-
"To America – With Profound Gratitude: My Journey to Freedom and Independence" by Reiko McKendry
Author Archives: Reiko
“One Nation under God”
In my December 2015 blog post, I mentioned about a book called, “Son of Hamas,” written by Mosab Hassan Yousef. It was one of the most memorable books I have ever read – with a possible, viable solution proposed by … Continue reading
Posted in War*Peace*Gratitude
Leave a comment
Investing Outside of Wall Street – My first bid on a HUD property
** On 02/01/2016, this post was updated. I thank Ms. Amy Beltz of BLB Resources for her valuable input. On 01/28/2016, I took the class she taught on “Comprehensive HUD Training.” ** HUD is short for U.S. Department of … Continue reading
Posted in Investing
Leave a comment
War, Peace, and Gratitude – Japan’s post-WWII Peace Constitution
In October 2015, after I completed my presentation on “Japan’s Gratitude for America” at a local church, a lady came up to me and asked if I had read a book called, “The Only Woman in the Room” by Beate Sirota Gordon. … Continue reading
Posted in War*Peace*Gratitude
Leave a comment
Nature and human nature
The natural world never ceases to fascinate me. The suburb in which David and I have lived since 1984 has plenty of trees. Every morning, as I wake up, I see various birds, many of them with beautiful colors. I … Continue reading
Posted in War*Peace*Gratitude
Leave a comment
Investing Outside of Wall Street – What gets measured gets done
I have known the importance of setting goals: annually, quarterly, monthly, and weekly. After all, I used to be part of corporate America where numbers ruled supreme. Each year, Cameron Dunlap also reminds his students, myself included, the importance of … Continue reading
Posted in Investing
Leave a comment
Japan’s Sengoku Jidai (the period of warring factions)
For the last few months, the event that has been dominating the news is the migration of four million people escaping Syria into Europe. The news media is describing this as the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II. I … Continue reading
Posted in War*Peace*Gratitude
Leave a comment
Investing Outside of Wall Street – Trust but ALWAYS verify
Back when I was an employee in corporate America, every so often, we were mandated to come up with ways to cut costs within our department. I used to think of such demands as an annoyance, taking time away from … Continue reading
Posted in Investing
Leave a comment
“Escaping ISIS,” Frontline, PBS
Long ago, I escaped from what I had abhorred for as far back as I could remember while growing up in Japan. Violence. It was perpetrated against my mother by my own father. Except for once, his violence was never … Continue reading
Posted in War*Peace*Gratitude
Leave a comment
Investing Outside of Wall Street – To escrow or not to escrow: some food for thought
Years ago, when I first heard the term, “escrow,” I had no clue what it meant. In fact, many of the terms used in real-estate transactions are not often used outside of the industry. So, for me, “real estate” truly … Continue reading
Posted in Investing
Leave a comment
Investing Outside of Wall Street – The summer of 2015
Perhaps you have experienced situations where you needed to give a sharp focus on something so much so that everything else was either postponed and/or ignored completely. Well, for me, the summer of 2015 was one such period of time. … Continue reading
Posted in Investing
Leave a comment