Author: Vic Socotra

That Brazil Thing…

(Former Brazilian leader Bolsonsaro, left, and current president Lula, right, in a delightful juxtaposition of their positions on the Spectrum). When your Pundit Class, as represented by the Writer’s Section at Socotra House, an independent assortment of Salty world travelers, is reduced to reading the AP account of what is happening in Brazil, you know […]

Arrias: Hannibal and Putin

Hannibal, the great Carthaginian general, is well remembered for his virtually mystical performance on the battlefield. For 14 years he waged war against Rome and never lost an engagement – until the last one, the battle of Zama. And even then, his defeat was a direct result of the earlier betrayal by his ally of […]

Roads Ahead

Well, we looked around but saw no alternatives. There was a proposal to use an image of a sunlit country road curving through green gentle hills, growing in Spring. Maybe with balloons on the margins. We have a great day ahead and are in good shape, all things considered. There is some natural inclination to […]

Life & Island Times: Long ago one April

Editor’s Note: The arrival of Marlow’s thoughts- the unfinished ones- was timely this morning. They are bracing and add context to this morning’s attempt to understand what happened in the Opera Buffe on The Hill, the mess in Ukraine and two other regional conflicts in motion now. It is a time of great and fundamental change. […]

Family Matters

(The pie was quite real when it popped out of the oven). It took 15 ballots to confirm things, but we are in general but closely divided unity. One segment is our group on the hill west of the District and the one downtown where they capitalize The Hill. One segment of the Writer’s Section […]

Life & Island Times: Keep ‘Em in Our Hearts

The Socotra House Legal Department sent around what they called a “views expressed” disclaimer and insisted we publish the same. An opinion disclaimer being defined by a billing hour’s generation of a formal written statement attributing specific information to a certain individual’s personal opinion. Like other disclaimers, an opinion disclaimer is designed to limit (or totally […]

The Weather Outside the Overton Window

It is always a bit of a shock to see the big machine come fully alive after the holidays. We all knew it was coming but the abrupt nature of the change is dramatic. There is- or was- some uncertainty about who was going to determine the tempo of events coming out of the New […]

Grant’s Tomb

Splash got up early this morning and was barking directions at an assortment of independent contractors in a variety of costumes. This holiday is finally showing signs of passage. There are birds of several species, Maids and Lords, an assortment of rings in precious metal and two stoic milk-cows. He has dealt nicely with The […]

Eleven Pipers

We here on the balcony at Big Pink are still having issues with what year we are in. There is general agreement, of course, but our index fingers still have issues. Not so with those eleven pipers down in the parking lot, who are piping away like crazy. They frightened the leaping Lords and the […]

New Years Eve, Class SIX

They say when you are over the hill you pick up speed. Maybe that is true. Certainly, the visibility improves as you roll over the crest. Some of us are over the great divide of the Holidays. Kevin McCarthy is not, at least until noon when the new Congress is sworn in. One of the […]