Archive - April 2014

1
He Could Have Joined the Peace Corps!
2
Review of John Krauskopf’s (Iran 1965-67) Iran-Stories from the Peace Corps
3
Remembering B. J. WARREN-R.I.P.
4
John Kerry's Remarks at Peace Corps Swearing-in Ceremony
5
Barbara E. Joe's (Honduras 2000-03) Confessions of a Secret Latina
6
The Shot "Heard Around the World" Still Echoes at the Masters
7
Review — THE EARLY YEARS OF PEACE CORPS IN AFGHANISTAN by Frances and Will Irwin
8
Carrie Hessler-Radelet at CWA Conference in Boulder, Colorado
9
Just One Small Tattoo by Chris Honore’ (Colombia 1967-69)
10
Marty Ganzglass (Somalia 1966–68) publishes CANNONS FOR THE CAUSE with Peace Corps Writers
11
Congress Petitions FBI For More Active Role in Peace Corps Murder Investigation
12
Authors Guild Proposes National Digital Library of Out of Print Books
13
What's On The Web About The Peace Corps
14
Hal Brun (Sri Lanka 1969-71) special education leader, 1947-2013
15
If you are in Oregon, Near Oregon City

He Could Have Joined the Peace Corps!

Yesterday’s Sunday’s, New York Post, April 13, 2014 issue carried a piece entitled: “THE SPERMINATOR Father of 99 children tells all.” Ed Houben is his name and he lives in Holland and is, says the Post, “Europe’s most prolific sperm donor, and one who prefers to contribute the old-fashioned way.” He now has children in Australia, Israel, Canada, Austria, Germany, Belgium, France,Luxembourg, Italy, England. Houben charges no money for his services, partly because it’s illegal to buy and sell human material in the Netherlands and partly because he see himself as a true humanitarian. “I could have joined the Peace Corps,” he says. “But I stumbled into this.” What he does is something like this: If a woman arrives alone–which she rarely does–he will have sex with her in the master bedroom of his apartment. Far more common are couples, and logistics can be complicated. While Houben and the woman . . .

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Review of John Krauskopf’s (Iran 1965-67) Iran-Stories from the Peace Corps

  Iran – Stories from the Peace Corps by John Krauskopf (Iran 1965-67) Lulu Publisher, $20.00 296 pages 2013 Reviewed by Deidre Swesnik (Mali 1996-98) • “Terry O’Donnell was an elfin man, small of stature, who walked with a limp. An adventurer and a romantic, he had found in Iran the perfect venue for his romanticism.” So begins one of the more compelling stories in Iran – Stories from the Peace Corps by John Krauskopf. Krauskopf seems at his best when he is describing a character or recouting a particular moment in time. There are a number of great stories in this book that do one or the other. “In Some Ways We Are Not So Different” is the story of Terry O’Donnell, the elfin man who is himself telling a story. He tells the story of an American who is bombastically critical of Iranian culture, when he clearly doesn’t really know . . .

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Remembering B. J. WARREN-R.I.P.

Remembering B.J.Warren (Peru 1962-64) Dick Irish, Philippines (1962-64) I knew of B.J. Warren three years before I met her. B.J.’s “super volunteer ” reputation proceeded her end of service as a PCV in Peru and grew in size in the Dominican Republic where she served on the staff. Lyndon Johnson infamously sent the Marines into the DR to rescue North America from Red Domination. Americans fled the island, but Peace Corps remained. B.J. may or may not have said, “We don’t have a dog in this fight!” B.J. was already a legend and the first or second person we hired at TransCentury – – purely on the basis of reputation. That a person without a self-promotional bone in her body could possibly live up to and exceed her already high standing was not the least of her accomplishments. At our company and later at Management Systems International, she made a basket-full of cash for her employers. B.J. managed countless . . .

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John Kerry's Remarks at Peace Corps Swearing-in Ceremony

Remarks to Swearing In of New PCVs John Kerry Secretary of State Ministry of Youth and Sports Rabat, Morocco April 4, 2014 Chris, thank you very much. Thanks for your service, and thank you for the introduction. And Minister Ouzzine, it’s a great pleasure to be here with you. Thank you very, very much for being part of this. And all of our guests, distinguished guests – oh, there’s President Kennedy over here. I’m just looking over there. (Laughter.) This is really cool. I want you to know I’m really excited about this. I’m thrilled that somehow it coincided and we were able to work out that I have the privilege of swearing you in. And when I heard I was swearing in 101 Peace Corps volunteers, I immediately thought of 101 Dalmatians. (Laughter.) I couldn’t help it. Sorry about that. That has nothing to do with anything, all right? . . .

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Barbara E. Joe's (Honduras 2000-03) Confessions of a Secret Latina

CONFESIONES DE UNA LATINA SECRETA Originally published 4/2/14 by elNuevoHerald.com Por Olga Conner Barbara E. Joe es la “latina secreta” que trajo su nuevo libro. Confessions of a Secret Latina: How I Fell Out of Love with Castro and in Love with the Cuban People, a Books & Books. Me invitó Silvia Sarasúa, relacionada con la causa de los derechos humanos. Barbara Joe es una activista también de más de 30 años con Amnesty International USA, que ha trabajado con los Cuerpos de Paz en Honduras, sobre lo que publicó otro libro, Triumph and Hope. Al llegar a la librería me sorprendió ver allí a Jorge Valls y a Ernesto Díaz Rodríguez, poetas que estuvieron años en prisiones políticas cubanas. Ellos son parte del libro de Joe, que surgió al tener una airada confrontación con un antiguo amigo sobre su participación en un filme documental sobre las “damas de blanco” . . .

