12/31/2024

My Dear Friend & POTUS, JRB,

            Your website is still broken.

            Are you hiding? Every POTUS has a love/hate relationship with the media & public, but I fear that your animosity toward the press may be eating away at you! I’m sure you were disturbed by Jan Crawford’s assertion on Face the Nation that your decline was “undercovered and underreported,” & I’m hoping that comments like that are not fueling your anger.

            I’ll remind you of the collected wisdom (as reported by Google’s AI function) that, “chronic anger can significantly harm your health by increasing your risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, digestive issues, headaches, insomnia, & weakened immune function, as it triggers a persistent "fight-or-flight" response in the body, leading to elevated stress hormones & physiological changes that can damage various organ systems over time; essentially, unmanaged anger can put a strain on your cardiovascular system & overall well-being.”

            If you want to live to 100, like 39 did, I suggest you stop being mad at the world. Adopt the adage that you attributed to 39 & never give up hope!

            Laughter might be just the balm you need right now, so if you haven’t done so yet, take a look at Dave Barry’s annual review. Reading it will force you to practice controlling your temper, as he pokes fun at you several times. Of course, he mocks everyone. Sometimes he goes over the line, but I laughed out loud several times in reading his piece. I especially liked how he kept coming back to the ineptitude of Boeing.

            I’m disappointed that the NYT chose to publish a piece about Burma that first appeared in the Economic Times. It recaps what we both know about the situation under the headline, “Drugs, scams and sin: Myanmar's war has made it the global crime capital.”

            Much more thought provoking is a piece in the Irrawaddy by exiles living in Toronto. In Myanmar’s Resistance Is Getting the China Question Wrong , they caution against a “simplistic view” that China is siding with the junta & suggest that “sinophobia & a Western-centric lens” may be clouding people’s perceptions of China’s intentions.

            Speaking of Sinophobia, do you think you succumbed to it? Did you ever speak with 39 about how to get along with China? The BBC claims that 39’s embrace of China changed history.

            By the way here’s a Fun Fact – 39 & I were both born on October, 1, which is also the b-day of the PRC!

            Another fun fact, this letter is over 2500 characters long & I’m going to leave it that way. If I had to submit it to your website, I’d need to edit it to get it down to 2000. Since I have to spend time printing & mailing it, I will end here.

            BYBS,

            RCA