Dear Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl:
I’ve read quite a lot about you in the media; I even wrote an opinion column about you in the Express-News (“Sorry, Mr. President; Bergdahl swap still wrong,” June 15). Since you and your lawyer have been rather descriptive about your situation, including your experiences while a captive of the Taliban, I thought I’d correspond directly with you — soldier to soldier, so to speak.
But first, please permit me to give you some background — a little context, if you will — so we start out on somewhat of an even footing in terms of our backgrounds and motivations leading to our experiences as members of the U.S. military.
You’re a young man; I sometimes describe myself as an old fart. I’ve spent more than seven decades in the military in some capacity. Two of...
Politics
Dear Jacob,
No, wait, that’s too informal. As Chris Rock, the US comedian declared about his own president during a demonstration of leadership about gun control: “The president of the United States is – you know – our boss, but he’s also you know, the president and the first lady are like the mom and the dad of the country and when your dad says something you listen...”
You’ll appreciate that sentiment, no doubt, having earned somewhat of a reputation for virility as a patriarch yourself. So, let me begin again.
Dear Father Zuma,
I write this letter because I feel angry. And confused. Angry and confused. And betrayed. I write this letter because I feel angry and confused and betrayed. And I have a fanatical devotion to not feeling that way.
In other words, I (or should I...
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Dear Katie,
It is plainly obvious to anyone who is unfortunate enough to come into contact with your remarks that you make such comments purely to gain attention and prompt unnecessary controversy. With this in mind, I thought hard about pandering to your needs by composing this letter knowing that it would have a slither of responsibility in inflating your already ballooning ego. The importance of the subject of mental health, however, compels me to write.
I, I’m sure you may have gathered, am one of the many who suffer from clinical depression. I have been diagnosed by a GP and take medication in order to stay well and to help me to function. I still often have suicidal thoughts and have attempted to take my own life on two occasions. So I suppose this makes me one of those “...
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OPEN LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT - IMMIGRATION REFORM
Dear President Obama,
Hoping upon hope, and with no other recourse, I respectfully request your attention to a personal immigration matter that represents both the detriment caused by a lack of reform and the innermost aspirations of an entire nation. My husband and I, we yearn to be free. We ask for nothing more than to love and to hold, as any life partners should. But currently, we have been denied.
It instilled renewed optimism to believe you when at Selma you said: “change depends on our actions, our attitudes… and if we make such effort, no matter how hard it may seem, laws can be passed, and consciences can be stirred”. As President, you have moved America forward on sustainable healthcare, you have brought the economy...
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Dear Mr. President:
The Karen Human Rights Group would like to call your attention to human rights violations that have resulted from the ongoing government military presence throughout Southeast Myanmar.
The Karen Human Rights Group has documented human rights abuses in Southeast Myanmar since 1992. We maintain a team of dozens of local community members trained in human rights documentation. Twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, most recently KHRG was the recipient of the 2013 Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award from the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy.
Reports from our researchers have demonstrated that, despite the ceasefire signed between the Myanmar Government and the Karen National Union in January 2012, the Tatmadaw maintains a substantial and growing presence in...
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Thursday Feb 26th, 2015
A plea for my immigration status to be reconsidered
To whom it may concern
Dear Sir/Madam,
My name is Tee (I have deliberately omitted my full names because of fear), I am 26years old and I hailfrom Nigeria. At the moment, excluding my older sister who lives in the UK with her husband and family, the entirety of my family live in Nigeria. Although I do not speak any Nigerian language, I spent some time in the UK and I speak English as my first language, with intermediate Korean language being my second language. I have been in Korea since March 2008, 6 years now to be exact. I would please like to urge you to have an open mind while reading this and not let my nationality - I understand Nigerians do not exactly have a good reputation in Korea - cloud...
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Dear you,
I'm sure you've already heard all the reasons why it's important that you get out and vote. All of them are meant to pull on your heartstrings - this is especially true if you are a woman; a woman who doesn't vote might invoke the wrath of all those past suffragettes who in some cases actually died to get a vote. But, when all is said and done, voting needs to invoke hope for the future, not rememberance of the past. And it is for that reason that I am writing this letter.
We have a funny old system in this country for voting. First past the post makes it sound like a horse race, and with the number of old Etonians running for the top, you could be forgiven for thinking that this was not just a name. However, what this means is that your vote only counts in your...
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Dear Ana Moura,
Your Irish fans and the many Irish lovers of Fado music will be eager to give you a warm Irish welcome when you perform in our National Concert Hall on 19th January next.
However, if you persist with your plan to perform in Israel on 27th January, in violation of the Palestinian call for a cultural boycott of the Israeli state, that welcome will be balanced by a demonstration against your indifference to the fate (= “fado”) of the Palestinian people.
In his Christmas message, the Mayor of Bethlehem, Victor Batarseh (a Roman Catholic) has called for “boycotting Israel culturally, educationally, in sports, economics and trade. This is the only way to make Israel come back to the negotiating table and make peace… It worked with South Africa.”
The Mayor is not...
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Dear Mr. Kittiratt Na-Ranong Minister of Finance,
As students of the San Francisco-based Presidio Graduate School’s Masters of Business Administration program, we are collaborating with a small startup business in Thailand in attempting to identify potential funding sources. Our research has revealed that there is a significant funding gap for small and medium startup enterprises (SMEs) in this region. We are writing in order to bring greater attention to this problem, as well as offer a few recommendations that might help close this crucial gap.
The Funding Gap
According to the Bank of Thailand, in 2010, lending to large enterprises totaled 3.6 trillion baht for approximately 86,000 ies, while lending to small and medium sized enterprises totaled 1 trillion baht for over 958,...
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Dear Governor Oshiomhole:
I will like to congratulate you on your July 14th election victory and successful swearing-in ceremony for a second term as the Governor of Edo State on Monday, November 12, 2012. The Edo people have given you the mandate to continue the infrastructural development projects you started during your first term and they expect nothing less in your second term.
As an Edolite, I am writing to you to express my opinion and expectations for your second term’s administration. In one of your press interviews on assumption of office in 2008, you said “But in Edo State we are going to evolve a government that will be led by the people, by which we mean a bottom up approach in policy formulation, because there are so many things/challenges confronting our people...
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