Author: Vic Socotra

Swamp Postcard: UXB

So, what is the October Surprise? the Caravan behind the one in progress? The unexploded bombs in the mailboxes of prominent progressives? The Reichstag fire scenario is possible, since none of the devices went off, and only a novice would not understand what mail screening has happened since 9/11 and the anthrax attacks. I can’t […]

Life & Island Times: Cuban Missile Crisis

Cuban Missile Crisis October 15 – 28 1962 I awoke this morning a bit more bored than usual to read whatever was America’s crise du jour. 56 years ago the world almost blew itself up. Well, it was actually just the US and the USSR facing off over the secret emplacement of decapitating-strike capable, two […]

Arrias: Existential Debt

Several economists, opining on the 2019 federal budget, lambasted the President for spending too much. They concluded that Trump must be stopped, and that, in particular spending on national security needs to be reined in. If not, we’ll be overtaken by the deficit and face economic ruin. Their solution appeared to be to vote for […]

HAITI DAYS

25 July 1995 HAITI DAYS Prologue We roared around the corner, swerved around a pothole big enough to eat a bus and emergency lights flashing went hell for leather out of Port Au Prince towards the desolate country near the border. The Peugeot was spinning wheels on the soft gravel of the new road. The […]

Boondoggle: Kadena

05 April 1979 A boondoggle fits in somewhere between one-time good deals and flat-out fraud. This particular evolution involved the annual re-qualifications for aircrews in pressure-chambering and seat shooting. The Navy, due to our addiction for large pieces of floating steel, enjoys a state of complete poverty in comparison with our sky-blue brothers in the […]

Team Spirit

1 April 1979 Team Spirit It was a mild winter in Korea, or at least as mild as they come up there. We were able to fly every day, as did our good friends the Russians. We bored all kinds of holes in the sky and cut endless miles of blue water off Cheju-Do Island. […]

Arrias: Convertibles and Cyber War

Years ago I bought a two-seat convertible – it was a great car, and a ton of fun to drive. But after I’d had it about a year it started turning off – just out of the blue. After making certain it was mechanically as close to perfect as it could be, I focused on […]

Arrias: Fit To Rule?

What a week: we had a chance to see our elected officials performing their assigned tasks. More broadly, we had a chance to see not only how certain Senators performed – whether or not they asked meaningful questions and sought to establish some measure of merit as to Judge Kavanaugh’s potential as a member of […]

Swamp Postcard: Calm Before Storm?

I forgot to throw in the issue of the latest Migrant March heading north across Mexico from Guatemala and Honduras to the US. “Open Borders” an issue at the ballot box in less than three weeks. For a quiet news week, there is certainly a lot going on…. Having a wonderful time. Wish you here. […]

Life & Island Times: Lives Well Read

RIP, my Kurtz and Ensign Yes, Rest in Peace, Mom and Dad. Those names were the pseudonyms I gave them seven years ago in my journals about their final years on this planet. Less than a year after their passing six months apart, their children were distributing their effects, selling their things and splitting their […]