Author: Vic Socotra

Sex and the City- Crisis Times Passed

Editor’s Note: The President announced “weapons free” for USN units to deal with Iranian harassment in the Gulf. I do not recall such an announcement in my times, so maybe this is what deterrence looks like these days. In an attempt to analyze the current and heavily nuanced crisis, I thought it might be useful […]

Plague Chronicle Notes — Part IX — Solidarity

Editor’s Note: This is by far the most accommodating National Emergency I have had occasion to embrace. Lifestyle is essentially unchanged, and I blush to say that it was not until week eight of being ‘confined to quarters’ that this unusual crisis started to become mildly irritating. There is change everywhere I can see, but […]

Arrias: Beijing and the Wuhan Virus: The Gift That Keeps Giving

Earlier this week, in South Dakota, a Smithfield meet packing facility was found to have some 400 individuals with the virus. Suddenly South Dakota was labeled as another “Hot Spot” by the media, many of them – sadly – seemingly gleeful to be able to fix the label, angry at Governor Noem for having failed […]

Life & Island Times: Quarantine

As opposed to me, hard down with whatever awful malady it was, Marlow kept working. Here is what he thought in mid-March of this strange and improbable year. – Vic “With almost 100 million Chinese and likely many more tens or hundreds of millions to fall under effective home quarantine and without access to medical […]

Arrias: China – Asia – Reborn?

There are a great many details, but the essence of it seems to be this: The first victim was a researcher in a lab in the city of Wuhan, in central China. The virus began to spread. China – that is, the Chinese government – that is, the Chinese government acting under the implicit (and […]

Point Loma: Blues on the Lagoon

The thing about the skipper of the TR getting relieved is really chapping my ass. so i have to write an an allegory about that since i’m so pissed off at would-be SECNAV Modly and his fellow cast of OPNAV fools. it is way past time to keep treating naval operators as would-be criminals, and […]

Stupid Plastic Shoes

Editor’s Note: I am in an undisclosed location in Virginia’s historic and lovely Northern Neck. I am working off the iPad and phone, and neither gives me much flexibility. I will have some observations about the trip, which will eventually follow the Historyland Highway, originally cut through the brush by the legendary planter King Carter […]