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Vic Socotra

Author: Vic Socotra

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July 3, 2017 Vic Socotra

Life & Island Times: History 3.0

July 2 2017 With the advent of Amazon and Google enabling fast searches of digitized books and periodicals and early Version 1.0 social media tracking of every errant thought, photo and text back in the early 21st century (I date this back to before Facebook – somewhere in 2002 and 2003), we entered History 2.0. […]

July 3, 2017 Vic Socotra

Air Intelligence

This being the eve of the nation’s birthday, some of the usual suspects have been talking about the foibles of cruises-past, when we were in the best Fleet in the world. I got to USS Midway (CV-41) in 1978, and I learned my trade at the knee of the Magnificent Vinnie and CVIC Asst. Rich […]

June 30, 2017 Vic Socotra

Emerald City Stroll

I was feeing pretty good for a Sunday morning. A little sunburned from the afternoon at the pool, but I had to be downtown fairly early, since I was meeting a group from Oz to give a waking tour of the landmarks near the White House and along Pennsylvania Avenue. It is only appropriate, since […]

June 30, 2017 Vic Socotra

Life & Island Times: War is Over

Author’s note: Breaking news on the back pages of today’s morning newspapers says the US House of Representatives Appropriations Committee voted in a bipartisan fashion yesterday to rescind the 2001 authorization for the use of military force that underlays much of the past 16 years of American warring. The ostensible reason for this was reported […]

June 28, 2017 Vic Socotra

Postcard From the Swamp #4

Considering the pace of breaking news over the last six months, things seem to be cooling a bit as we head into the Congressional recess and the 4th of July holiday. Dribbling out this weekend include a raft of Supreme Court interim decisions, some questions about what the current (and previous) Administration knew about the […]

June 26, 2017 Vic Socotra

Life & Island Times: Hellhound Blues

Author’s note: Just when I didn’t think it could get any weirder, voters have started telling their representatives to stop with all the Russian stuff and start legislating and our imperial city’s newspaper details a long story on the Russian’s two year campaign to hack the 2016 American presidential election in which one prior administration […]

June 26, 2017 Vic Socotra

Arrias on Politics: Whither Syria? Whither the US?

Since 2015 Senators McCain and Graham have called for more US troops in Syria. First they called for 10,000 troops, then 20,000 and then 50,000. Now, the numbers have climbed to 150,000. To be clear, this isn’t about the additional troops Secretary Mattis sent into Iraq and Syria (or into Afghanistan); Secretary Mattis has clear, […]

June 22, 2017 Vic Socotra

Life & Island Times: Failure to Communicate

Editor’s Note: Yep. it is getting this nuts. – Vic Failure to Communicate Author’s note: I was bemused yesterday when I heard the former DHS Director remark in an aside that the FBI Director (and those of National Intelligence, the CIA and the NSA) didn’t share with him or his intelligence folks for months during […]

June 21, 2017 Vic Socotra

Postcard From the Swamp #3

It is hot, muggy and finally it is really Summer. That happened shortly after midnight, concluding the longest day of the year, which Jim Champagne at Willow’s famed Amen Corner always maintained was exactly the same length as every other day- some just have more daylight than others. I have always been a bit of […]

June 18, 2017 Vic Socotra

Midway Commemoration on Midway

Gentle Readers, You noted our commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the great conflict off Midway Atoll 75 years ago. It was at the beginning of the month of June, on the actual days that defined history. Today, the last remnants of the battle were being resolved though the memories will never fade. The Japanese […]