My latest novel, MAYA DARLING, is my good gift to the world. I wrote the novel in the aftermath of getting shot. Getting shot and almost dying had nothing to do with the story, but it does impact how I feel about gun violence. The image of Santa Claus wearing a bullet proof vest captures the surreal sense of unease pervading our culture during these precarious political times, both in America, and all over the world. Please check out the Campaign Video of Santa Claus suiting up on Christmas Eve.
Our newest contributor to “The Connector,” Rosemary Curran, writes about the roots of resentment amid the explosive growth of economic inequality. Her three-part series begins with How Unregulated Capitalism is Killing Democracy. Peter Corningwrites about the need to complete FDR’s New Deal by implementing National Health Care for the American people. On a lighter note, Barbara Lloyd McMichael writes about retired schoolteacher Dawn Kuhlman who spreads Gingerbread Joy with her magical gingerbread houses. The Cover Photo of Santa wearing a bulletproof vest was contributed by Jenni Poyry. –Patricia Vaccarino
The Good Gift This past Thanksgiving marked the two-year anniversary of when I was shot. The weapon was a Smith & Wesson high performance revolver, loaded with eight .357 Magnum bullets. The perpetrator fired all eight rounds. I was struck three times. Miraculously, my injuries were nominal: three cracked ribs and a collapsed lung. I lost a lot of blood. It could have been worse. One bullet, “a thru and thru,” passed close to my spine. –Patricia Vaccarino
Santa in a Bulletproof Vest: Peace Foundation from Finland Sends a Global Message
CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation has launched the Help us Keep The Night Silent campaign to draw attention to this reality and to the urgent need for sustained, credible peacemaking. Alongside its symbolic message, the campaign raises funds to support CMI’s mediation work in conflict-affected regions.
Gingerbread Joy by Barbara Lloyd McMichael Every November, retired schoolteacher Dawn Kuhlman designs a one-of-a-kind miniature gingerbread house. Most years it’s a house of some type, but one year it was an entire hillside village, and last year it was a gingerbread train. Whatever the creation, Kuhlman enters it in the Gingerbread House Contest at the local community center.
Rosemary Curran writes about the roots of resentment amid the explosive growth of economic inequality. Her three-part series begins with How Unregulated Capitalism is Killing Democracy. The explosive growth of economic inequality over the last fifty years and its impact on education, have led to festering resentment and distrust. Americans have been left behind, and they know it.
It's Time to Complete FDR's New Deal with National Health Insurance! by Peter Corning Social insurance was originally conceived as a way to cover/protect everyone “from the cradle to the grave”, as the British prime minister Winston Churchill put it back in 1943 (a term that Franklin D. Roosevelt also used). However, in this country the American Medical Association (AMA), among others, fought vigorously against government health insurance, and so it was excluded from the original Social Security Act in 1935. It's time for a major political climate change (and the needed votes in Congress) for a long overdue set of measures to finally achieve national health insurance!
Fa-La-La-Hacked: 5 ways hackers target you on holiday trips With Christmas travel season soon to hit full swing, cybercriminals are taking advantage of travelers’ lowered guard - even inside hotel rooms. Cybersecurity experts weigh in on five often-overlooked ways hackers can compromise devices while you’re away, and shares simple, practical steps travelers can take to protect themselves.
Trouble’s Brewing by Annie Searle Following along in the 2025 Project playbook shows us that, no matter how chaotic and illegal things might look, there are a few players -- Steven Miller, Scott Bessent and Russell Vought come to mind – whose ideological discipline makes sure that the administration is sticking to the script.
Featured Book: Ursula Dreaming by Frank Heynick Author Frank Heynick created a poignant Holiday card that was developed from the cover of his novel Ursula Dreaming. All the Manhattan buildings depicted in the Holiday card-- the Empire State Building, Katz's Delicatessen, the Guggenheim Museum, and especially the Bayard Building on Bleecker Street -- are settings for important scenes. Each snowflake is uniquely crafted. To learn more about Urusula Dreaming, please catch a preview on Amazon.