Author - John Coyne

  The University of Colorado at Boulder’s annual Conference on World Affairs returns this spring,–April 5-9–offering nearly 200 events, all of which are free and open to the public. This is CU’s 62nd Annual Conference on World Affairs. A panelist for this week-long event will be Carrie Hessler-Radelet (Western Samoa 1981-83) Acting Director of the Peace Corps. Other Notable guests will be Carrie’s husband Steve Radelet (Western Samoa (1981-83 ). Besides doing the dishes and taking out the trash at home, Steve Radelet is a distinguished professor at Georgetown University’s Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, where he specializes in economic growth of developing countries, poverty reduction, foreign aid, debt, and trade. He also serves as an economic advisor to the president of Liberia and the president of Malawi. He is an RPCV author or coauthor of several books and dozens of academic articles, including Emerging Africa: How 17 Countries are Leading the . . .

[American University’s Alumni Association, School of International Service, and University Library are  presenting “Waging Peace Through a Lifetime of Service” on Thursday, March 21, 2013. This event will celebrate the launch of American University’s Peace Corps Community Archive.  [One of the key speakers is Robert Pastor (Malaysia 1970-72) who is a professor at AU in the School of International Service; Director of the Center of North American Studies; Co-Director of the Center for Democracy and Election Management.  In 2009, Pastor would write, “”I have viewed each experience as an opportunity u to build on what I learned in the Peace Corps, and I was deeply grateful to have been awarded the Sargent Shriver Humanitarian Service Award in 1995. Peace Corps is a community, and I am proud to be part of that.” Longtime friends, colleagues and family, including former President Jimmy Carter, former national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski and AU president Neil . . .

Acting Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet (Western Samoa, 1981-83) will be hosting a Town Hall for RPCVs on April 2, 2013, from 6:00 – 7:30 p.m. EDT.  She will discuss and answer questions about important topics identified by the RPCV community.  RPCVs should submit their topics and questions – along with their name, country and dates of service – in advance to thirdgoal@peacecorps.gov (please refer to “Town Hall Question” in the subject line) or tweet them at @PeaceCorps with the hashtag #PCtownhall. RPCVs around the world are encouraged to join via our live-stream broadcast at the URL here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/pc-town-hall-meeting RPCVs in the Washington area are welcome to attend in person at Shriver Hall, Peace Corps Headquarters, 1111 20th Street NW, Washington, D.C., although seating is limited.  You can sign up to attend the event in person or request an email reminder of the live-stream event by registering to participate. Hessler-Radelet will also be . . .

Barry Hillenbrand (Ethiopia 1963-65) (Jesuit trained so he knows what he is talking about ) and who after the Peace Corps went on to be a correspondent of TIME magazine for more than 30 years serving most of those years as a foreign correspondent, including three years as South American Bureau Chief based in Rio de Janeiro and covering the early years of the Dirty War in Argentina sent me this email based on the recent blog about our new Pope. Here’s what Saint Barry had to say. (By the way, his wife would never call him a saint.) • Sigh.  First of all any archbishop who holds up a football banner while decked out in his miter has to be partly alright, but this cozy laddie-ness will no doubt be added to all those other overly charming traits that Donna Gebera finds so suspicious. I suspect that part of D. Gebera’s problem is . . .

[This is being circulated by the Catholic community I’m part of.] The new pope and the geopolitics of secrecy by Ivone Gebara (Brazilian feminist theologian Ivone Gebara is one of Latin America’s foremost Catholic thinkers. This article was first published in Portuguese and Spanish by Adital.) Now that the initial shock of Buenos Aires Cardenal Bergoglio’s election and the thrill of having a Latin American pope who is both cordial and friendly are over, it’s time for some reflection. Despite their value, the media also have the power to distract us, to lull our minds and keep us from allowing needed critical questions to surface.  In the days leading up to the papal election, many in Brazil and around the world were “hijacked” by live broadcasts from Rome.  Of course the historic events witnessed in these days are not everyday occurrences!  But what interests are leading the huge telecommunication industry . . .

The Peace Corps Agency is not planning any furloughs for the FY2013 year, and they are now working so as not to furlough anyone in FY 2014 if the Sequester has its full effect on the government.  That said, they are looking at ways to “cut back on headquarters staff”  either through extended lapses in staffing or hiring freezes.  At this time there are no expected staff reductions in the field in either FY 2013 or FY 2014 (i.e. all staff reductions will be taken at HQ).   There are also no plans to reduce the total number of PCVs currently overseas.   In 2014, however, they might have to cut 200-300 Volunteer positions if the sequester isn’t resolved.

A cousin of mine, a Catholic priest, sent me the following email when I asked him about the selection of Pope Francis. His reply: When I spoke with fellow Jesuits from other countries about Bergoglio’s prospects for becoming pope, I was taken aback by their dislike. He was harsh and disciplinarian, they said, and never went to visit his Jesuit brothers in the curia in Rome. According to Marcó, the alienation between Bergoglio and the Jesuits was a thorn in his side that he bore with silent patience. Because of issues like this, and his confrontations with the Argentinian government on questions such as same-sex marriage, he has been classed as a conservative. But a different picture has been painted by one of Bergoglio’s friends, a radical feminist and Catholic called Clelia Luro, who is about as far to the left on the ecclesial spectrum as you can go. She married a prominent and respected bishop, Jerónimo Podestá – one of . . .

[Thanks to Dale Gilles (Liberia 1964 & 67; PC/W 1968-73 & 1990-93) we have this item from the Bizpac Review written by Michael Dorstewitz on March 14, 2013.] • Beginning at 9:45 a.m. on Thursday morning, former congressman Allen West of Florida was the alarm clock for the enthusiastic Conservative Political Action Conference-2013 attendees. “There is no shortage of people telling us what conservatism cannot accomplish, what we can’t do, how we cannot connect, how we must change our values to fit the times,” he began. “Well ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you that is truly a bunch of malarky.” “The last time I checked, a bended knee is not, nor shall it ever be, a conservative tradition.” He then steered the address to his own personal experience as a black conservative. “I’m speaking from experience when I tell you that there is nothing on this green earth that . . .