8/2/2023
My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,
You had no mentions in the NYT today & the only articles in the G & WP with “Biden” in them have to do with Hunter. I suppose no news is good news.
I had a magical moment in Rep. Mike Thompson (CMT)’s office yesterday where I gathered with 5 others from the Davis Advocacy team of the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL). I was a tag-along, as I do not regularly attend the monthly team meetings. Providentially, the CMT appointment coincided with my trip to Woodland to see the Barbie Movie, which I loved by the way. The timing was perfect, so I attended.
The team’s “ask” was that funding for various peace initiatives be maintained in FY 23/24 appropriations. One Friend used a 1-quart jar of sunflower seeds to make the point that the peace initiatives represent just one seed in the jar. I enhanced his point by telling CMT that many of the seeds in the jar represented the $3.8 billion that goes to US corporations who manufacture weapons that get sent to Israel. Wealthy US shareholders benefit from that expenditure. Certainly, we can invest a tiny portion of our budget to fund the Elie Wiesel Genocide & Atrocities Prevention Act of 2018 to help poor people avoid suffering. As I quaked a bit, I reminded CMT that WINTA, & he reminded us that he voted against the Iraq war. His experience in Vietnam helped him to understand that violence does not solve our problems!
We didn’t have time to get into the atrocities happening in Burma. I hope to explore that with him later.
CMT made a quip about math that made it clear he needs to be educated about positive math identities. As you know, our nation has a bad math attitude which prevents kids from engaging in the productive struggle necessary to master the subject. We need to emphasize that math is not just the purview of a few nerdy White & Asian males, rather we can all solve problems, especially with a little help from our friends.
I am off to badminton.
BYBS,
