Author: Vic Socotra

Arrias on Politics: A Most Dangerous Man

An East Asian country: threatening its neighbors while making snide and outrageous comments about the US and our allies, building an ever larger nuclear force, ruled by a man who sees no limits to his powers and who has, in the last several months, replaced all his senior military leadership to insure loyalty to him. […]

Pool People

I awoke way too early, and on my way to the end of the Internet, was only moderately surprised to see the North Koreans had apparently tested another nuclear device. I don’t think they realize we are not paying much attention to it, since we have plenty of stuff to occupy us right here, what […]

Life & Island Times: Past Reckonings

Author’s note: As a brief respite from my series of ARB pieces, here are some musings about post storm flood reckonings. – Marlow During the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons, while sitting in my former isle seat, friends and I dealt directly with the aftermaths of the floods of seven hurricanes’ storm surges. They came […]

American Dunkirk

I really can’t get the cognitive dissonance out of my mind this afternoon between the concept of natural disaster and inimical evil. The North Koreans are launching missiles in a manner that suggests they would like the option of turning someplace like Los Angeles into a molten slag. I am aware there could be a […]

WHEN CELEBRITIES WERE ‘RATIONAL’ AND CARS WERE BEAUTIFUL

Editor’s Note: It is car show season, though it has been a cool summer here in DC, and I regret not getting out there to see the magnificent vehicles that have survived, based on the passion their owners and aficionados have for them. Me? I am a Rambler kid. This is from peripatetic contributor Jim, […]

Life & Island Times: Alt Radical Bleak

Editor’s Note: Marlow nails some important stuff here- particularly what happens to those of us of a certain age in the midst of the night, and the thoughts that come in the small hours, when the powers of darkness are exalted. – Vic Author’s note: I have been kicking this around in my head for […]

Postcard From The Swamp #12

Events near and far shaped a week that contained despair and inspiration- and contained news that increasingly seems to come from the satiric site The Onion rather than real news organizations. The breathless account of the First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS- says so on her ball-cap) and her choice of footwear seemed to […]

Life & Island Times: Deep Blue Sea

Editor’s Note: I have some shipmates I am eager to see at the Fleet Landing on the other side of the Styx. Well, not that eager. I am happy to take my time if I am granted it. My family had river sailors in the Civil War- Union, of course, part of Operation Anaconda- but […]

Stormy Weather

Life is still good in Northern Virginia. I am going swimming this afternoon, rain will not be here for another several hours, I have no statues in my neighborhood, and no one is marching around. Certainly not the way tropical storm Harvey is stomping on and punishing Texas, which has changed and my whole idea […]