12/21/2021

Dec 21, 2021

MDF&P, JRB,

            You will recall from yesterday’s letter that I suggested eating an elephant. I want to clarify, I would never eat an elephant. They are my favorite animals – intelligent matriarchs, at large & in charge, taking care of each other & doing their own thing, a kind of social dynamic we might emulate someday. Just wanted to set that straight.

            Speaking of animals, I saw the photos of your cute, new pup, Commander. What a nice gift! It’s too bad that Major didn’t have the right disposition for the WH. I hope Commander is a better fit.

            How is the CCC plan coming along? Please call Rep. Suzan DelBene (WA-1) & pick her brain. The G referred to her idea of funding a smaller # of programs for a longer period of time. Dan Palz, WP writer, had a similar suggestion to “create something with a clearer identity that’s easier to sell.” He proposes new experimentation. Bottom line – don’t give up on your agenda, just rebrand.

            Yesterday, we lost an equity champion. My dissertation advisor, mentor & friend, Elizabeth Fennema, passed on at age 93. Her pioneering research in gender & math showed that girls’ underperformance was due to course-taking rather than intelligence. She won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics this year. So, she left this world knowing that she was appreciated. For that I am grateful.

            My “how-to-help-Myanmar” suggestion for today is that you popularize the idea that folks stop buying rubies. Many of them are sourced from mines in the Mogok Stone Tract in Northern Burma & the junta gets the $$$. Let’s use some peer pressure to stop that income stream. Shaming consumers worked for ivory & furs. Let’s try it with rubies.

            BYBS,