“Brownfield sites are abandoned or underused industrial and commercial facilities available for re-use.” – Wikipedia How the hell did the entire cities of Flint and Detroit become brownfields sites? -Socotra (From Top Left: Downtown skyline as seen from the a bridge over the Flint River on the campus of University of Michigan- Flint, GM Powertain […]

(Spirit of Detroit. Photo 2011 Socotra) I am not in denial. But I am equally not in De Nile, though it feels like an equally big and inexorable river pulling us toward some really big body of water. But hey, we are NOT going to talk about the cliff. I have never seen anything like […]

(Photo of Doc Boucher, my orthodontist, and the suburban Detroit house where he shot his ex-wife and son to death. Photo AP Wire Service 1968.) Well, we just about have this weird year in the bag now.  Stormin’ Norman Schwartzkopf left us yesterday, one of the many memorable characters who impacted my life in the […]

I swear I am checking the company e-mail and am totally focused on business matters. I took advantage of that laser-like focus when my eyes popped open at one-thirty and could not get back to sleep. I listened to CBC 1 channel out of Edmonton on the iPad in bed, hoping something decent would happen. […]

(Lennie and Jamie exchange meaningful looks.) It was a marvelous Christmas outing. I went to the movies with ENS Socotra. This may not strike you as something unusual enough to talk about on the one-day hang-over holiday. There were some things that could not fit into the schedule that I really wanted to do, but […]

(Christmas still life, with fire and Ivy League kindling. Photo Socotra). I envied the Russians next door. They have made a new wood-burning stove in their dining room, and the cherry glow of the fire makes it the warm centerpiece of the whole house. I should have had the chimney guy out to check mine, […]

You might be thinking of a right jolly old elf these days- I know I have been, though possibly not the one you have. It was a magical morning. On impulse, I switched off the mercury vapor lamp atop the telephone pole in the side yard and let the darkness slowly dissipate naturally list an […]

I am not sorry I am a little emotional about this holiday, and I am not going to bludgeon you with another recap of the news. We are either way too engaged in the circus act, or we are blissfully unaware that the elephants and donkeys are passing by in chaotic review. There have been […]

“We all know what to do, we just don’t know how to get re-elected after we’ve done it.” – Jean-Claude Juncker  ( “J-C” is 23rd and current Prime Minister of Luxemburg, who President Bush (43) once described as “a piece of work.” He is the longest-serving democratically-elected current head of any government in the world. […]

(The Vice President will lead a blue-ribbon panel to figure out gun violence. He is broadly experienced in legislation to control firearms. Photo CNN.)   Yesterday’s rant was toned down considerably for the daily story but it still irritated some of my readers, one of whom observed (more in sorrow than anger) about my descent […]