Tag: politics

Interview with Joe, the Most Annoying Person in the History of Humanity (Part I of II)

Below is a word-by-word transcript of an interview with Joe, who insisted on being interviewed as "The Most Fascinating Person in the History of Humanity" but who is anything but.

--I can’t believe I’m doing this This interview is going to be a complete waste of time.

Below is the letter that I enclosed in this year’s Christmas cards.

With the holiday season fast approaching, I hope this letter finds you well.

It’s quite unlike me, but this year I’d like to talk a bit about my work.

My current job involves

The Inimitable Fulfillment of Serving the Public (Part I of II)

I am an unabashed capitalist. I have helped mega-corporations raise billions of dollars. I'm an investor who shows little interest other than stock prices. I'm unapologetic in my pursuit of money and I don't particualrly think there's anything wrong with that.

Yet the greatest job fulfillment I

In 2017, A Lot of Contemplation About Time

This past year, I thought about “time” quite a bit.

In June and September, two of my college roommates got married, and their wedding ceremonies became an occasion for the four roommates to get together for the first time in years. As we bantered much in the same way as we had in college, I

Joe Michael Sasanuma Obituary

Joe Michael Sasanuma, who earlier today died at the eternal age of 18, never had a moment in which he didn't enjoy life.

He lived by the words "What's the point of living if you can't feel alive?", a line fittingly taken from the James Bond movie "The World is Not Enough".  Of the many things

No, I’m Not Voting for Trump, but I Get the Message

No, I'm not voting for Donald Trump, but I hear the anger, loud and clear.

That's what I have to say about the presidential election this year, and I urge everyone to have the same attitude.

The reasons I cannot vote for Donald Trump hardly require rehashing.  I find troubling his views on Muslims, immigrants, foreigners and women, just to

A New Beginning

This Friday will be my last day at Shearman & Sterling.  After seven and a half years, the time is right for me to move on.

When I reflect on my time at Shearman & Sterling, I realize how tremendously fortunate I have been.

I once heard that the average length of a career at a major

A Modest Suggestion for the Politically Inclined

I have a suggestion for those who are politically interested: surround yourself with people who are disagreeable.  Surround yourself with a lot of them.

That means that if you’re in college, odds are you should be seeking people who go to meetings of College Republicans (yes, those people exist, in surprisingly large number).  If you’re a working

Principles Do Matter, Which is Why Mitt Romney is So Offensive

I think principles in politicians matter, and I simply don't see how anyone who shares this commonly-held view can support and vote for Willard Mitt Romney.

Mind you, it takes a lot, I mean a lot, for me to be offended by a politician for his perceived lack of principles.  I'm far more sensitive than most to

2014 Was An Uneventfully Fulfilling Year

I hope this letter finds you well.

It is hard to believe, but this past September marked three years since I transferred to Tokyo.  I am entering my seventh year with my current employer, meaning that I have now worked in the Tokyo office longer than I did in New York.

How time flies.

Life is interesting in that

I’m Available to Give a Lecture on So Many Topics

One of the things I remain mystified about is why no one has ever asked me to give a lecture.  I would have thought that a person like me with an opinion on a whole range of topics would be hounded to share just a small portion of all the invaluable insight.

The only explanation I have for

To Underclassmen Eagles: Make Not Just Friends, But Friends Who Are Different

Dear Underclassman Eagles,

After you graduate from Boston College,  you'll realize that your years at Chestnut Hill shaped many aspects of your life.  The liberal arts education that instilled a sense of public service is one.  The life-long friendships that you formed is another.

As an underclassman, you're likely still building your circle of friends, and to those who

Democracy in Action I: Michael Sessions, the 18 Year Old Mayor

In the winter of 2005, Michael Sessions decided to run for the mayor of his hometown.

The city of Hillsdale, located in the Southern part of the state of Michigan with a population of 8,200 and known for being the home of Hillsdale College, had been hit hard by the downturn of the automobile industry

In Memory of John Ezzard (1984-2012)

John was a couple years behind me at Boston College.  I don't exactly recall how we initially met, but we quickly became close friends because I was Japanese and he was interested in Japan.

John had a great laugh.  He and I come from a different political mold, he of the moderate left and I of

It’s Worth Buying into “Ides of March”

8/10

"The Ides of March" (2011) requires an expensive buy-in.  By that I mean, the film asks the audience to accept several rather implausible scenarios.  The upshot is that the film is worth the price, because the pay-off is very satisfying.

Passionately Opinionated

René Descartes once said, "I think, therefore I am," apparently to make the point that someone wondering whether or not he or she exists is, in and of itself, proof that something, an "I", exists to do the thinking.

