Author: Vic Socotra

Severe and Acute

There has been more information coming out about the Pandemic lately, the most recent one. We have discovered that some of the policy decisions were based not on Science, but on Policy. Splash was muttering as the meeting lurched into Wednesday norms, the one where the themes of the week teeter on the balance point […]

Arrias and His Muse: Wide Awake

Author’s Note: And the Muse appeared in my morning in Tidewater- it would make a good start for a Neil Simon play… – Arrias Wide Awake It all started with a very strange dream, But no beautiful maiden and a dragon, Just me and an old Navy buddy, Cans of caviar and a station wagon. […]

Dis-United Nations

Author’s Note: The Legal section was in more of an uproar than usual this morning. They approved the Disclaimer, then told us we had to run it. That apparently is how the Law works! – Vic “The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Socotra House Publications […]

So, It is War at Last?

(Image from USS Midway, CV-41, Cruisebook 1979-80. We thought we were going to war with Iran 45 years ago). The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Socotra House Publications and its various subsidiaries. So, the discussion was solemn this morning talking about the three Yanks killed […]

Arrias: Are You Willing To Pay The Bill?

Now 3 Americans have been killed in Syria. Now what? Before answering that, ask yourself how many lives this is worth. And by that, I don’t mean American lives, I mean Yemeni and Iranian lives. As strange as it may seem (or perhaps not so strange), the American population seems ready to see Americans come […]

Breakfast at the Black Bear Cafe

We have a shipmate who made the Mountain West the family home after retiring from the Service. We had been all over in the course of working in Asia, Europe and several smaller places.We have been working in both loose and direct contact since we met in 1981, so we share a fair amount of […]

Disclaimer(s)

Out on the Patio, the Writer’s Section was taking a Sunday approach to original works of creative energy. There were a couple lingering issues first brought up by Amanda, the intern in the Socotra House Legal Section. She had a Millennial approach to things, and is familiar on how LawFare works in America at this […]

Headlines

Morning Headlines, 27 January 2024: “On the Staggering $83.3 Million Carroll II Verdict against Trump” “Trump ordered to pay $83M, vows to appeal” Andrew McCarthy of the National Review On Line helped us wake up this morning. Andrew is a columnist for the National Review, a right-wing digital publication originally founded by one of our […]

Flight Ops at Bethesda

(Bethesda Naval Hospital before base consolidation with Walter Reed). We talked about the insurrection of the Navy’s flag officers the other day. It was part of something larger, of course, and simultaneously smaller in contrast to the struggle of the war. Like you, the writers on the Patio have been thrilled since we realized that […]

Arrias and His Muse: Trenches

Author’s Note: Reading lots of reports and blogs, trying to understand it all, then dreams of poor bastards in the trenches… – Arrias Two years of war in the cold and mud, Two years, no end in sight. Two years and more they’ve fought and died, Sometimes it’s not clear who’s wrong, who’s right. Mostly […]