Editor’s Note: this is a back-to-back for Coastal Empire this week. I am hoping the kitchen upgrade here at Big Pink may be complete soon. Socotra LLC is proud to have talented team of content providers who step up to the vital mission of providing more glib words to the Web. To further that end, we are conferring this morning with legal staff to see if we can run a story on one of the most Legendary West Coast Naval Aviators to ever have flown. That, and former SECNAV John ehman’s thoughts about Naval Aviation. If the stove gets installed, that is. The worldwide threat hearing in the Senate is well worth a look if you have a chance. Everyone seemed to be in agreement that the cyber problem is going to bite us hard. As Marlow astutely notes, channeling David Byrne, it is more just a question of when…

https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/Newsroom/Testimonies/2018-ATA—Unclassified-SSCI.pdf

– Vic

Marlow’s note: Wire services reported that the US Director of National Intelligence \ this past Tuesday warned that time was running out for the United States to act on the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.

He further claimed that North Korea presents “a potentially existential” threat to the US during his remarks at the Senate Intelligence Committee’s annual hearing on “Worldwide Threats.”

This warning came despite an apparent easing of tensions on the Korean peninsular after talks resumed between North and South Korea, and as the North participated in the Winter Olympics hosted by the South.

That a Big War in Asia might be coming soon probably came as a surprise to us mainland, Olympics binge-watching softies but probably not to the battle-hardened soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen in the field who’ve been living, eating and drinking Small Wars during the past 16 years.

And so with a tip of the hat to David Byrne of Talking Heads . . .

– – – –

Intel says cars are coming, loaded with explosives
Packed up and ready to blow
Passing by old IED sites, out on the highway
Places where we no longer go

Sounds of mortars, beyond the wire
Almost used to it now
Living in a trailer, out in the boonies
Just like where we lived in our home towns

16 years of small war, never was a party
But we’re still messing around
Ran out of time for romancing and lovey dovey
Peninsula boy denies us R&R for any of that now

High on a distant hillside, missile sights are rising
Bad guys are ready to roll
They sleep in the daytime, they advance at nighttime
We are on our fifth rotation now

16 years of small war, never was a party
But we’re still messing around
This ain’t no Desert Shield, or El Dorado Canyon
This is really the big time now

Heard about the Olympics? Heard about the cheer leaders?
Heard about his sister?
Don’t look over the wall, or stand by a window
Somebody’ll see you for sure

They issued extra MRE’s, lotsa peanut butter
Maybe last 7 or 8 days
Deleted our tunes, smashed our iPhones and head phones
Can’t have music to play

Shoulda stayed in college, tried classes at night school
Could’ve been BitCoin rich by now
Won’t write a letter, won’t Facebook post
There’s no time for that now

We dress like storm troopers, carry extra ammo and really sharp knives
None of us got a suit or a tie
Got no hairstyle, shaved it all off so many times now
We don’t care what we look like

Cold make us shiver, we feel so alive
We make a damn great fire team
Won’t get exhausted, we’ll do a lotta killing
Let’s get us some sleep

Deleted our postings, what good are social media?
They won’t help us survive
Chests are searing, flaming like volcanos
Will the burning keep us alive?

Copyright © 2018 From My Isle Seat/David Byrne
www.vicsocotra.com