April 3, 2014 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Marty Ganzglass (Somalia 1966–68) publishes CANNONS FOR THE CAUSE with Peace Corps Writers

Apr 03 2014

Marty writes: Cannons for the Cause is a novel about the early days of the American Revolution. It is a gripping story of friendships formed, families divided, first loves, and of loyalty, courage and patriotism. In the brutal winter of 1775-1776, sixteen year old Will Stoner is one of many teamsters hauling heavy cannons more than 300 miles from Ft. Ticonderoga in upstate New York to Cambridge, Massachusetts. The train of wagons and sleds struggles across the partially frozen Hudson River and through a blizzard in the steep Berkshire mountains, to bring the desperately needed artillery to General Washington, preparing to attack the British in Boston. Cannons for the Cause places Will in the midst of actual, but little known, historical events — a race riot in Cambridge between the Marblehead Mariners, the first integrated unit of the Continental Army, and a militia of backwoods riflemen; and the stealthy night . . .

Congress Petitions FBI For More Active Role in Peace Corps Murder Investigation

Apr 03 2014

[Thanks to Joanne Roll for her ‘heads up’ on this item from ABC News] Congressional leaders are calling on U.S. government officials to be more active in solving the case of Kate Puzey, the Peace Corps volunteer who was brutally murdered in the West African country of Benin five years ago. Today, in a show of bi-partisan support, 184 members of Congress signed a letter requesting the government “make every effort to devote every resource to achieve justice for Kate Puzey.” Puzey was a 24-year-old from Georgia who was killed on March 12, 2009 after she claimed a local Peace Corps employee was sexually abusing girls at the school where she taught. “It continues the visibility of the case in the eyes of the people that need not to lose sight of the tragedy,” said Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-GA, a co-author of the letter and advocate for the Puzey family. . . .

Authors Guild Proposes National Digital Library of Out of Print Books

Apr 03 2014

Jan Constantine, General Counsel of the Authors Guild, testified before the House Judiciary Committee yesterday afternoon on mass digitization of books and so-called orphan works. Those topics, of course, are at the heart of two Guild lawsuits, Authors Guild v. Google and Authors Guild v. HathiTrust. An advance copy of Jan’s written testimony is available on their blog. Here are three highlights: 1. We’re proposing that Congress empower the creation of a collective licensing organization (something like ASCAP or BMI) to deal with both mass digitization and “orphan” books. Such an organization would pave the way for a true national digital library, but it would have to be limited in scope, just as ASCAP is. Here are the key components: A. Authors get paid for the uses, naturally. B. Licenses would be non-compulsory. Authors get to say no. C. Licenses would cover out-of-print books only. No disrupting commercial markets. D. Display uses only. . . .

What's On The Web About The Peace Corps

Apr 03 2014

[Surfing the web the other day for ‘Peace Corps Information’, I came up with this site:henrymakow.com. There are a lot of crazies out there, and this is one place where they gather. For the purposes of ‘lets sigh and shake our collective heads’ here is what someone named David Richard has to say on Henry Makow’s site about the fate of women in the Peace Corps. By the way, Henry Makow is a Canadian author, campaigner against homosexuality, public opponent of Zionism and Freemasonry, conspiracy theorist and the inventor of the boardgame Scruples. If you look into Makow’s philosophy, you’ll find that he believes a hidden hand is shaping modern history. He thinks democracy today serves as an instrument of social control; the mass media generally stifles information and channels thought; and popular entertainment degrades us and diverts the audience from what is really happening. His anti-homosexual, and anti New . . .

Archive - April 3, 2014