2/24/2025
My Dear Friend & POTUS, DJT,
Would you rather study a tomato or a person? I suspect you are less inclined to study than am I, so it’s probably a moot point. I am asking myself that question today as I admire the trichomes on the Solanum lycopersicum seedlings on my windowsill. Those hairs provide tomatoes protection from pests & pathogens. That’s why they’re so easy to grow!
Studying people can be fascinating, too. Were you aware there’s a whole field of science around how people respond to faces? It’s a branch of evolutionary biology in which the researchers consistently find two dimensions that together account for more than 80% of the variance of trait judgments from faces, specifically dominance & trustworthiness. Leslie Zebrowitz developed a system involving 40 facial points that yields 24 distances to establish this. I could go on, but you’re probably most interested in the findings related to your face which scores high in dominance & low in trustworthiness. I suspect mine is somewhere in the middle on both metrics.
I couldn’t find an analysis of Emmanuel Macron’s face, but it seems to lean more toward the babyface end of the spectrum which makes him more likeable.
In your meeting today, I hope you listen closely to his concerns. France has been our friend & ally for a long time. I’d hate to see us squander our relationship. Their commitments to liberty, democracy & brother/sisterhood align with ours. Russia’s history of communist one-party rule is not as well fitted to the American way of doing things. Please keep that in mind!
I wonder how Gen Min Aung Hlaing would score on the face analysis rating scale. It looks to me that his width-height ratio is higher than yours, which might lead the people of Burma to infer that he is not inherently aggressive. I’m afraid he is an anomaly in this regard since his actions indicate that he will stop at nothing to remain in power. Sadly, his insistence on having things his way may lead to the balkanization of his country.
Do you think that kind of thing could happen here?
On a more somber note, as you know, today marks the 3rd anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Do you still think it was a “brilliant” move? Now that the dead & wounded stands at about 1 million, surely, you have changed your mind. I’ve heard you bemoan the loss of so many young people & hope you have concluded that WINTA.
Please join my Quaker Friends & I in holding in the Light ALL those affected by the war, including VVP & VOZ, their soldiers & their citizens.
BYBS,
