October 19, 2017 – Peace Corps Worldwide

Review — PATCHWORKS by B.A. East (Malawi)

Oct 19 2017

Patchworks (mystery) by B.A. East (Malawi 1996-98) Moonshine Cove Press September 2017 259 pages $13.99 paperback, $6.99 Kindle Reviewed by Peter Van Deekle (Iran, 1968-70) • B.A. East brings to his latest and timely novel a refined skill for realistic dialog and a first-hand experience of the federal bureaucracy. This reviewer received his copy of Patchworks on the morning after the Las Vegas massacre in October 2017 with the prophetic statement on its back cover: “America’s next gun massacre is inevitable …” The 20013 shootings at the Navy Yard facility in Washington, D.C. provide a credible context for this novel’s heightened anxiety over safety and security. Within that anxiety, East gives readers an engaging narrative centered on two of the novel’s central characters, Gabriel Dunne and Manny Teague. Dunne’s internship in the fictitious Bureau of Government Intelligence and Execution involves him in an investigation of gun violence in America. Gabriel’s academic . . .

What has happened to our Peace Corps?

Oct 19 2017

This is the language (and tone) of rejection letters being sent to would-be candidates for Peace Corps positions. In this case, it took a year for the rejection letter to arrive. Where is the human agency that we once worked for in DC and overseas? If this is the way the current Peace Corps Agency treats staff, how do they respond to PCVs? And they didn’t even have the decency to add the name of the person sending the letter! Well, maybe it’s Alexa who is now sending out the Need Not Apply letters from Peace Corps Washington. — JC • This is in regards to your application for the position of Country Director: Your application for the subject position has been reviewed and evaluated. We regret to inform you that after a thorough review of your application and supporting documents, your application does not show possession of the . . .

Archive - October 19, 2017