This has been great- a year that will stand forever as a triumph of what uncontrolled money and fervent ideology can do to the most prosperous society our species has produced. I have to stand in honor of the strategy that has brought us to this amazing time in America. I speak as a one-time […]

I am a lucky man with a lot of good friends. I have pals who have experienced all sorts of amazing things. Some common, though still extraordinary. Miracles, really, like the creation and bearing of children. Relationships that worked extraordinarily well, and a testament to the human experience. And relationships that did not work, another […]

Socotra in Print Gentle Readers, I wrote a Socotra this morning, but went a little more hysterical than I chose to be these days. At least in public. If you care for that, it is posted at http://www.vicsocotra.com under the title “The Election.” I would rather highlight the good news that some crazy people have […]

I was going to call this “midway,” since it is just halfway through this summer of stress and lunacy, and it seems like a good nautical term to mark this point on the calendar. I was about to type the words when I realized a lot of acquaintances and occasional readers might think I was […]

(Former Representative John Lewis, RIP) John Lewis passed from this earth last night. He has been a part of my conscious life for a long time, and a man I admire even if he is no longer with us in being. With Dr. King, one of my heroes, Lewis was one of the “Big Six” […]

Thought you’d escaped, eh? I found the rest of Great Grandfather’s notes of his tour of Europe for April, 1903. I would inflict them on you this morning, but no chance, Buckaroos. The world that existed in the early days of a new century are interesting, as we all know from experiencing our lurch into […]

(Photo Daily Mail. Images of far lower quality than this were precious in building target packages) Thursday is the day I am supposed to know the most about what is going on, but with an emphasis on what the things are going to be like as outcomes of what we see today. On Thursdays in […]

Well, here we go again! The break for the holiday many did not celebrate in the traditional way has passed, and we are back to the tumult of the campaign that has never ceased. This, as you know, is laid across the lives that we have to live anyway, which in the best of times […]