July 2018 – Vic Socotra

July 29, 2018 Vic Socotra

Ceremony At Osan

(Remains arrive at Osan. the flag is that of the United Nations, under which US forces served. Image from Pacific Stars & Stripes) If you don’t know (or have forgotten) your Korean geography, Osan is the big USAF base about an hour south of Seoul. When I was assigned to US Forces Korea in 1980, […]

July 25, 2018 Vic Socotra

Swamp Postcard: Sultry, With Rain

(Mary returns to DC. Photo by Jamie). In the old DC, the one before air conditioning, August was traditionally the time everyone went back to there districts, or the shore. I don’t recall a milder Swamp summer in my thirty-something years living here (counting made me use four digits) and I am either getting more […]

July 24, 2018 Vic Socotra

Arrias: Who To Believe

Watching the news over the last week was like watching a Marx Brothers movie: zany, madcap, and detached from reality. After a while I was reminded of Groucho’s great line: “Who ya’ gonna’ believe, me or your lyin’ eyes?” It seems everyone is up in arms about the President and his seeming support of Tsar […]

July 18, 2018 Vic Socotra

Notes From Beyond the Planet of the Apps: Early Days in the Outlands

Contented with the first morning’s discoveries, I came back to camp with goose in hand and fell to work to bring it to an edible state. Being a city boy, this took up a lot of that morning and afternoon. As I plucked and examined that day’s bounty, I knew what lay ahead of us […]

July 17, 2018 Vic Socotra

Rough Homecoming

Quite a week, wasn’t it? The American President is back on the ground here in The Swamp after a breathtaking turn on the NATO-UK-Russia relationship front. I watched most of the coverage and was mystified as it unfolded. The Strzock, Page and Mueller indictments last week all cascaded as the President excoriated Germany for fair […]

July 15, 2018 Vic Socotra

Arrias: A Privilege Not A Right

A friend recently made an observation about a senior Navy officer who had a larger and nicer rental car than anyone else; it gave the appearance of special treatment. In the military even the appearance of special treatment must be avoided. Which dovetails with the hearings last week in Washington in which a senior FBI […]

July 11, 2018 Vic Socotra

Swamp Postcard #44

I know, I know. The chaos keeps coming, and it is hard to stay abreast of it all. This week’s account of the Swamp Follies includes the defenestration of Scott Pruitt as EPA Administrator, the realization that the North Koreans are doing what they always do (lying), and the sad observation that the state of […]

July 9, 2018 Vic Socotra

Arrias: American Myth

Friday’s jobs report was pretty darned good; the basic unemployment rate climbed to 4% (still exceptionally low), but the workforce participation rate climbed, meaning people are re-entering the workforce, confident they can find a job. And unemployment rates for blacks (6.5%) and Hispanics (4.6%) remain at all-time lows. Some downplayed these numbers, as well as […]

July 6, 2018 Vic Socotra

Notes From Beyond The Planet of the Apps 2028: The Man Who Predicted the Merger

After a month on the road to see family, here’s another installment. Back in the 1980s, he opined that computer scientists would succeed in developing intelligent machines that could do all things better than human beings could do them and that man might be eliminated by them or their controlling elites. What follows are his […]

July 2, 2018 Vic Socotra

Blanche Dubois for Congress

The Democratic Party seems to be moving further and further in the direction of endorsing government provided everything. Leading Democrats now support platforms that include: universal healthcare, free colleges, cancellation of all student debt (over $1 trillion), universal job guarantees with paid child care, housing as a right, and on and on. And, they – […]

Month: July 2018