THE ASIAN AMERICAN HOUR has gotten bigger - we are now on the air weekly on public radio WAIF-CINCINNATI 88.3 FM and our broadcast time has moved to prime-time THE ASIAN AMERICAN HOUR CONTINUES 19 YEARS ON THE AIR WITH WAIF 88.3 FM - Date of First Broadcast: 6/7/2001 THE ASIAN AMERICAN HOUR will continue to feature talk, and music, and other good things with a discernable slant towards Asian American affairs, immigration, and many other issues of interest to our community-at-large. THE ASIAN AMERICAN HOUR is produced and hosted by Charleston Wang, Esq. with John G. O'Neill. as co-host, together with our distinguished guests. So, tune in to THE ASIAN AMERICAN HOUR on WAIF-CINCINNATI 88.3 FM. every Monday 5-6 PM. Get the latest on the Asian American community in Cincinnati, the fast growing & mobile community in the Tri-state. After listening to the THE ASIAN AMERICAN HOUR, e-mail us direct feedback and thoughts by clicking here. If you or a friend wish to be a guest on THE ASIAN AMERICAN HOUR, please let us know. Tune in to THE ASIAN AMERICAN HOUR every Monday 5 - 6 PM on WAIF 88.3 FM Cincinnati on the air, or listen Via internet streaming audio from anywhere in the world by clicking here. Charleston C. K. Wang, Producer & Host John G. O'Neill, Co-Host |
STRICT SCRUTINY IS NOT A PANACEA: THE HISTORICAL LIMITS OF CONSTITUTIONAL JUDICIAL REVIEW IN NATIONAL SECURITY CASES
Strict scrutiny as a form of judicial review is taught in law schools and practiced in the United States courts today. Strict scrutiny is the most rigorous standard applied by the federal judiciary to
balance the power of government on one hand and the vindication of a constitutionally protected right on the other. While the "levels of judicial scrutiny" may be traced to a footnote in \the
U. S. Supreme Court decision, United States v. Carolene Products Co. (1938), the actual articulation of strict scrutiny as a standard of judicial review occurred in the World War II Japanese-
American internment case of Korematsu v. United States (1944).
Similarity to Dred Scott and Plessy
This writer would respectfully suggest that Korematsu today can be thought of as a twentieth century case that resounds with the footsteps of Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) and Plessy v. Ferguson
(1896). Dred Scott, most civil rights and civil liberty observers will recall, is that infamous Supreme Court decision which enunciated the principle of "once a slave, always a slave," and rejecting
Missouri's "once free, always free" judicial standard. This Taney Court decision squandered the opportunity to abolish slavery from within the judicial forum and was an ignomious failure that led
to and was bloodily repudiated by fire and steel in the Civil War (1861-65). Plessy is the post-Civil War decision of the Supreme Court which upheld the "separate but equal" underpinnings of
im Crow, a decision that lingered until the beginning in the 1950's when the Supreme Court begain to look at civil rights in a new light, and culminating in the Civil Rights legislation of the 1960's.
Taken together, Dred Scott and Plessy represent two landmark failures of the high court to mete justice in what we now know as civil rights. Presently, add to them Korematsu v. United States
as we shall now revisit.
Fred Korematsu Decides to Challenge Internment
Korematsu, albeit with 20-20 hindsight, similarly failed to protect the liberty interests of those American citizens of Japanese ancestry who were relocated into camps by Executive Order 9066
after the attack by imperial Japanese forces on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Fred Korematsu was a Japanese-American man who decided to stay in San Leandro, California and knowingly refused
to obey the order of the United States government. He was arrested and convicted regardless of his argument that E.O. 9066 violated the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
(no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law). There was no question of Korematsu's loyalty to the United States. During the course of the litigation,
charges had been leveled that United States Solicitor withheld from the Court naval intelligence reports exonerating the Japanese Americans of spying and other acts of disloyalty
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the conviction. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.
In the famous 6–3 decision, the Court found for the government and rejected Korematsu's constitutional challenge. Six of the eight Roosevelt appointees sided with the President.
