Author: Vic Socotra

Head on a Swivel

It may be the last morning to get calibrated before the Holiday. I could tell by the news from Europe. The BBC was mostly concerned with the special relationship with France that has suffered so badly over Britain’s relationship across the Atlantic. The politics of the EU are the focus, but of course, the Continent […]

A Little Extra

Maureen Down pissed me off first thing this morning. She accused the President of “putting a clammy hand on the spines” of the American electorate. That is an unsettling image for a Sunday morning when I am filled with the sweet glow of gridiron victory. My spine is quite straight this morning. Michigan beat Ohio […]

Two Hotels and the Oil Ministry

My head hurts, not hung over, just a dull ache from where the trunk lid hit me Wednesday night, lunging for my jacket in the cold dark rain, late for a meeting for which the other guy didn’t show. There is a painful knot there and a cut that is still tender. I am not […]

Three Words in Turkish

The moon of Ramadan is a slim fingernail of sliver now, and this savage observance will soon pass into history. Not fast enough, though. “We will now learn three words in Turkish,” goes the old Firesign Theater comedy routine, “Towel. Bath.” A pause. “May I see your passport, please�.” It then leads to a dreamlike […]

Faire Camerone

The headlines say it best. “TIKRIT, Iraq (AP) – U.S. forces attacked dozens of suspected guerrilla hideouts in Saddam Hussein’s hometown, killing six alleged insurgents as they pressed their search for a former Saddam deputy believed to be orchestrating attacks on Americans.” That would be Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the number two honcho of the former […]

War Stories

There are Black Hawks down in the current theater of war, and in retaliation there are precison munitions being lobbed around the city of Tikrit. The situation is still hot. This is going to take a while to resolve, but the full scope of jsut how long it takes ot bring peace is quite aswtonishing. […]

Butterfly Boy

The company is selling me-or my hours, more precisely- to another watch management job at DHHS and half time to DIA to work Base Reallocation and Closure issues. By my count that gets to around 120 hours a week of commitment for the next few months and I am not sure I’ve got it in […]

Left and Right

It is Saturday and I have lived through another week. The sun is rising optimistic, the red glow spreading under layer of rolling cumulus clouds. The contours are limned in crimson like the quilting of an inverted mattress. While we collectively made it through the week not everyone did. I clicked on the radio to […]

Blow Wind

I woke before the alarm. There was the physical urgency to rise, but the delicious sensation ofthe fresh pillowcase against my cheek held me supine. I looked at the red glow of the alarm clock, blinking its way to the metered cacaphony of the appointed moment. Ten minutes until I was supposed to rise, nearly […]

Ghost Fleet

There is no catastrophe to report from the Middle East today, only one American KIA, though though Ambassador Bremmer has been recalled from Baghdad for consultations in Washington. I read an interesting Op-ed piece in the Times about how the Presidential candidates are being shaped and molded, preparing us for Hillary in 2008 just in […]