Grid of posts 2×3

  • Peace Corps Writers 2015

    The Peace Corps and Returned Peace Corps writing community at Peacecorpsworldwide is seeking nominations for favorite books published in 2015 written by a PCV, RPCV or Peace Corps Staff. I’ve compiled a partial list of the books released last year here, and welcome feedback on additional titles, reviews, and links. Paul Cowan Non-Fiction Award  First given in… Read more

  • “Standard” is Lip Service

    Dear Courtyard® by Marriott, My wife won’t stop nagging and haranguing about your towel policy. Please, make her stop. Each time we register for a room, we tell you exactly how many occupants there will be. Each time, it is four. And yet each time we show up in our pre-appointed hotel space, there are… Read more

  • Diplomatic Security

    This trailer from the film America’s Diplomats shows how our diplomatic security personnel train for the worst case scenario—from protests and threats to bombings and outright assaults on our missions overseas. Their storied bureau turned 100 this year. Learn more about the daily grind of our DS personnel in Two Pumps for the Body Man,… Read more

  • Unity Amid Terror

    We can look to the barbarians who call for broad, ignorant hatred in response to the specific ignorant hatred behind the tragedies in San Bernardino, Orlando, Portland. Or we can look for unity. While Two Pumps for the Body Man is foremost a satire of the so-called “War on Terror”, it’s also rich in other themes (the odd sexual proclivities of protagonist Jeff Mutton, for… Read more

  • The Foreign Service

    today i celebrated with colleagues who serve this nation by going to places like Peshawar, Islamabad, Beirut, Sana’a, Baghdad. most serve without weapons. their service is overlooked. rather than call them heroes, as with our military cousins, more often they are belittled with terms like “cookie-pushers”. But: It is statistically more dangerous to join the Foreign Service than… Read more

  • An ounce of hope, a Fifth of futility

    Review: God in Neon by Sam Slaughter Sam Slaughter’s collection of stories features protagonists paddling up a great river of booze. Their strokes are futile, the current strong: with beer, tequila, whiskey, Old Crow, Jack, PBR. They struggle under the blurry burden of constant intoxication, their boozing not an act so much as a reality,… Read more