Author: Vic Socotra

May Day 1971

(Woman perched atop a shaggy young man in the May Day protest at the Capital in Washington, DC. Image courtesy “wagingnonviolence.org”). We were going to go with a tale about the unfolding story of attempts to escalate tension in nuclear relations- there is some disturbing Escalation in progress. You will see us cover it presently, […]

The Battle of Puebla

Here it is again! It was a surprising as the Kentucky Derby’s arrival yesterday, and a group celebration of a classic event for the Bluegrass state. We had thought the event was long past, but it was not. The nose-to-nose-to nose finish was as exciting as anything we have seen, and that was a perfect […]

Generations

There is other stuff to ruminate about this morning, in fact a swirl of the big messaging machine that has many of us in an uproar. A congressman from Texas just got indicted for something corrupt, which he and his wife deny. We don’t know if that is a reflection of the old corruption which […]

Our Non-Government (of Organizations)

We bitch a lot about how we have arrived in this precarious position in a nation once considered th emost powerful on our wobbly Globe. Things have been teetering with increasing motion of late, and we thought it might be useful to do a quick iteration of the steps that have brought us to a […]

Weather Report: Dress Rehearsal

Yeah, let’s start with the “all the stuff listed above is actually going on. It is all in the process of unfolding. The major story of this installment of our annual life is a curious one, since it evokes old passions of campus life. We are not quite sure wha the pro-Hamas encampments actually means, […]

LawFare Chapter #134

(Rep. Adam Schiff, House Member from California’s 30th District and a leading candidate for election to California’s vacant Senate seat, left by Senator Diane Feinstein’s passing. He began the campaign with years of solemn accusations about the guilt of a former President on a number of largely imaginative and novel legal cases investigated over seven […]

Sweet Judy Blue Eyes

(Judy Collins is one of two singers who defined her generation. We will not address the other guy who still fronts the Rolling Stones since his story is harder and quite different. Judy’s tale is unique, and has inspired audiences with sublime vocals in boldly vulnerable songwriting, personal life triumphs, and a firm commitment to […]

Too Big To Fail

(Cartoon image from Carlson in 2009 about another unsustainable moment in our sophisticated national financial system). We have heard those words before. We think it was around the big real estate collapse back in 2008. We had one of those surreal mornings back then when someone mentioned the Zillow prices on the condo we owned […]

Red Cows and the Third Temple

Some of us from the Socotra House Writer’s Section have stood at the base of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, and walked uphill past Al Aqsa’s stately Dome of the Rock on the way to pay our respects to the Church at Manger square. A correspondent for “AllIsraelNews” named J. Micah Hancock was there as […]

Arrias: Strategic Bombing and Gentle War

Author’s Note: This was another struggle… the more I pick at it, the worse It think the situation is – I’m not sure we can get out of this mess… – Arrias Strategic Bombing and Gentle War Much of the modern way of war springs from the writings of 4 men from the 1920s: Gen. […]