11/25/2022

JRB,

            How was your Thanksgiving? Did you meet Nate Barber at the fire station? He’s Nantucket’s 2022 Person of the Year for his actions at the Veranda House Hotel. He’s a hero, not just for putting himself in harm’s way to get a guy out of the burning building, but also for his positive attitude throughout his cancer treatments. We need more folks like Nate, humble, self-effacing & allergic to false modesty.

            Speaking of heroes, did you hear that the Iranian soccer team refused to sing the national anthem in Qatar? They are catching some heat from the regime who say they have “no right to express individual opinions.”

            Expressing dissent is tricky business. Even in democracies speech can be repressed. This AM I refreshed my memory about the Alien & Sedition Acts used by the Federalists to silence Republicans’ opposition to an all-out war with France. David McCullough explains at that time we had a, "rampant fear of the enemy within" & things were so bad that John Adams called for a “a day of solemn humiliation, fasting, & prayer; that the citizens of these States… may be united in those bonds of amity & mutual confidence & inspired with …vigor & fortitude...”  I heard about this day of fasting from Rep. Dan Butler (NC-9) at the turkey press conference. I guess like you, he’s worried about divisions within our nation.

            Speaking of divisions, please tell PM Modi (NDM) that his people shouldn’t be talking to the junta. I know NDM is not your favorite guy, but he might listen to reason. Let him know that even if he wants to resume work on the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project and the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway, these projects do not have a hope of succeeding unless the Burmese people are on board.

            BYBS,