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The Shot "Heard Around the World" Still Echoes at the Masters

The Shot “Heard Around the World” Still Echoes at the Masters Now that we are back at the Masters for 2014, it is time to remember the great players, great shots, and great Masters. This is the one tournament of the year that brings golf home to the masses.  And much of it is because of Gene Sarazen, the second Masters held in 1935, and the “shot heard around the world”. Gene Sarazen is, in many ways, the most unlikely of golf heroes. In fact, his name wasn’t even Gene Sarazen. He was born Eugenio Saraceni, but changed it because, as he said, his real name sounded more like that of a violinist. Gene Sarazen sounded like a golfer. Sarazen came into golf, as did so many early professionals, from the caddie ranks. At the age of eight, the son of a struggling carpenter from Harrison, New York, he took . . .

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Review — THE EARLY YEARS OF PEACE CORPS IN AFGHANISTAN by Frances and Will Irwin

The Early Years of Peace Corps in Afghanistan: A Promising Time By Frances Hopkins Irwin (Afghanistan 1964–67) and Will A Irwin (Afghanistan 1965–67) Peace Corps Writers Book 294 pages $17.00 (paperback), $6.00 (Kindle) February 2014 Reviewed by John Sumser (Afghanistan 1977-78) What struck me as I read the Irwin’s account of the early days of the Peace Corps in Afghanistan is how little anything changed. The problems faced by the initial Volunteers and their director (then called a “representative”) were the same as those faced by my cohort fifteen years later: What is the proper role of a Volunteer? Is the Peace Corps a CIA front? Should Volunteers have servants? What should our social lives look like? I felt, after reading the book, that the Peace Corps is never established anywhere as much as it is continuously invented and negotiated on a daily, face-to-face basis. The Irwins have created an . . .

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Carrie Hessler-Radelet at CWA Conference in Boulder, Colorado

66 Annual Conference on World Affairs April 7-11, 2014 [Originally founded in 1948 as a forum on international affairs, the CWA expanded rapidly in its early years to encompass the arts, media, science, diplomacy, technology, environment, spirituality, politics, business, medicine, human rights, and so on. Roger Ebert, who participated in the CWA for four decades, always referred to the CWA as “the Conference on Everything Conceivable.”] 1461 Gender Equity: Women Leaning In 12:30-1:50 on Monday April 7, 2014 Old Main Chapel Panelists: Stacie Nevadomski Berdan Carrie Hessler-Radelet Mary V. Hughes Alicia Robb Moderator: Antonio Papuzza 2162 Humanitarianism: Handouts and Bootstraps 9:30-10:50 on Tuesday April 8, 2014 UMC West Ballroom Panelists: Carrie Hessler-Radelet Tori Hogan Sarah Holewinski Judith Morrison Moderator: Elizabeth Dunn 2465 One Person in the Right Place Can Change the World 12:30-1:50 on Tuesday April 8, 2014 Old Main Chapel Panelists: Carrie Hessler-Radelet Tori Hogan Trey Lyons Judithe Registre Moderator: Sandra Brodie . . .

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Just One Small Tattoo by Chris Honore’ (Colombia 1967-69)

Chris Honore’ was born in occupied Denmark, during WWII. After the war, he immigrated to America. He went to public schools and then attended San Jose State University and the University of California, at Berkeley, where he earned a teaching credential, an M.A. and a Ph.D. After teaching high school English for two years, he joined the Peace Corps. He’s a freelance journalist based in Ashland, Oregon. His wife owns a bookstore on Main Street. His son is a cinematographer, living in Southern California. • JUST ONE SMALL TATTOO by Chris Honore’ The shoulder in question? Smooth as a baby’s bottom. Unblemished, lightly tanned and oh so nice. That would be Jenny’s shoulder. The one I’d fallen in love with. And, of course, all that was attached thereto. Jenny and I were lying on the grass in the park across the street from our high school, me on my stomach, . . .

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

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 . . .

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

[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. . . .

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Authors Guild Proposes National Digital Library of Out of Print Books

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. . . .

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What's On The Web About The Peace Corps

[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 . . .

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Hal Brun (Sri Lanka 1969-71) special education leader, 1947-2013

Hal Brun (Sri Lanka 1969-71) special education leader, 1947-2013 Educator had ‘huge appetite for life’ January 05, 2014| By Joan Giangrasse Kates While a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sri Lanka, Hal Brun was assigned to teach English to villagers, some of them children with severe disabilities who had been deemed unteachable. With little formal training, Mr. Brun developed a special education program for teaching these children and put into place a system to help them attend local schools. “Hal understood that everything begins with an education,” said his partner of 30 years, Jeff Ginsberg. “That this was the starting point to giving these kids their best shot at life.” Upon his return to the U.S., Mr. Brun launched a long career in education, including several years as the director of special education at New Trier High School in Winnetka. “He was the kind of leader that inspired others to do . . .

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