Author: Vic Socotra

Long Ago & Far Away

There is a lot going on, isn’t there? The President of the United States visited a town that used to be spelled “Kiev.” A call presumably was made to notify Russia that any interference with the visit would constitute an act of war on their part, and maybe justify a nuclear response. Several of us […]

Life & Island Times: Detour Day 12

May 2001 Detour Version 1.0 Day 12 “Las Vegas was ruined when the corporations took over from the mafia. Everything’s now too expensive. They’re overwhelmed by the drug trade and gang related crime and shootings,” -ALA MAR’s resident manager (I share his feelings for Vegas’s early 70s version) A flight of pelicans headed south to […]

Arrias: Unlimited War

On July 3rd, 1950, 8 days after North Korea – with Russian and Chinese assistance (and prodding) – attacked into South Korea, Secretary of State Acheson advised the President to act on his authority as Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces to respond to the attack, and not ask Congress for approval or a resolution or […]

Presidents Day

The only disagreement on the Balcony this morning was about the “apostrophe.” Do we include it in the title, or just go with the general devolution of language with universal meaning? Today is a case in point. It used to be about one, then two Chief Executives. Then, it evolved into a term describing an […]

Matters of Equity

It was early, but it isn’t now. Let’s get the definition thing out of the way, shall we? Merriam-Webster is an acceptable dictionary to many folks. It defines the word “equity” as “justice according to natural law or right; specifically: freedom from bias or favoritism.” We apparently are going to achieve this by imposing bias […]

RBFDs: The Roads, Rails and Bridges

Editor’s Note: There is a lot of news this morning. The Federal government apparently woke up and realized the situation in East Palestine, Ohio, might be a RBFD. The Chief of the EPA showed up on Friday to “examine” the consequences of the “train wreck” or disaster, take your pick. The little town and State […]

Life & Island Times: Fleurs Printanières Dans l’Empire

Fleurs Printanières Dans l’Empire We were sitting out in W’s garden with happy hour drink in hand as the work week’s final sunset approached amongst some very early blooming vines and flowers. See sampling above! -Marlow Copyright 2023 My Aisle Seat www.vicsocotra.com

Charlie and Karen Save the World

We joke about the weather in this time of transition. We have fairly decent forecasting and nothing that happens here should be particularly surprising. Today is likely to be a reversal of the mild temperatures as the front rolls through, dropping rain first and then an abrupt 30-degree decline in the temp to something slightly […]

Mud Season on the Rivers

(The Weekly Forecast contains news from two large river systems adjusting to Spring. One is just a mile or so east on Rt. 50. The other is across an ocean where the fresh water rejoins the salty seas. Here, we heard that McPherson Square, the little park in front of the Army-Navy Club, has become […]