September 19, 2025
Among others, September is National Coupon, National Preparedness, and National Library Card Sign-Up Month…
September 19, 2025 Read More »
Trump Administration Policies 2025
September 12, 2025
Earlier this week, my thought was to write about turning 60, what that means in Japanese culture, relate my celebration of Kanreki to French historian Fernand Braudel’s three cycles of history (day-to-day events; paradigm shifts; and longue durée), and finally link those cycles to current political and public policy trends. However, the aftershocks ripping across political Washington of Turning Point USA founder and conservative star Charlie Kirk’s assassination are just too big to ignore.
September 12, 2025 Read More »
September 5, 2025
Yesterday, after breakfast, my wife said to me, “Don’t throw those bags out…I need those bags to put my bags in.”
August 1, 2025
Last week, I was able to escape the swamp-like conditions of Washington, D.C., and trade them for the near perdition-like temperatures of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. There, I visited our Steel Summit subsidiary and made my way to Nashville for The Conference Board’s quarterly Government Relations Executive Council meeting.
June 20, 2025
When I first joined SCOA years ago, there was an orientation program that included an introduction to Japanese culture and a starter series on Japanese business terminology. I credit those early lessons with teaching me how to deliver my business card in Japanese and providing me with insight into the very different ways Americans and Japanese approach the world around them.
June 13, 2025
This week, D.C. felt like D.C. Not the D.C. of the last five years, but the D.C. BC (before Covid). My metro rides to and from work were crowded; there was a line at Subway for my Wednesday guilty pleasure—the Meatball Marinara “Meal of the Day;” and downtown happy hours on outdoor patios spilled into the sidewalks.
June 6, 2025
I live in Maryland’s 8th congressional district; my condo sits less than 12 miles from the White House, and the district rests almost entirely within Montgomery County.
May 30, 2025
Memorial Day is a time for deep reflection. My father was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery, Congress recognizes the holiday with a weeklong recess, and even President Trump slow rolled his schedule for the better part of this week.
May 23, 2025
What do Ted Williams, Michael Jordan, and Wayne Gretzky all have in common? That they were the greatest players of all time in baseball, basketball, and hockey, respectively? A good guess, but another answer might be that each was also a terrible head coach or general manager.
May 9, 2025
My wife and I just returned from a vacation to the British Virgin Islands (BVI). There we sailed the islands Christopher Columbus “discovered” during his second voyage to the Americas in 1493.