Author: Vic Socotra

Japan-gazer Special — How Americans Feel About Japan

COMMENT: Below is provided FYI, from Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) webpage. I bullet-ized it for easier digestion —— BTW, from Yokosuka, the core of the U.S.-Japan Alliance, I wish you: Merry Christmas, Seasons Greetings, and “Yoi O-Toshi Wo”…! = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = […]

Arrias on Christmas Eve: Two State Solutions

Everyone in the United Nations (UN) seemed very angry last week because the President announced that he’d move the US Embassy to Jerusalem – Israel’s capital. Since nations pretty much always put embassies in capitals, or at least that’s been the rule for the last 6,000 years, I frankly think this wailing, cursing and gnashing […]

Life & Island Times: Christmas Traditions

From Marlow: During our 27th consecutive road trip to this year’s Army-Navy game two weeks ago, we oldsters recalled annual Christmas traditions that we and others had experienced. Some were touching. Others had pop culture connections from our, our children’s and grandchildren’s youth. Some were funny. Some were creepy. Here are my notes on those […]

Postcard From the Swamp #27

The winter Solstice is tomorrow and we can begin to get some daylight back and move toward Spring. The Swamp has been busy this week. Most of the action was on the tax bill, which like the Affordable Care Act, passed without a single bi-partisan vote. The FBI continues to melt down. Either a big […]

Japan-Gazer Update

平成29年12月18日 = (18 DEC 2017) (McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantoms of US Navy Fighter Squadron 151 fly echelon formation over Mt. Fuji. Photo USN). – – – – – = This week’s poem: Naval Station Great Lakes You stand the watch, hour after hour, Tired and bored, but alert Making decisions, wielding power, Over mostly trivial things […]

Arrias: National Security and the Debt

Several days ago I read a comment that an entire generation of social programs were being destroyed by the Trump administration. It was suggested that President Trump plans to, through the vehicle of the next budget, reduce funding to a number of entitlement programs. The individual further commented that our defense spending was far too […]

Skyraiders

So here we are- Christmas roaring down, the new year looming, and there is too much going on, nationally, professionally and personally to really deal with. I think this is going to go down as One Of Those Years when we think about it, as a prelude to something really big that might have been […]

Delusions

  Editor’s Note: This is a a feeble halting step in putting together the next book, while I await some editorial work on the recently completed first draft of the unconventional biography “Cocktails With the Admiral.” I did a pretty good job of keeping notes on the last years of my folks. It is a […]

Taps: Fred “Kool” Grambau

(Fred, wearing #92 goes after Quarterback Don Bunce in the 1972 Rose Bowl). 13 December 2017 Frederick E. Grambau (born August 30, 1950) at Salt Lake City, UT. He was with family at the time of his passing. Known as “Kool” to his college friends and team-mates (and #92 to his fans), he played college […]