Retirement is sort of crazy. No people concealed behind curtains to blame. The Writer’s Section, a component of Socotra LLC’s Production Department, reporting to the Editorial Board, supervised by Legal, Compliance and HR at the morning meeting, contributes hard-hitting but mildly ironic items for mass consumption. You know, take the weekend items of interest and […]

Author’s Note: One of the Interns woke up, looked at the draft list for publication, and became anxious. “Don’t you know this controversial stuff is supposed to go in the ‘Winds of Change’ tab on the website and not sent out to otherwise innocent readers?” The Writers Group was already out to lunch. Our apologies. […]

We are a couple days into summer. Weather is a little crazy- they are saying record warmth in the Pacific Northwest, which has people alarmed, since that is the state we are used to now. Here in the Piedmont of Virginia it is actually cool enough for a sweater in the morning. Both unusual. We […]

We were going to have an Editorial Board Meeting this morning. That would justify a lot of activity that might be of marginal use, would keep stuff flowing in the pipeline we can deny later, and make us feel good with the idea that the enterprise will continue to shamble forward. You know, the way […]

I have avoided claiming any expertise on the COVID pandemic. I am not a medical specialist, nor an epidemiologist. That said, I do have some unique experience to apply to all this, since I happened to be working on an unrelated project for the Secretary of Health and Human Services late in 2001 though my […]

This is Jim Champagne’s day. I know Birthing Person Nature would quibble with that, but she is busy. I know it is the observation of the change of season, the alleged Summer Solstice, but as far as I am concerned, it belongs to Jim. He was the de facto Dad at the Amen Corner, and […]

(Kiko-San, in Yokosuka, Japan. 1949). Quite a set of notes this morning from the Out There Gang. Bewildering, almost. It started with Cornhusker’s contribution about the disposition of the cremated ashes of the Class A Japanese war criminals. There were six of them, including Tojo, the main public figure of the Empire, excepting his aloof […]

Author’s Note: I was working on something else this morning, and realized the topic might get me scooped up in some of the activity I was attempting to describe, not endorse. So, I thought this might fit better as a mildly amusing account of ordinary stuff that becomes extra-ordinary in the context of the times […]

The Mid-Week Review meeting avoided much contention, thank goodness. If you were wondering, the Summer Solstice arrives this Sunday, coincident with the observation of “Father’s Day,” which like “Birthing Persons Day” just past will require some juggling of old and new words. The replacement for the former, like the latter, is still under discussion for […]