Morning, All! There is a cascade of “news” this morning as we prepare for some actual news to come today and tomorrow. Those include some of the SCOTUS decisions that will affect the great power struggle about the next official to head the Government of the United States, and the debate between the two leading candidates tomorrow night. There is plenty of speculation about both that reflects something interesting. The private lives of the Justices- not their opinions, mind you- but those of their spouses has helped to set the stage. If you have been married, you know that universal harmony is not a usual component of otherwise workable and happy relations, but no matter. There is much more at stake.

In the other matter, we have absorbed some of the messaging about the Big Debate tomorrow evening. One of the participants has reportedly taken a week off from his duties to prepare for the event, supported by no less than what is reported to be “sixteen key advisors.” Considering the length and depth of this preparation, it is safe to say that the line-up of advisors might constitute the actual people running the government that has delivered the exciting situation in our economy, border and international affairs. The other participant?

No one here is enamored of his sometimes abrasive public persona, but the idea that he has incurred a personal legal debt of a half a billion dollars defending himself is startling. A “half” of anything sounds manageable, but considering that actually represents five-hundred thousand thousand dollars, you can see it is a bit intimidating to those who wish to participate in our Constitutional Republic, the one founded on the principals of democracy, but structured to force discussion and compromise.

We appear to be past that quaint notion, since everyone in the Writers Section at Socotra House has contributed to support the various Prosecutor over the last seven years. Anyway, we could have discussed the Julian Assange matter. He has apparently pled guilty to charges that a dozen years ago he published classified information to which he was not entitled to possess. the ple came in a Federal courthouse on the Pacific Island of Saipan, which is mostly remembered for other old unpleasantness, but we forget all the details of the matter. We were naturally happy to contribute our share of the legal battle that began the year our 93-year-old Drinking Buddy Admiral Mac Showers passed away.

2012 seems like a long time ago, you know?

Anyway, trying to recall ancient stuff caused our Section Leader DeMille to ask us to look through the hard-drives on the dozen or so laptops that dot the surface of the picnic table. Some strange stuff surfaced. Vic found a note that appeared to confirm participation of a distant ancient relative in the conflict with Spain in 1898. He is now on a search for participants in the War of 1812, but the Irish side of his family would not arrive for another thirty years. He is looking. Rocket found one from more recent times. It was headed with this date: “09 May 2001.” He found it one of The Chairman’s old laptops, and apparently had been saved since it was an account of a submission to the publication review panel of the three-letter Agency where he worked at the time. He was attempting to comply with requirements for such approval under what was known as “True Name.”

It caused the adoption of the title now used for the company for which we are not direct employees, for the same sort of legal complications that have troubled others. We are proud to be independent contractors, according to the Legal Section.

We liked the account, since it described a visit to a place that reflected another time of conflict. One of the paragraphs, which we will not reproduce. The picture that leads this edition of the Daily was part of a the same network, now ceded to the Library of Congress and open to the public. They resemble one another in specification:

“This one is double strand and nice crisp razor wire at the top. The grass behind it is well cut, almost groomed. There is money here for maintenance, and grounds-keeping. It shouts out a message to those who have lived behind razor wire and had a cipher pad outside their office door…. Inside the office they are kind and nice and ask to see your driver’s license. They check you in the computer, and if you are properly certified, issue you a badge of a certain color. If you don’t register they send you away. If cleared, they politely hand you a map of the installation, and a personal identification number to enter into the scramble pad at your lodge so you can open the front door. You won’t need a key, though, because although the common area is secured, the doors on the rooms have no locks.”

The point of the old story was some old colonial artifacts on the reservation, including a burial ground which could not then be visited for national security reasons. We understand it still is, so we will not go further and asked for the old laptop to take a swim in the creek along with those other things lost in the tragic boating accident when times and legal standards changed.

Then we tried to figure out what to write about, since there is a lot going on. We wish there was a Facility we could go to take a break and relax, you know?
Copyright 2001 Vic Socotra