Archive - April 2, 2020

Dear Friends and Readers, Many people are doing something to ease the strain of the corona virus quarantine, so my friend and publisher, Peter Sarno, and I came up with the idea to offer a serialized novel. There is no charge for it. Peter and I aren’t collecting names or information in any way. It is meant simply as entertainment in bleak times. Like most authors, I have several books that, for one reason or another, have never seen the light of day. Bring Me a Higher Love is one of them. From time to time over the years since I composed it, I’ve gone back and read through it again and made changes, but it has basically been floating around in the clouds as in an e-copy, and sitting in a drawer in my office in a hard copy. For a long time, I’ve been fascinated by the relationship between sex . . .

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/live-blog/2020-04-02-coronavirus-news-n1174651/ncrd1175106#liveBlogHeader Julia Jester A mostly Democratic group of Congress members led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., is asking the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, and FEMA to provide recently evacuated Peace Corps volunteers the opportunity to complete their service through domestic coronavirus response efforts. Current and former presidential candidates Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., are among the supporters, which include more than 20 senators and 18 Democratic members of the House. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine is currently the only Republican signatory. In the letter, the lawmakers wrote that while they supported the recall of the volunteers,  they “believe that terminating their service contracts and health insurance coverage — at a time when our country’s public health and economic crises are rapidly worsening — not only endangers the livelihood of volunteers, but also squanders their unique skillset. We therefore urge you to provide them opportunities to enlist in domestic efforts . . .

  On March 29th, RPCV writer Josh Swiller (Zambia 1994–96) posted the following on his FaceBook page:   Hi Everyone. Following up on the last post, I’m really seeing how important and supportive it is to share our stories and experiences. On that note, and in answer to the many questions I’ve received, what follows is a more in-depth account of what we went through. The first week of March, Leah attended a group therapy conference in New York City. It has now come to light that dozens of attendees at that conference tested positive or have shown symptoms but couldn’t get tested. In fact, the first person we learned was a confirmed positive was an attendee from Singapore. They tested him as soon as he got off the plane back home as a matter of policy. Leah had sat next to him for two days. Another person who has . . .