6/22/2023

Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            My husband is turning 64 today. In answer to the question posed by Ringo Starr, yes, I still feed him & I still need him. For all his quirks & flaws, he continues to be the salt on my French fries & I will celebrate his life today by making some strawberry shortcake.

            Do you know if Russian & American citizens are still convening at the Dartmouth Conference? I hope so. They might be able to come up with a way to end the Ukraine invasion & restore peace to Eastern Europe. I found info about Dartmouth Conference XXVII in 2021. At that time, participants noted, “the emergence of new means of communication can raise new obstacles to mutual understanding.” I would love to see us rebuild our “infrastructure of diplomatic contacts” so we can stop fighting. Are you & VPP on speaking terms these days?

            I’m glad you’re talking to NDM today & hope your conversation leads to greater understanding. According to the CSM we need to build “trusted collaboration” with India. NDM’s guy, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, notes that “security is such an enormous landscape out there, a whole very intricate set of connections & interactions & relationships." Let’s not further complicate these relationships by weaponizing them. Threatening violence only cultivates fear & nothing good ever came of that.

            Please consult with UN rapporteur, Tom Andrews (TA), who is returning from a trip to SE Asian & feeling a great sense of urgency to address the situation in Burma. He is stressing the need for an international response & is calling on Indonesia to take the lead to “work with allies to isolate the junta & reduce its capacity to attack the people of Myanmar.” Please give TA a call & get his guidance on next steps.

            BYBS,