Author: Vic Socotra

Arrias and His Muse: Very Wrong

Author’s Note: My Muse and I were reading several accounts of life in the trenches around Avdiivka – could have been the Somme or Verdun a little more than a hundred years ago… – Arrias Very Wrong The trenches are long and dark and dank, Always hot or always cold, The men climb out and […]

Workplace Violence

– Stuart Jonathan Thad Schippereit 74, of Savannah, Georgia passed away April 24, 2023 at his home with family by his side. He was born March 22, 1949 in Columbus Ohio. Editor’s Note: We are aware of the discontinuities of perspective in this daily shout at the heavens. You will note that this brief excerpt […]

Let’s Take a Vote!

There was a vote heldyesterday, and they called it a “General Election,” though we did not recognize the General Officer for whom we voted. There were some startling results in the voting and some others that were not. Considering the social tumults in process outside the polling station, it evoked all sorts of emotion. We […]

Moderate Seasonal Change

Goodness! We have entered into that transitional period in the calendar here in Your Nation’s Capital! It could be mild or chilly. The skies above could be like the ones in the image below- steel gray with a dusting of moist snow. We have only two holidays to get through in the next few weeks. […]

Arrias: Ukraine: Time for a Ceasefire?

In an interesting development the Commander in Chief of the Ukrainian Army (the Ukrainian equivalent to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) released an essay last week, just as an interview was published in The Economist. In the essay and interview it was reported that Gen Zaluzhnyi said the war was “at a […]

Weather Report: War in the Middle East

So, good afternoon fellow campers! It is the weekend at last and we can luxuriate in the splendor of the weekend. There is more, of course. Antisemitism is sweeping our little town. There will be demonstrations today on the other side of the big river. The protests are wide-wide in scope and intensely, which is […]

What a Month!

It is Sunday, and we are just sitting here in the powered reclining chair looking at some remarkable stuff. The guy pictured below was elected Mayor of his little town and ruled his town through the combination of politics and religion. His Sunday job was as Minister of thee congregation of the local Baptist Church. […]

Dia de la Muertos, Pt. 2

There was some discussion around the Patio about how to handle the second Dia de la Muertos. As you now, holidays that last longer than a single day present unique challenges. The ‘Day of the Dead” is one of our imported holidays. This one has its roots in Mexico and is a blend of Meso-american […]

Melting Pot

So, if the American Melting Pot got melted and no longer works, it may be time to start wondering about what is coming next. We will be returning to The Grand Tour of Europe as a means of comparing and contrasting our befuddling times with those that have come before. It is a curious thing. […]

SEALORDS

If this were a just and ordered world, there would have been a serious discussion in these pages a few days ago about the bold plan conceived by VADM Bud Zumwalt and supported by Rex in late 1968 to bring the riverine war to the enemy. To do so, Bud dispatched small, heavily-armed and lighted-armored […]