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Well, I was at it again in the Tokyo Big Sight, but this time, it was to meet another former New Yorker, though she was from Buffalo originally. Meeting an American, especially someone from the same state or city as I come from, in a foreign country like Japan is like an oasis, because without saying much, we can immediately relate to common experiences we are having while here. I can tell you that, more so than my own experience in Japan, for women, it is even tougher, because Japan still cannot totally come to grips with this fact. Japan is changing too, mind you, but I imagine her days are filled with even more interesting occurrences than for me. In any case, she is the VP of her organizations, and what seemed like an hour turned into a 3-hour discussion on our respective businesses and where we can work together going forward. Nothing in Japan happens immediately, but laying strong groundwork is key, vital to doing anything here. My friends, I tell you this because the hour approaches where the winds of change will breathe new life and a new sense of self and responsibility to our community and our residents. Like JFK, one of America's great visionary Presidents, it is up to each one of us to grab the bull by the horns and do the toiling and the sweating to make our shared goals materialize. Moreover, steel is stronger when it is tempered and galvanized, and we shall temper ourselves and galvanize ourselves for the long struggle ahead to alter the dynamic of our local government's relationship to you. Nothing worthwhile happens in fleeting, chance moments. Years of buildup, preparation, meetings, information-sharing, transparency, sacrifices of the body and mind are needed in this vain. Just as getting to know someone for the first time, or the second or third, seeds of the future are planted and nurtured towards germination and flowering. Giving up, or giving into the negativity and the obstacles which hinder our advancement serves no one but the forces of inertia arrayed in our path. Join with me in this candidacy, and let us work tirelessly with patient resolve to lay a foundation of substance and longevity.