Author: Vic Socotra

WEATHER REPORT: World Ends Tomorrow?

In one of those moments that informs us that the World is Not actually Ending (tomorrow) the Congressional baseball teams will gather late this afternoon for the annual bipartisan (but fiercely divided) baseball game. In one of the more poignant aspects of this amazing week, Rep. Steve Scalise will take the field despite having been […]

Life & Island Times: Plague Update

Editor’s Note: Marlow reports from his Coastal Empire this morning on one of the several Crises in progress in this historic week. There may actually be some progress on minor issues like the Fall of the West on The Hill tomorrow. In the meantime, the COVID scare continues… – Vic Empire Plague Update The above […]

Tuesday in The Big Week

OK, It’s Tuesday in The Big Week. It is pretty cool to be here in the Piedmont. The skies are a pale blue, with strands of pale cirrus clouds way up there, and evidence that humans have done the pre-flight inspection, loaded a cargo of high-value stuff and some assorted people, and are already hurtling […]

Arrias: Whither NATO?

What is it about the French? Or, at least French leadership. True, much of US leadership hasn’t been terribly stellar over the past century, but there’s something about the arrogance of French leaders that’s remarkable. >> >> In July 2017, just two months after assuming office as President of France, Emmanuel Macron canceled the traditional […]

Charlotte Works Magic

26 September 2021 Charlotte Works Magic …At Refuge Farm. The detritus of five or six moves was not stacked- but jammed in the garage. Charlotte is a recent widow, plucky lady, looking for work, and partnered with our Realtor Maggie to clean out #109 at Big Pink up in Arlington. When she moved more debris […]

Weekend Work

(Complex? This is an account fo what is in the smaller of the Infrastructure bills under discussion on the Hill today. You should see what is in the other one, but we don’t have a pie that large). We are in another crisis, which is no surprise. That seems to be the way things work […]

Lying Flat: Tuning in, Turning on and Dropping Out (in China)

From Refuge Farm, we are watching America having a train wreck. It is a curious thing that features some of the political theater that often accompanies change, particularly if it is change many people do not desire. There are things going on that challenge conventional wisdom. For Boomers, it is problematic. As kids, we saw […]

Weather Report: September to Remember (Continued)

The seasons changed yesterday a little before tea-time. There was recognition of the change of season as we slide toward the bright panoply of color and celebration of the passing of the warm season, and the prospects of fresh northern air. There a momentary burst of activity on The Farm, not so much for the […]

LTJG Winky “Reports Return Aboard”

(Winky’s plush Philippine rattan cruisebox quarters have not survived the years since 1980, his last embarked and underway period on the Best Damn Carrier in the Fleet. For now, Ship’s Company personnel have reserved a special berthing arrangement in the legendary Ship’s Library in order for Winky to be rapidly accessible to answer emerging questions […]