8/30/2023

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            How much of yesterday’s conversation with Costa Rica’s President Rodrigo Chaves Robles was about Intel’s semiconductor assembly plant in Heredia? It’s hard to tell because the articles about the meeting in my news sources are short & focus on immigration.

            I was glad to see you mention that our countries are cooperating on combatting organized crime. I wish you could do that in Burma! I’ve brought this up with you before, but yesterday’s UN Report about criminal gangs with their online scam operations generating billions of dollars per year made it clear that this problem demands action! The report noted that educated, multilingual young men are lured into the jobs in places like Burma where no one’s in charge & are tortured & abused to scam folks. The worst part is that even when “victims are rescued or escape, rather than being protected & given access to the rehabilitation & remedy they need, they are often subjected to criminal prosecution or immigration penalties.” Please see what you can do about this.

            I hope you can also do something about our groundwater crisis. NYT ran quite a disturbing story yesterday that we’re in big trouble. Reservoirs that have been storing water for millennium are disappearing, because once they’re empty, the ground sinks in & fills up the hole, so even if we did get enough rain to replenish, the space to hold the water would be gone. CA has always had challenging water politics pitting famers against cities, & now that’s going to be happening throughout the nation. UGH!!!

            I hope your remarks about Maui & Hurricane Idalia go well today. It looks like Keaton Beach is getting the brunt of the storm right now & Tampa has been inundated. I will hold the folks in FL in the Light.

            BYBS,