5/11/2024

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            Right this minute you are in Seattle. I assume you are hobnobbing with donors, but it’s hard to tell. I’m surprised no one has developed the POTUS cam, which would provide a live stream so citizens would always know where their leader was. Do you think that would be a good thing?

            I enjoyed reading about your guy, Vinod Khosla. He’s quite the character. According to a 2018 piece in the NYT, he’s “aggressive, shameless, obsessive & optimistic” & says, he prefers “brutal honesty to hypocritical politeness.” NYT featured him because he was refusing to give folks access to Martin Beach, a stretch of CA coast near ½ Moon Bay. Even though he doesn’t like it there, he is pursuing a legal battle to prevent anyone from going across his property. While I appreciate his tenacity, I believe he could make better use of his time & talent.

            In his quest to find the balance between truth & love, I fear he may be erring on the side of loving himself a bit too much!

            That seems to be a plague for tech billionaires.

            Thanks again for preventing Bibi from getting any more of our M80 bombs. John Ismay wrote about them in today’s WP. I won’t quote his description of what those things do. Suffice it to say, I wish they were never invented!  

            Please be in communication with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen. He reached out to the junta in the hopes of meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi. They won’t let him. I am curious about why he wants to talk with her.

            Speaking of Cambodia, I am so proud of my Cambo doctoral student who has completed a full draft of his dissertation. He’s brilliant & resilient. I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with him for the past 8 years. I need to read his draft today, so I’d better close.

            BYBS,

            RCA