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“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
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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
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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
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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
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Free Pumps!
One week left in the Goodreads giveaway of Two Pumps for the Body Man. Follow the link at left to win a copy. Book reviewers can contact me directly for an electronic copy. The Second World War Had Catch-22. The War on Terror Has 2 Pumps. Jeff Mutton walks the diplomatic beat protecting American officials in Saudi Arabia. An expert with guns and… Read more
Ben East Books 