![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.vicsocotra.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/011812_a.jpg\" "\\"011812_a\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n(Masked Google Logo echoes corporate protest to corporate aggression. Photo belongs to them, please don’t hurt me.)<\/p>\n
This is what greets the world this morning when youtry a search for anything. I assume the black mask is to remind us of what thepowerful interests are trying to do to us in Congress.<\/p>\n
It would be sort of neat if we could try arepresentative government in America, one that is not beholden to the deeppocket crowd. The matter at hand is the anti-piracy legislation pending in theHouse and Senate. Wikipedia, Moveon.org, user-submitted news site Reddit, blogBoing Boing and the Cheezburger network of comedy are participating in a blackoutto protest the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect IP Act (PIPA) billsthat will effectively censor the web for the first time.<\/p>\n
I understand all the commotion about criminalactivities by shadowy and criminal offshore interests that steal, copy anddisseminate other people\u2019s intellectual property. But the practical effect isto hand the bureaucrats the power to shut down any site (including mine) ifsomeone alleges that a picture (or perhaps a thought?) belongs to someone else.<\/p>\n
Sorry, it is an outrage. This has got to bestopped, and I hope you will drop a line to your elected representatives, ifyou know who they are. Hang on. I am going to do that now. (tap, tap).<\/p>\n
Ah, much better, and it only took a minute once Ifound out who is masquerading as our elected representatives.\u00a0 You can Google it, if you need to. Here iswhat I wrote, and if you are feeling feisty this morning, you can borrow thesewords to send to your own alleged representatives:<\/p>\n
Senator\/Representative XXXX, \u00a0 I didn\u2019t know if I could pulloff a decent letter to you this morning, Sir, what with Wikipedia going dark,and the ominous black mask over the Google logo atop the mighty search engine. \u00a0 \u00a0 That is what greets the worldthis morning when you try a search for anything. I assume the black mask is toremind us of what the powerful interests are trying to do to us in Congress-both in the Senate and the House.<\/p>\n
It would be sort of neat ifwe could try a representative government in America, one that is not beholdento the deep pocket crowd. The matter at hand is the anti-piracy legislationpending in the House and Senate. The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and ProtectIP Act (PIPA) bills will effectively censor the web for the first time. \u00a0 I understand all thecommotion about criminal activities by offshore interests that steal, copy anddisseminate other people\u2019s intellectual property. But the practical effect isto hand the bureaucrats the power to shut down any site (including mine) ifsomeone alleges that a picture (or perhaps a thought?) belongs to someone else.<\/p>\n
Sorry, it is an outrage. Thislegislation has got to be stopped, and I hope you will do what you can toprotect our basic net freedoms. Law always lags technology- but PIPA and SOPAare not the way to go.<\/p>\n
I hope you will oppose this latest lunacy.<\/p>\n
My thanks for your attentionin this vital matter of freedom. \u00a0 CAPT Victor Socotra, USN-Ret. Arlington<\/p>\n
Now, where was I? Oh, yeah, the greatest bowler onGuam. As you probably know, Don Carter, the master bowler of the 1950s and 60s,left us this week, just a few years younger than my Dad when he passed. He did his star turns on black-and-white television in myyouth. Trim in a natty bowling shirt, he appeared each week on \u201cMake thatSpare,\u201d a vehicle that hyped the Professional Bowling Association, or PBA,which is easy to confuse with other real sports.<\/p>\n Don was the first professional bowler to reach asix-figure annual income, the first to run six strikes on the jackpottelevision show, and the very first to convert the cash sweepstakes shot on TV.He was awesome.<\/p>\n The whole notion of bowling has moved from commonactivity to sociological metaphor. When we were kids, Dad would take us up toThunderbird Lanes on the weekends for a treat. I don\u2019t know where he bowledduring the week- he of course was a member of a league at American Motors. Wetook a lot of joy in occasionally knocking down a pin or two.<\/p>\n I would tell you more about Don Carter\u2019s amazingcareer stats, but of course Wikipedia is blocked today and I can\u2019t. The pointis that we all used to bowl, and we all used to be in leagues, a gregariousactivity that has slowly disappeared. That is the metaphor part: sociologistRobert D. Putnam wrote a fascinating book published at the change of themillennium called \u201cBowling Alone,\u201d which claimed that even though more peopleare bowling these days, we are not bowling in leagues. Putnam alleges thatchanges in work, family structure, age, suburban life, television, computers,women\u2019s roles and other factors have contributed to a dramatic decline in groupsocial activities.