The Writer’s Section at Socotra House was working on a piece on the American Justice system. You know why. The media took three recent trials and turned them into prime-time entertainment, surrounded by a storm of opinion in full color and amplified with dramatic body-camera imagery. You will not be surprised that there was some […]

There was mild excitement at The Farm over a minor dental emergency. A large bite at an exquisite sandwich on a delightful crusty French loaf was the direct cause. The tiny sliver of something that crunched between jaws was the augur of trouble. Discussion around the Fire Circle veered from the need to hire 80,000 […]

A note today that is briefer than Marlow’s tome yesterday morning about things we might remember as we stumble on towards the distant light. This one featured the strange tranquility of the heavens and the lure of public lucre. You can see that above. Sometimes there are nearly thirty of these big creatures, either perched […]

(Picture on top is of marchers yesterday in Your Nation’s Capitol. Lower left was last summer. Lower right is one taken of the hoax against a gubernatorial campaign in Virginia last month). “Activists disrupted rush-hour traffic around the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday to demand congressional action on a host of liberal issues, including climate change, […]

Twenty years ago my niece wrote me, asking for some details about Pearl Harbor. I happened to have some, not through living that morning, now eighty years ago. But because it was a place we lived for nearly five years. I wrote her back immediately, saying: “I am far too young to have any first […]

First up on the weekly production cycle was an insightful piece from Arrias on how we miscalculate things globally, and make goofy policy decisions e will all pay for. Well intentioned, mind you, which is why the Interns are tired at this time of the year. They have to take the “Footnote” signs out to […]

The CNN Effect has struck me several times over the past few weeks. Or last few years might be a better timeframe. The headline this morning was an extrapolation on the unusual Cuomo Brothers story. You know it- a popular primetime anchor talked to his brother to help him weather the storm of personal and […]

I always had a personal shorthand about traveling the world- “50 states, 40 countries!” was the usual later mantra, but there are a bunch more. I thought I would recount, just to see if there were more or less in that mystical round number. The Sates were only a bit of a challenge, since Mom […]

This is a story about a boat, so bear with me. It includes the modern manifestation of the Egyptian Goddess of the Hunt and record-setting ocean crossings. It only includes me for a few months, but it may have been a tipping point when something got in my blood and never could get rid of […]

“So, are they going to do it again?” Splash was cranky this morning, and his question was stated as fact. Loma was languid. “What do you mean by those two thoughts? You say “it,” and then you say “again.” What the hell are you talking about?” Splash thought for a moment, or at least gave […]