Weekly Letter to President Obama

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Weekly Letter to the President

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INAUGURATION, January 20, 2009

Drunk in its stale air
For two hundred years.
Fettered in mind and body,
The soul, the safe escape

To let me breathe the cries
Of my heart singing
Tears of mel-an-choly.

The tears flow free today
Washing the stains of blood
And sweat in brotherhood.

Raise the curtain then an'
Let the world look in
On this promised land --
We breathe free today.... almost.

--- Arshad M. Khan

We will be known forever by the tracks we leave.
--- Native American proverb

January 1, 2021

Mr. President: Happy New Year! Let's hope that 2021 brings us back what we lost
through 2020 -- the spirit of feeling free instead of having a constant shadow killing
spontaneity, hovering over us to circumscribe our actions.

Of course given the Covid-19 pandemic and the fertile ground that is the internet, the
seeds sown by conspiracy seekers yielded plenty to harvest. Add to it a 19th century
German scientist named Robert Koch who postulated rules to establish an infectious
organism and there was a rush of Covid-19 denial, at least on the internet.

Koch's third postulate requires that a healthy individual be infected with the organism
to prove it actually causes the disease. Medical and research ethics now have
fortunately restricted scientists in such endeavors and 'doing no harm' takes
precedence. So scientists use alternatives like interviews and epidemiology and
conspiracy theorists yell covid denial.

Given that people are lining up to receive the vaccine, one can assume the vast
majority are sensible people and Covid-19 will soon be under control although a
constant shadow for some time.

It has been costly for India already. A slightly sick economy ended up in intensive
care when the 2020 GDP shrank almost 25 percent. Hopes are high for some of the
beginnings of a recovery in 2021.

Across the northern border lies the other population giant where the China
Communist Party celebrates its centenary on July 1. Fireworks? Yes. Any serious
retrospectives? No. Mr. Xi Jinping is unlikely to invite comparisons to Mao as he
tightens his grip on power. Most observers expect him to remain beyond 2022 when
he should be relinquishing his position to a successor as has been the custom
following a term of office.

There is no Red Book yet but an app called "Study the Great Nation" where Xi Jinping
Thought is available to help keep officials on track and answer queries -- all in
keeping with the 21st century.

If the Chinese are looking for a free pass under Biden, that era is over. Biden might
be more selective than Trump's broad brush but the latter has shown the way. The
US is unlikely to be taken for a ride by tariff-free exports, manufactured sometimes by
what is tantamount to free labor, namely unfair competition.

The US economy itself is set for an expansion, Covid having served as a proxy for a
recession. Markets anticipate the economy's future and stocks are booming.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics non-farm payroll rose by 245,000 in
November and the unemployment rate edged down to 6.7 percent, all attributed to a
continued resumption of economic activity.

Again a Happy 2021 and, as people are bound to, if among us we have differences of
opinion, let us hope we learn to remain one in spirit. To paraphrase the Bible, we are
after all our brothers' keepers