<\/p>\n He further extrapolates the phenomenon of the bowlingalley to show that we sign fewer petitions, belong to fewer organizations thatmeet, know our neighbors less, meet with friends less frequently, and evensocialize with our families less often. \u00a0 I don\u2019t bowl, and I could not tell you the lasttime I slipped on a pair of those crazy parti-colored rental shoes to hoist aborrowed ball and sling it down the gleaming hardwood toward the adamant white-and-red-stripedpins.<\/p>\n We were talking about Don Carter and bowling ingeneral with Mac and Jasper at Willow last night.\u00a0 The whole matter came up as Jasper askedLiz-with-an-S if she minded if he stowed his bowling bag in the cooler behindthe bar at the Amen Corner.\u00a0 Jasper wason the civilian side of the bar, just hanging out with the regulars. The LovelyBea was there, and Jamie and Short Hair Mike, and John-with an-H and Jonwithout.<\/p>\n Liz-S is The Man behind the bar these days,assisted ably by Tinkerbelle and Jasper, when he gets the hours, and she saidshe did not mind in the slightest. Old Jim asked to see his ball. Jasperobliged, and displayed with pride a custom sixteen-pound beauty, the heaviestallowed in regulation play.<\/p>\n \u201cOnly two sports you can hustle,\u201d he said with asmile. \u201cPool and bowling. My Dad taught me that on the island. He wanted me tobe the best bowler on Guam.\u201d<\/p>\n I think I mentioned that Jasper is from the islandwhere America\u2019s Day Begins, and has forged a bond with Mac, who spent eightmonths on Nimitz Hill on the island. They are the only two Guamanians of myacquaintance, albeit Mac was only a temporary resident.<\/p>\n That is where things got a little complicated. Iwas interested in continuing the story of The Luckiest Man in China, WendyFurnas, and the details of his repatriation from the brutal hands of theJapanese Kempeitei at Bridge House Prison in Shanghai. We got as far as thefact that the MV Gripsholm was on her first Red Crosscruise to bring him back (along with US Ambassador to Japan Joseph Grew, but Ican\u2019t find more about that since Wikipedia is down), and whether Wendy hadapproached the Navy, or vice versa, when he got on American soil again.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy didn\u2019t he join the Army?\u201d I asked. Macshrugged. He was looking good this evening, nice suit, soft collared shirt anda dazzling patterned tie. He is a regular Babe magnet when he wants to be.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know. Maybe he didn\u2019t want to spend therest of the war in the jungle. Wendy was in JICPOA on O\u2019ahu through the rest ofthe war,\u201d said Mac. \u201cWhen we got back from Guam on the flight throughKwajalein, I went over to the JIC and Wendy was the last one there. Hisinstructions were to get rid of everything, even if he had to throw it all inthe dumpster. He had a room full of guns, swords and binoculars. All of itgreat war trophies. Then he was supposed to lock up and report to CINCPACFLTwhere I was.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat is amazing,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat, the sixteen pound ball?\u201d asked Old Jim. Hehad been talking to Short Hair Mike about how to separate pigeons from theircash. \u201cIt seems a little heavy for Jasper, but he is a wiry guy.\u201d<\/p>\n Jasper flexed for us. He is working on full sleevetattoos on both arms, not colored in yet, but clear in blue outlines againsthis warm brown skin.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you bowl here?\u201d I asked. \u201cAnd where?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere are Bowl America lanes in Falls Church,Fairfax and Chantilly,\u201d he said. \u201cI belong to a couple leagues. I got to keepmy skills up.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo you still hustle?\u201d I asked. \u201cAnd doesn\u2019t thatmean that we are still bowling in leagues?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSure,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t know what that guy Putnamwas talking about. It is more fun when you compete with a bunch of otherpeople.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I guess the country isn\u2019t falling apartafter all,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n Old Jim growled. \u201cYou would be wrong, Vic. It isgoing to hell in a hand-basket.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOr a bowling bag,\u201d said Mac, polishing off a glassof red. \u201cThat is my limit for tonight.\u201d I looked at the dregs of Happy HourWhite in my glass and waved at Tinkerbelle for the check. \u201cThis one is on me,\u201dI said grandly as she handed me the black leatherette folder.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\n(Mr. Bowling Don Carter in his salad days. Photobelongs to someone else, please don\u2019t take down my site.)<\/p>\n<\/a>
\n(Cover of Bowling Alone. I am using this under fair-use, and I could prove it in court, even if you take down my site.)<\/p>\n<\/a>
\n(The Amen Corner boys and girls. Photo Socotra, no fair-use required.)<\/p>\n<\/a>
\n(Willow\u2019s two Guamanians: Jasper (left) and Mac(right).\u00a0 All rights reserved and if yousteal it I will have the government shut down your website. Sorry, justkidding. Not.)<\/p>\n<\/a>
\n(The Lovely Bea with Babe Magnet Mac. Life is good when you own the rights to pictures like this. )<\/p>\n