I suppose my equivalent would be "I opine, therefore I am," to make the point that having

My Endorsements for Franklin Lakes School Board

On April 27, 2011, residents of Franklin Lakes will go to the polls to elect new school boards and approve or disapprove the school budgets.  For the first time in two years, the election is competitive.  While it is cutting it close, it is not too late to get an absentee ballot.  I cannot think

My 2010 Midterm Election Predictions

This blog has a no politics policy, but there is an exception once every year before the elections.  One of the things that always stuck with me as a political scientist wannabe is the need to make electoral predictions so I can be held accountable for the analysis I make about elections.  Political analysts excel

Distinguishing “Should” from “Could”

I think one of the most troubling flaws of American society is its inability to distinguish "should" from "could." To put another way, we seem to have fatal flaw in saying just because you can do something doesn't mean that you should, and just because you shouldn't do something doesn't mean you couldn't.

What Hatoyama’s Resignation Teaches Us About Responsible Government

In 2003, conservative commentator Billy Krystol spoke at Boston College and foretold the rough road ahead for the Republicans by astutely observing, "There's nothing more difficult than being in power."

The flip side is equally true: there's nothing easier--and more irresponsible--than not being in power.  This is a lesson the just-resigned Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama

A Thirteen Month Anniversary for the Blog

Today, this blog turns 13 months old.  I would have celebrated the one year anniversary if only I had remembered to celebrate it.  That I'd forgotten is actually fitting for this rather irrelevant blog.

In 13 months, I have written 76 posts, averaging nearly 6 posts a month.  While the pace has slowed, I've tried to

Why I Don’t Talk Politics

A couple weeks ago, my high school buddies came over to my apartment, one of them kindly pointed out that he can see my office from my window, then tried to persuade me for hours on end that I should write about politics in my blog.  His point, as I understood it, was that no

I Could be Wrong, But I Doubt It

I could be wrong, but I doubt it.

I have gone  through five years of grammar school, three years of middle school, four years of high school, four years of college, three years of law school and nearly two years of work experience.  I have stayed consistently in one side of the political spectrum.  I studied

I Try to Kid, But I (Sometimes) Have a Point

For better or for worse, I seem to leave a distinct impression on people, although I can't tell whether the impression I leave is good or bad.  One week into my foray into law school at the particularly liberal Rutgers of Newark, people started coming up to me and saying, "So you're the new conservative,

25 Random Crap About Me

My sister, that bored nincompoop, created Note in Facebook with a list of 25 random facts about herself and then created a "rule" under which an unfortunate soul who was tagged will have to do the same thing.  Presumably this is the most modern rendition of the cursed chain letter so the failure to respond

In Politics, Principles and Bipartisanship Collide

Senator Judd Gregg of New Hampshire withdrew his nomination as President Obama's Secretary of Commerce.  The new president's first month in office has been quite bumpy, with the Commerce Secretary's job increasingly turning into a cursed cabinet post. As rough as it has been for the president, I am still withholding judgment on the Obama

If You Don’t Eat a Whale, Don’t Complain About Whaling

While I was in Japan, I read a story along these lines about Australian sailors' efforts to stop Japanese whaling practices and an editorial in a newspaper by an European objecting to how Japan is raping their seas.

I can think of no issue that pisses me off more than the Western objection to Japanese whaling,

On Liberal’s Acceptance–So Long As It’s Acceptable

I have many liberal friends, an inescapable consequence of attending a post-secondary education institution in Boston, pursuing a post-college degree in Boston, and obtaining a professional job requiring a high degree of education in New York.  While I obviously don't share most of their viewpoints, they and I have one thing in common:  we all

On (Not) Bailing Out the Big Three

The Senate Republicans torpedoed whatever hope there was for the Big Three (why are they still called that even though they continue to shrink?) to receive a bailout from Congress.  Now the survival of GM and Chrysler apparently rests on the whims of the White House.

I hope Bush takes a stand and say no.  If

On Politicians, the Most Thankless Job in America

There was a time when I considered a career in politics, but no longer.  It is, by far, without a doubt, the most thankless job in America, and the world.  Who praises politicians?  I do (in general) because I'm a politician apologist, but this is a club with fewer members than my other club, "The

On the 2008 Presidential Election, a Prediction

Since this is a popular game among political scientists (and an important one at that; too many poli sci people comment on the aftermath as if the result was a foregone conclusion without any accountability of being held to a prediction), I shall throw in my two cents.

At this juncture, it's fairly clear--and personally, depressingly

On Laying the Blame for the Financial Chaos

I like to cut to the chase and believe, in general, that getting to the heart of the matter, in the most simplistic form, identifies the problem, which is the first step towards finding a solution.

I find what triggered the current financial crises, the subprime mortgage, to be a relatively simple issue.  Of course various
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