Author: Vic Socotra

Arrias:Info Wars and the Rebirth of Western Civilization

The war is on in Ukraine, the Russians are advancing, sometimes well, mostly not so well. They are taking some ground but also taking losses. It’s fair to say that they are winning the conventional aspects of this war, but not nearly as well as they thought they would. Mainly, what they have over the […]

Life & Island Times: The winds are here

Eastward and westward storms were breaking upon Europe’s wintry steppes as 2022 opened — great, ugly whirlwinds of hatred and blood and cruelty. We in the comfortable West foolishly did not believe them inevitable. Those who lived there stood firm and looked up and out saying “Death wins nothing here, its gnawing wings that amputate […]

Life & Island Times: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

A wartime text conversation between a Russian mother and her son just before he dies in a distant battle: ​Lash, why are you not answering for so long, are you sure you are on exercises? 12:23 Mama, I’m no longer in the Crimea, not at the EXERCISE 14:16 And where??? Dad asks if you can […]

Streaming Wartime

(This image from Ukraine is what got Melissa going this morning. And the rest of us). Melissa led it off this morning. We naturally expected Splash to start the discussion on the fourth day of war. Mr. Putin has placed his nuclear forces on the highest alert, and that had him up early. This is, […]

Height 776

The whole situation is surreal in changing weather. It is strange enough to make the stones by the Fire Ring look comfortable. The War is underway, third day, and there is stiff resistance by Ukrainian units and people. They have a foe with a history. Our panel of former experts remembers individual Soviet units of […]

It’s Personal

The Russians are still going at it in Ukraine today. It is interesting of course, but it is being played out in levels ranging from abrupt and brutal violence through several levels of expertise and interpretation. That naturally depends on the volume of the crowd closest to your hearing. We are jarred at the news […]

Arrias & His Muse: Ordinary Heroes

Author’s Note: “My Muse is angry, I think…” – Arrias Ordinary Heroes Heroes can often be found in the damnedest places, In a cockpit, in a trench, in all sorts of cases. Fact is you never know who will be dealt the cards, Could in fact be anyone, even thirteen border guards. Border guards not […]

Life & Island Times: Grands

Editor’s Note: We are in a curious time. There is War on the Continent unseen in generations.. Marlow contributes this note from the Coastal Empire to tell the tale of women who have lived in times of trouble and who gave us our lives. – Vic My grandmother on the German side of my family […]

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner?

(Entrance to the National Conference Center, Leesburg, Virginia. Soon to host an interesting conference sponsored by our Department of Homeland Security). As you might imagine, several of the key nodes of communication at Refuge Farm include military planners and veterans of other conflicts. Ukraine has their attention this morning, as it does ours. But we […]

No Such Thing

We were working on the “Weather Report” chart we use weekly to keep track of what is going on around us. It is deliberately intended to be non-partisan to avoid rhetorical attacks on people who seem to intentionally be doing many of the things that pass without comment. As a point of order, we try […]