Back from the East

For all of you anxiously wondering where I’ve been, in August I took what was supposed to be a 2 week business trip, to Singapore and Taiwan. This was in regard to my garment buttons business. Well, long story short, I was given the opportunity to expand the company into garment buckles, and proceeded to do so. Consequently, I made trips to Paris, Brussels, Hong Kong and Kuala Lampur (Malaysia). My return from this last location was set for December 30th, but when the tsunami hit, I decided to stay to help out.While away, I kept up with the goings-on back here, including the election, but not with any real depth, as I was busy with business and the emergency relief effort. And, believe it or not, there are issues and events in foreign countries that have nothing to do with the U.S., some of which are compelling in their own right.I've been back for a few weeks now and have been catching up with things on the domestic front. There's so much I want to comment on that I'm pre-typing my thoughts so as to present them better in this blog. More to follow.