Author: Vic Socotra

A Presidential Day

We forgot it was a holiday today. We should have stayed in bed. This particular national holiday is one many of us tend to forget. Some would prefer to forget a few of the Presidents we honor along with it. Miles looked around at the Boomers gathered at the table. Splash, Rocket, Melissa and Vic […]

Half Time

Miles skipped the Monday meeting. That was a big deal. We don’t know why, since we may hae been dozing when things fell apart with the field goal kicking late in the second quarter, Eastern Standard Time. Splash drove the white company mini-SUV to Urgent Care after the accident, which he insists was nothing. Still, […]

Letter From Korea

1980 Special Edition at Lunch After the Super Bowl Daily Pyongyang, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Editor’s Note: In 1980, United States Forces Korea (USFK) operated amidst intense political turmoil in South Korea, marked by the May 17 Coup d’état and the subsequent Kwangju Uprising. USFK maintained security as the ROK students rioted. We […]

Blink of an Eye

Miles was frustrated this morning. No one could blame him. There was too much news, and it was ironic, since there had been excitement from the Olympics in Italy. He had deliberately not mentioned the Winter Games as they kicked off last week. Today, though, brought a story of triumph and tragedy, as Breezy Johnson […]

Special Afternoon Edition: That Iran Thing

Before the shooting starts, the lifting does. That Iran Thing “While public attention rotated through spectacle — medals, commercials, halftime choreography — a different kind of movement continued largely offscreen: the slow, deliberate stacking of lift, fuel, and steel across the eastern Mediterranean and Gulf. Not the sound of war beginning, but of options being […]

Disclaimer First

Our Socotra Legal Section said we had to run a disclaimer first thing this morning. Leon got all puffed up about it. So, there it is, first and foremost. What we are disclaiming, specifically, had to wait until Section Leader Miles had something like a quorum in the Conference Room up on the 4th Floor […]

Rara Avis

Miles frowned as he set down his iPad. There was a time when a “rara avis”—rare bird in Latin—meant he would have to amble around outside in the parking lot looking for the slightly less expensive rental car. This was not that, exactly, but it was enough to make him move the mug of Flat […]

Waxing Gibbous & Red Star Rising

(Photo Socotra, 29 January 2026)“Waxing” is a term Rocket once applied to caring for his car. When the second word becomes Gibbous, the phrase usually refers to what’s happening up there in exo-space. The Moon. That’s also how the weather feels. The image above was taken yesterday morning—a cold, fanciful reminder that we’re spinning on […]

Echoes of Another Time

It is the National Holiday honoring the memory of Doctor King, one of our enduring national heroes. It is a cold, brilliant clear morning for the commemoration. Dawn was lovely as the polar vortex swirls around us. The chill brings back an echo of the tumultuous 1960s, and the brutal assassinations and riots that shaped […]

Everything You Need to Know

Well, it is a Sunday morning in Virginia. We have a new Governor here, the first woman to serve in that office. Abigale Spanberger is that remarkable woman, and her inauguration was impressive and steeped in history. We thought her moment in the spotlight might be eclipsed by one of the other simmering News Breaks […]