10/28/2021

My dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            Thank you for talking about Myanmar at the ASEAN summit. NBC news cited you as saying, “In Myanmar, we must address the tragedy caused by the military coup which is increasingly undermining regional stability.” Did you figure out a plan for that?

            Did you her that Nicholas Kristof has quit his job as a columnist at NYT to run for Gov of OR? He is ready to make his mark. He shared some messages of hope in today’s final piece including, people are “capable of exhilarating goodness in the face of nauseating evil” & “talent is universal, even if opportunity is not.” My favorite line was “just because journalists cover planes that crash, not those that land, doesn’t mean that all flights are crashing.” That’s the reason I study the news & write you these letters every day. The sensationalism of the media can leave one feeling forlorn. Careful examination of the facts indicates that there’s more good in the world than bad, but we have to overcome our survival instincts to see it.

            Katharine Hayhoe, climate scientist, makes a case for this when she encourages us to practice “active hope” & overcome psychological distance to talk about climate change. Apparently, only 14% of people surveyed in the US talk about climate change even though most of us worry about it.

            As you head off to Cop26, please avoid catastrophic rhetoric & highlight the local changes going on in municipalities all over the country, including TX. As the CSM reports, “change is percolating up from the bottom.” Yeah!

            My fingers are crossed that BBB is progressing.

            HYITL,