Author: Vic Socotra

Arrias on Politics: Tell No One

Dean Acheson (President Truman’s Secretary of State) once advised President Kennedy that he – Kennedy – needed to carefully consider when he would use nuclear weapons, and once having established his threshold, he should tell absolutely no one. (Hopefully, every President since then has engaged in that most serious of efforts). There are two key […]

Life & Island Times: The Country Ain’t Alright (But It Can Fly)

Editor’s Note: Joyful event this afternoon, just west of French King’s Bridge. A wedding for my brother and his soon-to-be-bride. Such a change from the madness back in the District. Marlow nails that one this morning. I hope Kim Chong Un doesn’t mind being below the fold with his latest ICBM. Back to the capital […]

Life & Island Times: Kick Out the Jams

Editor’s Note: I am in a Days Inn motel in western Connecticut- this was as far as I could get on my drive north yesterday due to appalling traffic in New York City. I think this drive marks a tipping point of sorts. For most of my life I never thought a long drive was […]

Life & Island Times: Hollow Men

Editor Note: Traveling. Comms may be spotty. Joyful event in another state. More to follow, I hope. – Vic Hollow Men Author note: I apologize in advance for this piece’s bleakness over the political barrenness in Washington DC. -Marlow Healthcare system — it’s dying, sir. The Hollow Men A trillion more for poor gals and […]

Postcard From the Swamp #8

Well, you can’t say this is the doldrums here in the soggy bottom of the nation’s Swamp. The President has decided to upgrade us to a “cesspool,” or a “sewer,” whichever is more appealing at the moment. The GOP is at war with itself, and the Dems, bless their hearts, have come up with a […]

Life & Island Times: Skinny Repeal

Author’s note: With mouth agape, I read that the boys and girls in our empire’s capitol city were about to consider approving the discussion of something called skinny repeal. Is that anything akin to “Oui, peal, and oui, place.” Many do not like President Trump But most do not like the DC stuffed shirts We […]

Arrias on Politics: Moon Man

Editor’s Note: I was on the road again this weekend, and more road confronting me later this week to attend a wedding that affirms my faith in the strength of love, and in a larger sense, the goodness of women and men. So, expect me to be a little erratic on the information stream the […]

Life & Island Times: Musicians on Money and Life

As with almost everyone who is invested in the American stock markets, the past nine months have been a boon. Since everything that goes up must come down, at least a little, I’ve been looking for ways to manage this risk. Listening absent mindlessly to cable TV blues and rock-n-roll channels, I was astonished to […]

Life & Island Times: Scents of Port Calls Past

One of my fellow shipmates wrote of the distinct smell based memories in a piece last week about long ago port call in the Philippines. While I am not an urban smellscape researcher, I was so genuinely struck by his turns of phrase that I started to list the dominant smell memories of the port […]

Summertime

Whether the living is easy is a matter up for debate. I have to say, in my half century in looking at how our country is doing, I have never been so unsettled. I am one of those who grew up with the certainty of Ike Eisenhower and never thought we could go so far […]