revolution. But, more importantly, it is a valuable textbook. I spent at least half of my 40-year career conducting HUMINT, CI and deception operations, while learning on the job from British tales of WWII and hard experience. This is the textbook and desk-side reference that I wish that I had read years ago. Every trainee at the Farm should be required to read and discuss these case studies.

– William Manthorpe, Former Deputy Director of Naval Intelligence

From Georgetown University Press:

(Kenneth A. Daigler)

Students and enthusiasts of American history are familiar with the Revolutionary War spies Nathan Hale and Benedict Arnold, but few studies have closely examined the wider intelligence efforts that enabled the colonies to gain their independence. Spies, Patriots, and Traitors provides readers with a fascinating, well-documented, and highly readable account of American intelligence activities during the era of the Revolutionary War, from 1765 to 1783, while describing the intelligence sources and methods used and how our Founding Fathers learned and practiced their intelligence role.

The author, a retired CIA officer, provides insights into these events from an intelligence professional’s perspective, highlighting the tradecraft of intelligence collection, counterintelligence, and covert actions and relating how many of the principles of the era’s intelligence practice are still relevant today. Daigler reveals the intelligence activities of famous personalities such as Samuel Adams, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Nathan Hale, John Jay, and Benedict Arnold, as well as many less well-known figures. He examines the important role of intelligence in key theaters of military operations, such as Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and in General Nathanael Greene’s campaign in South Carolina; the role of African Americans in the era’s intelligence activities; undertakings of networks such as the Culper Ring; and intelligence efforts and paramilitary actions conducted abroad.

“Spies, Patriots, and Traitors” adds a new dimension to our understanding of the American Revolution. The book’s scrutiny of the tradecraft and management of Revolutionary War intelligence activities will be of interest to students, scholars, intelligence professionals, and anyone who wants to learn more about this fascinating era of American history.”

Copyright 2014 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
Twitter: @jayare303



We talked about the usual stuff at the apex of the Amen Corner last night. It was hot, the cold front won’t get here for another day or two, the quirky tunes on Pandora that the restaurant plays in the background, the events of the day, Old Jim’s continual battle with the air conditioning duct that is located directly above his favorite stool.

“God Damned thing. It is ninety degrees outside and I am freezing my ass off.”

Along the way we talked about Joan Rivers and the fast food protests

“My sources in Detroit reported that Food Specialty Workers had put down their spatulas and blocked Mack Avenue for a half hour.”

Jim scowled. He lived in the Motor City for a while, and that is where he met Chanteuse Mary when she was playing in a piano bar.

“Actually, they didn’t put anything down. They were bused in,” said Jon-Without. I marveled at how positively Gubernatorial he looked in his dark suit, brilliant white shirt and trademark Soapy Williams bow tie. I was wearing white trousers and aloha shirt to celebrate the end of summer, since I am going to have to put this stuff away pretty soon. But not yet.

“They must have been disappointed that Joan died. That was all I heard about today on the news. That and robot hamburger machines.”

“Well, it was a pretty good day for politicians down at the farm,” I said. “Good news. The Culpeper Clarion Bugle electronic edition said that the ex-Mayor’s legal problems appear to be over.”

“That is always pleasant,” growled Jim.

“Not for billable hours,” said Barrister Jerry, sliding onto the stool next to me.

“It is for him,” I said. “Last week he got a suspended ten-day sentence to his own former slammer for the $250-a-second fine for an inappropriate hug. This week, the City attorney announced that the defamation suit brought against him by the former Town Manager for $25,000 was dismissed.”

“That wasn’t the real story,” said Jerry, who was eyeing the fried chicken and lima beans on the menu. “What happened was the settlement was done behind closed doors between opposing counsels. What was he getting sued for?”

“Yeah, it wasn’t as good as it sounds. We taxpayers are going to pay for the deal through Culpeper’s insurance carrier. The paper reported that “the parties have resolved all matters in dispute.””

“That is just the dollar amount. What was the issue?”

“The paper said that the suit was based on the Mayor’s comment that the Town Manager had been sleeping with three married members of the Town Council.”

“Ouch.”

“The former Mayor could not be reached for comment, and I don’t blame him.”

“Time to keep your mouth shut and wait out the election cycle.”

“I completely agree. So, it was a much better day for local politics than it was for the former Governor of Virginia and his wife down in Richmond. I think they are still married, though by the end of that trial none of us here in the Old Dominion were really sure.”

Anyway, those were just two of the legal matters under review. In more important events, Jim was sticking with Budweiser, Jon-Without was concentrating on clear beverages, and Counsel for the drinking Public was trying an Angry orchard hard cider to go with his chicken, mashed potatoes and beans

I stuck with the happy white, since I was generally happy myself, and relieved not to find myself governor of anything at all.

Copyright 2014 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
Twittter: @jayare303

(The Culpeper Train Depot at the end of historic E. Davis Street. Photo Clarion-Bugle).

There has been a major shakeup in the publishing world down in rural Culpeper where I am increasingly spending my discretionary time. The Weekly Citizen was sold to Rappahannock Media, owner of the Rappahannock News. We are very cosmopolitan there- two newspapers. The other one- the Clarion-Bugle, is more hard-hitting in coverage, with the whole first section devoted to local affairs. I view them sort of like the Washington Post and the Washington Times.

I collected the editions that had piled up in the box out by the road, and the other one, the Advertiser, which is exactly that, and comes in a little pink plastic bag, since they are thrown in the general vicinity of the end of the driveway.

I curled up to catch up on the local news, and was not disappointed.

Blue Ridge Produce- Empty Warehouse is Good News!

Ole Country Store and Bakery on Route 29 is burgeoning!

Old House Winery off Rt 3- great tastings and fine vintages!

Culpeper Police promote three for duty, honor, valor and courage.

Culpeper County Sheriff stands by decision to obtain an armored vehicle.

Former Mayor found guilty of sexual battery charge!

That one I had to read in detail. It involved a Christmas- hold on, can’t say that anymore- Holiday Party in which an extended hug left the hug-ee uncomfortable. The hug was reported to have lasted seven to ten seconds. The result was a suspended ten-day jail term and a fine of $2,500 was levied against the former mayor.

I marveled at the rates- that is $250 a second for the embrace. I am definitely opposed to groping or unwanted physical contact- it is just wrong. But I never saw it quantified before in dollars and cents.

So don’t tell me we don’t have stuff going on down at the farm. I can’t wait to get back. No hugs, though. I have a limited entertainment budget these days, and I don’t want them to have to deploy the armored vehicles to collect the fines.

Copyright 2014 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
Twitter: @jayare303