Author: Vic Socotra

From the River to the Lake

We had a great weekend, and hope you did as well. We needed some rest, considering the early start to what is likely to be a frantic Autumn season. So, farewell summer, and bring on the Fall! The Germans are already into it- their papers claim they are going to halt future aid to Ukraine […]

Arrias: Eisenhower was Right

Eisenhower was Right (About more than the Military Industrial Complex) During World War II, US defense spending peaked at $83 billion per year (1945), which doesn’t seem like a lot these days. But in 1940, the US GDP was $101 billion and total spending of the Army and Navy for 1940 was about $2 billion. […]

The Horn Went: “Beep, Beep, Beep1”

The Sunday memo was short. Shorter than the attention span of those slumped at the picnic table for the dog-end of a summer week-end Production Meeting. Saturday had been fun, from what some claimed. There was a level of uncertainty not uncommon on these mornings. DeMille was stern. “The Convention starts tomorrow.” He claimed the […]

Squeaky Clean

The memo from Legal was sort of stark. We don’t normally get simple ones from them, so it was a bit refreshing and new. Squeaky clean, in a way. They are normally sort of cloaked in terms of moderation. This one was blunt. “Avoid using terms like ‘good’ and the one that means the opposite.” […]

Summer Beach Scenes

We start with an erroneous title, since that is our summer theme. We just crossed the ides of August, a time of traditional somnolescent solace that comes with the realization that the Autumn winds are being packaged up in where- Saskatchewan? For shipment down here to the Tidewater of Virginia. So, this was an organizational […]

Weather Report: A Mustard Colored Sky

One of our Salts never left Japan after his arrival there four decades ago, so his observations are profound. We were waiting to see his reaction to the departure of Prime Minister Kishida, which naturally has its own back-story. Instead, he started talking about how the Japanese people were preparing for the change of seasons. […]

Restaurant Week

We don’t read the Post anymore. Management stopped having it thud against the gate at the little steps up from the parking lot years ago. That was around the time Jeff Bezos bought the paper, though there was no direct connection to ceasing delivery. We were just done with having to worry about the level […]

Meeting in the Middle

  We know. We apologize up front, since there was a pitch from Management to the dregs of the creative section and an alert intern from Legal to see if new footnotes were required, or worse, an actual disclaimer that would have to be inserted into the opening remarks to protect both Management and independent […]

Delays Both Ways

Not a bad morning. Some puffy clouds but no rain or military action overnight. Or, better said, there was some military action in places southwest of Kursk, but no major military action where we have been expecting it for days. That remark at the Monday Production Meeting led immediately into whether something had changed in […]

Bill Reddig Hoosier AMC Show 24 August 2024

Some of our Shipmates have found themselves in retirement in the lovely hills of Carmel, California, where one of the great annual international automotive events is starting to unfold. Exotic cars of indescribable elegance and fame are displayed amid the playground of the stars as this summer season displays its glorious peak. Just a quick […]