Author: Vic Socotra

Cruise books

(You could look these guys up in the Cruisebook, if you had the right one. Here is a chance!) Shipmates and fellow travelers, I could rail on about what is going on this week- and which has been going on for some years in the context of the Conference theme of “Cognitive 5th Generation Warfare” […]

Durham Bull

This is going to have to be short- I am in between panel discussions at the big Defense IT conference and have many networking obligations this morning. Still, I have to say that the news from Durham got me going this morning. The bullshit confrontation between Nazis and Commies in wonderful little Charlottesville- both groups […]

Arrias on Politics: Herman Kahn, Captain Kirk, and Kim Jong Un

Editor’s Note: We are publishing this morning from St. Louis, where the annual Department of Defense Intelligence Information Systems (DoDIIS) conference is being held at the convention center. Travel and flight arrangements were great, (“Saint Louis in August!”) though our arrival seemed to catch the hosting hotel- I won’t defame it by name- completely by […]

Where Are the Carriers?

Editor’s Note: we have a peripatetic correspondent named Jim whose jottings reflect a life of service. This is a gem, and he has allowed me to forward to both the professional website and the Socotra distribution. For those who have not done a tour at sea, it may be a revelation. For those that have, […]

Night Shift

(President Chon Tu Hwan of the Republic of Korea) As you well know, there is more talk about nuclear weapons than in a long time. DC is not in range, according to what they are reporting, but apparently the little fat guy thinks he can hit Guam, which makes this all personal. So, I was […]

Newman’s Own

As you are doubtless aware by now, I am privileged to be a mostly passive participant in a bunch of email strings with other retired Navy spooks (I generate too much of my own blather), and generally respect (and protect) their privacy and stories. I have saved several of the strings about places like Cambodia […]

Swamp Post Card #10

Yeah- I know. How did it get to be Wednesday so quickly? The news cycle, even in the dog-days of August is so fast and furious that it is exhausting just to drink the morning coffee and see what will have changed by happy hour. I have been more sporadic than usual in publication of […]

Life & Island Times: Strangling Conversations

After another failed attempt to find some meaningful discussion on the Sunday morning news-talk shows, this off-the-cuff parody of Paul Simon’s song Danglng Conversations wrote iteself. In a kind of wised-up New York City way, Simon’s song was about lost love. DC’s a lifeless action hero comic book In a early evening hotel room The […]

Arrias on Politics: Equal Justice

If there’s one idea that encapsulates the goals of the Founding Fathers, it’s this: Equal Justice. A responsive government that worked – literally and figuratively – for the citizens, was a means to that real end: a political system wherein everyone – everyone – was treated the same. Last week a Congresswoman opined that Vice […]

Swamp Post Card #9

Goodness, Gentle Readers, what a strange week! I drove up to Greenfield, Mass, last Thursday afternoon to attend my brother’s wedding. It was a joyful trip, meeting the new family with fabulous weather. My lovely cousins made it up to the event from Florida after perilous adventures in Air Transport, including de-planing a couple times […]