Author: Vic Socotra

Life & Island Times: Signs of the Times

Editor’s Note: Marlow chimes in this morning with the current signage in his Coastal Empire region. It has been a national phenomenon. Here, the last Trump sign is down on the farm lane where we reside in Piedmont Virginia. I do not display signs of political allegiance. I do not want to simplify other people’s […]

Current Events and What Gets Lost

The big epidemic and the big emergency continue to rule our lives. Not so much down here on the farm, since satellite coverage enabled us to see video of an obviously stressed United Cabin Crew throw a young family off a flight because the family’s two-year-old had trouble conforming with CDC guidelines. The rest of […]

Letter From Washington (Part 13,234)

Editor’s Note: So, SCOTUS refused to accept the legal challenge from Texas yesterday, and set the stage for the Electoral College vote on Monday. From what we can see from the Piedmont here in Virginia, that strongly suggests we will have a Biden Administration next month. I anticipated grand theater in this amazing year, but […]

Life & Island TImes: Sport

11 December 2020 Editor’s Note: This morning’s wake up review of the email traffic reflected the stark divide abroad in the land. When still in government service, I worked issues similar the ones we are arguing about in this last election. It was about molding elections in other countries to outcomes we preferred. Our activity […]

Editor’s Note: This is a remarkable day, with possibly the state of the Union in the balance. I have tried to track the big story- Texas and 17 states, along with the Trump Campaign and led by a sitting Senator went before the Supreme Court this morning. They argue that battleground states modified their voting […]

Swamp Postcard: Electoral College Final Exam?

Breaking News! We may have a President, one of these days. We are in the midst of the excitement of final exams at College, the Electoral one, with the only key date being the 14th of this month. The Joint Inauguration Committee, split down the middle with the two major parties, was unable to declare […]

Life & Island Times: Whiskey Hign Life ®️

08 December 2020 Editor’s Note: This wild year is coming down to some last excitement. Rather than dwell on the exciting tumult, I think Marlow’s recollection from September is sensible and prescient. – Vic ​Author’s note: Written during Election 2020’s dark debate days in the fall, I put this piece aside. With my Peach State’s […]

Arrias: Another Health Crisis

Editor’s Note: This is the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was mentioned each year when I was growing up, and one of the reasons my sons were born there as Kama’ainas. That is the Hawaiian term for “child of the land.” The place we worked was on Ford Island, then reachable only […]

Remember Pearl Harbor

(Pearl Harbor, 0755…While the Giant Slept. Image copyright Dru Blair.) You know what day it is. It used to be more prominent, but we have moved on in terms of memory and public emergencies. I am going to defer on those issues in honor of the day. I will think about living on the shores […]

Life & Island Times: Holiday Songs

Editor’s Note: Here in Virginia, our Governor has issued some additional emergency restrictions on his subjects. I will see whether or not they actually affect us, since we are following the usual Cold & Flu common sense precautions. I wear a mask to enter the the health facility before taking it off to swim, avoid […]