Hi! Vic here this morning, deputized by Section Leader Miles to cover the morning watch with the Time Travel Bridge while we wait to see whether the emerging peace holds—or whether we return to limited combat over the Really BIG Stuff later today. We think Miles wandered over to the VABC store on Route 7, […]

Today marks the 236th birthday of the United States Coast Guard. On August 4, 1790, Alexander Hamilton’s vision became reality when President George Washington signed the Tariff Act authorizing ten revenue cutters to protect the young Republic, enforce the tariff laws, and guard America’s coastlines. One cutter was assigned to each major port, built by […]

Socotra House 15-Minute County Travel Advisory Pastor Frank Note: “Morning, Folks! Miles is still out tis morning and he said from his bed he is not coming back until the shooting starts again and he comfortable. There is a lot flying around about US Embassies warning people not to be where they are, wherever that […]

Or, Vic’s Tequila-Lime Shrimp Platter Word this morning brought several elements of the Creative Section to the Conference Table on the Fourth Floor just as the first light appeared in the east through the big glass windows. Did peace just break out in the Middle East? That is one of the streams playing on the […]

Morning, Gentle Readers! Miles had asked Pastor Frank if he might contribute a short liturgical note on Sundays—nothing compulsory, nothing too ecclesiastical, and only when the Spirit, the headlines or the breakfast coffee moved him. Frank said he would, and this morning’s announcement of what better actually termed “a Reciprocal Pause,” in combat operations over […]

The morning graphic shows the actual location of Spain’s extraordinary immigration crisis. That matters when between 50,000 and 60,000 people- almost all young males of military age- cross the border in two days. For simple scale of this movement—not as a description of its organization or intent—a modern army battalion may contain roughly a thousand […]

We are about to get sucked back into an assessment of what we may be doing to Iran this afternoon. Word from the Flatscreen at the end of the Conference Room is that strikes could be renewed today—and that they may do something significant. That follows Friday’s strikes, which fragmentary reporting suggested lasted approximately two […]

It is with sadness that we note the passing of Jeanne Gibson, one of the last surviving “Rosie the Riveters” of the Greatest Generation. Jeanne died Wednesday, July 29, 2026, at the remarkable age of 100. Her family and friends mourn the loss of a woman whose courage, dedication and unwavering spirit helped shape history—and […]

POLLO AL MATTONE WITH GRILLED PINEAPPLE SIDES Splash takes four plump birds, four wrapped bricks, six pineapples and one busy Weber to feed the afternoon watch.  AFTERNOON EDITION Thanks for bearing with us through the morning Conference Table flail. The news cycle was already moving when the Galley discovered that a box of pineapples […]

Inline image It is with sadness that we note the passing of Jeanne Gibson, one of the last surviving “Rosie the Riveters” of the Greatest Generation. Jeanne died Wednesday, July 29, 2026, at the remarkable age of 100. Her family and friends mourn the loss of a woman whose courage, dedication and unwavering spirit helped […]