Dear Friend of CHARIAD:

I attended a luncheon today at the Boston Harbor Hotel hosted by the Boston College CEO Club. The hotel has an enormous flag flying under the rotunda.

The dean of the BC business school asked for a moment of silence to remember the 14 BC alumni who died Sept. 11. The attack on Sept. 11 and the conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and now Syria are being fought by our sons, daughters, neighbors and friends.

In the rush of our lives, it is easy to forget what happened and how many died and the families who are still scared today. I am also afraid that much of our political leadership is in denial about the determined and purposeful efforts underway every day to inflict more casualties on Americans and non-Americans including millions of Muslims of the wrong sect or faith. The flood of refugees into Europe are not “migrants.” They are normal families fleeing the chaos directly resulting from the failure of US and other “world leaders” to stop the bloodshed in the Middle East.

OK – Here is something more pleasant.

This is an image that I took in Marblehead on Tuesday evening.

I will be in the San Francisco area next weekend. I will have my camera with me and hope to find some interesting and beautiful photo ops while I am there.

My best,

Rick