Author: Vic Socotra

Swamp Postcard: Lines Drawn

I handed off the remote to the flatscreen shortly after 0900 to enable more stimulating programming. Not that this isn’t. I mean, this is like far out. The witnesses who are testifying at the big hearing were still showing up, and the seats of the Members were still unoccupied. Since the guys coming up to […]

The Flag

My pal Bronco’s lovely wife attended a Wounded Warrior fundraiser the other night. Centerpiece of the decoration was a tattered American flag that has seen the best and the worst of times. Here is the descriptive account of what this tattered but proud fabric has seen: The words made me think of the people that […]

Point Loma: Victory At Sea

Editor’s note: Point Loma weighs in on some Veteran’s Day thoughts. I want to ensure that our Air Force and Army brethren far-deployed are in our prayers. It is 101 years- almost to the minute- since the Armistice that ended the most cataclysmic event in human history. Up till then. Don’t thank a Vet today. […]

Arrian: Audit This

Numbers tell interesting stories; some people become quite fascinated with them. In monitoring government programs perhaps the key number that will be quoted is how much money went into the program. I suppose the analogy in the private sector is market capitalization, or, more simply, how much is something worth, how much wealth has been […]

Life & Island Times: Campfire Boys

We whiskey-and-gin campfire boys were all bit players. No leading actors in this group. But each of these characters — and they were all characters — was surreal, absurd and fully aware of a serious kind, and was possessed with such detail and warmth. They found amusement and enlightenment poking fun at certain characters and […]

Midway

There is a new movie out about the most significant naval engagement of the last century. Perhaps all the centuries. Reviews say the cinematographic treatment is extraordinary, and retired Admiral Sam Cox, Director of the Navy’s History and Heritage Center, was on-scene to nudge the script back to events that actually happened. We had it […]

YHGTBFSM

Those of you who know me well will recognize the header acronym – sort of my personal signature. Spell it out if you dare – I never got mad at people, but at things. This time, it might be different I have been reading with mounting dismay that now this ship, launched and commissioned in […]

Swamp Postcard: Impeachment & Cartels

Things are so loony up here that I felt a little information shocked. Or maybe it was the time change last weekend. This one wiped me out for some reason, so the news from Mexico really made me sit up when I first heard it.. Last week, the authorities rounded up the son of drug […]

Arrian: Elevators, Bureaucrats and Great Power Confrontation

Editor’s Note, 04 November 2019: this is timely and goes in front of the roll-out of the Mac Showers biography trilogy which has slipped to tomorrow. – Vic . Author’s Note: Several long talks with a couple of old friends (Navy and Marine) this week – we are much worse than it looks I’m afraid… […]

Life and Island Times: Ada’s War

Editor’s Note: Having recovered part three of the Mac Showers biography, I will send it along as an attachment tomorrow. There is more I intend to inflict on you, notably the connection between the passing of my folks, and the real compassion and mentorship that marked the last career Mac invented. More after Ada’s war […]