Articles on PR for People

Is a Manchurian Candidate Guiding our Defense?

A Manchurian Candidate, as initially defined in Richard Condon's 1959 novel and the 1966 movie, is a nation’s leader controlled by that country’s enemy. These works of fiction played on the fear of a Communist takeover of America by Russia or China, a conspiracy worthy of being promoted by QAnon.    


NOTES FROM THE WORKING CLASS: The Silence of the Dutch

Among the Dutch, the artist Anselm Kiefer and the author Anne Frank, there is a connection that is found in silence. On Sunday, May 4, 2025, a two-minute period of silence brought the city of Amsterdam to a halt. The streetcars stopped running. The streets emptied. No cars, bicycles or people. Boats stayed moored on the canals. The trees across the road in Vondelpark appeared still. The sun seemed to hide behind the clouds. Life did not stir for two minutes.

The two-minute silence was meant to commemorate Liberation Day—The Netherlands’ liberation from the Nazis eighty years ago.


Global Governance: An Idea Whose Time Has Come

 We need global governance. The idea of world government is hardly new, of course.  It’s an enduring dream that can be traced back at least to Bronze Age Egypt and the ancient Chinese Emperors. In the modern era, it has been espoused by many prominent people. Both the League of Nations and the United Nations, despite their limitations, were also incremental steps in this direction.  However, in recent decades the traditional idea of a top-down world government has largely been replaced by the more complex, polycentric, democratic vision of “global governance” – a global system of limited self-governing regimes and cooperative action with respect to specific transnational problems and domains, rather than an overarching, unified, all-powerful political authority.

 


Book Review: Man’s Search for Meaning

Every time I read this book I learn some nuance I had not thought of before. The thinking person or the person who chooses to think on a deeper level will always find comfort and solace from the existential pain that is inherent in the human condition.  


Book Review: Sergeant Dickinson

Sergeant Dickinson brings home the horror of the Viet Nam War wrapped in a tidy, decorative package that reeks of napalm. Sergeant Dickinson, called Dixie, is a flawed hero so damaged by the carnage of battle that he has lost his capacity to be human. He is not a beast, an asshole, or a cowboy, as any one of these singular descriptions would suggest. He’s all three descriptors rolled into one shell of a former human being.

 


MAY 2025 Magazine

May is the month we feature Do Gooders—those amazing individuals who set shining examples of how we can make a difference in the world. Yonkers Historian Mary Hoar is a Woman For All Seasons. She shows us how the essence of true community building is working with both children and their parents. “When kids see their parents valuing education, it helps kids overcome some of their own obstacles.” For a complete list of Mary’s accomplishments, her official bio is included, but know this: her handiwork is both visible and invisible. There are things she has accomplished from behind the scenes to benefit the community that will never garner an award or a mention. Barbara Lloyd McMichael writes about Carol Hosler, a retired Episcopal priest, who felt called by the Holy Spirit to counter social and political injustice with compassion, justice, and joy. She along with other like-minded people of conscience have formed the group “Seniors for the Constitution.” Annie Searle’s reflective essay Beyond the Pale reminds us that the times we are living in are far from normal. It’s time to step up! How do we choose good over evil? Think about it! Some of this month’s book suggestions might inspire you. –Patricia Vaccarino


A Woman for All Seasons

Mary Hoar is a tireless public servant who has devoted her life to supporting her community. Her accomplishments are manifold. A dizzying array of public and private projects makes one wonder how she gets all of these things done.


No more sitting around – heeding a call to action

Retired Episcopal priest Carol Hosler served a parish in a small town in Arizona for many years before relocating to be closer to family. When she moved into a retirement community in Des Moines, Washington, a small waterfront town located halfway between the cities of Seattle and Tacoma, she brought some of the vibrancy of the Southwest with her. 


Beyond the Pale

Most of what I’m writing about this month is beyond the pale, which means it’s “bizarre, outside the bounds of civilized behavior.”  The behavior of the Trump administration is corrupt and no respecter of the rule of law or of the principle of checks and balances.


A Judge Bans Trump’s Authoritarian Orders – Will SCOTUS?

“No American President has ever before issued executive orders like the one at issue,” U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell wrote in a 102-page opinion. Howell was referring to Trump punishing a law firm that a president, without evidence of the firm violating a law, ordered the government to cancel their contracts and to block their employees from entering government buildings, interacting with government officials, or being hired for government jobs.