A Justice Roberts of a previous century, entered a vigorous dissent which must be remembered:
"This is not a case of keeping people off the streets at night, as was Hirabayashi v. United States, nor a case of temporary exclusion of a citizen from an area for his own safety or that of the
community, nor a case of offering him an opportunity to go temporarily out of an area where his presence might cause danger to himself or to his fellows. On the contrary, it is the case of
convicting a citizen as a punishment for not submitting to imprisonment in a concentration camp, based on his ancestry, and solely because of his ancestry, without evidence or inquiry
concerning his loyalty and good disposition towards the United States. If this be a correct statement of the facts disclosed by this record, and facts of which we take judicial notice, I need
hardly labor the conclusion that Constitutional rights have been violated."
This the lone Justice appointed by a Republican President was joined by Justice Frank Murphy who passionately wrote:
"I dissent, therefore, from this legalization of racism. Racial discrimination in any form and in any degree has no justifiable part whatever in our democratic way of life. It is unattractive in any
setting, but it is utterly revolting among a free people who have embraced the principles set forth in the Constitution of the United States. All residents of this nation are kin in some way by
blood or culture to a foreign land. Yet they are primarily and necessarily a part of the new and distinct civilization of the United States. They must, accordingly, be treated at all times as the
heirs of the American experiment, and as entitled to all the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution."
The third dissent came from Justice Robert Jackson although he rather honestly conceded that "military decisions are not susceptible of intelligent judicial appraisal." came from Justice
Robert Jackson although he rather honestly conceded that "military decisions are not susceptible of intelligent judicial appraisal." But he added:'But once a judicial opinion rationalizes such
an order to show that it conforms to the Constitution, or rather rationalizes the Constitution to show that the Constitution sanctions such an order, the Court for all time has validated the
principle of racial discrimination in criminal procedure and of transplanting American citizens. The principle then lies about like a loaded weapon ready for the hand of any authority that can
bring forward a plausible claim of an urgent need.' After World War II ended, Justice Jackson was appointed by President Harry Truman and served as the Chief United States Prosecutor at the
Nuremberg Trials which convicted certain Nazis of war crimes, crimes
against humanity, and crimes against peace.
Thus Came and Then Comes Strict Scrutiny
As noted above, it was in Korematsu that the United States Supreme Court laid claim to the power to exercise judicial strict scrutiny and demand the government show a "compelling interest"
when its action applies to a "suspect classification," such as race or national origin. This maneuver recalls Marbury v. Madison (1803) through which the Marshall Court formulated the basis
for the exercise of judicial review and judicial supremacy in the United States. Should it be surprising that Marbury also left the petitioner for writ of mandamus, William Marbury, without a
remedy as was the fate of Fred Korematsu one and a half centuries later?/FN1/
Korematsu did however give the United States Supreme Court the opportunity to establish the doctrine of strict scrutiny which can be viewed as the twentieth century refinement of the judicial
review of old according to Marbury. Fred Korematsu can derive some comfort in knowing that since that first articulation of strict scrutiny, this modern doctrine has gone on to provide relief to
many civil rights (suspect class) claimants, to include the petitioners in such famous cases as inter alia (1) Brown v. Board of Education (1954), (2) Griswold v. Connecticut (1965),
(3) Loving v. Virginia (1967), (4) Roe v. Wade, (1973), and (5) quite recently United States v. Windsor, (2013).
Redress for Fred Korematsu and Other Internees
Coming back to Fred Korematsu and the infamy of the internment of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor which drew the United States into World War II, it was not until the 1980's that the
Korematsu, Hirabayashi, and Yasui cases would be reopened by petitions for coram nobis, proceedings that will eventually void the convictions of the 1940s. These petitions, however, ar
e docketed in the lower federal trial courts and may not have appellate stature and precedential authority. Nevertheless a "cure" after nearly half a century! Leadership for redress was
provided by the Japanese American Citizens League.
In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act, and providing for financial redress of $20,000 for each surviving detainee. In 1992, President George H. W. Bush signed
the Civil Liberties Act Amendments, appropriating an additional $400 million to ensure all remaining internees received redress payments. President Bush issued another formal apology from
the U.S. government on December 7, 1991, on the 50th-Anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor stating "In remembering, it is important to come to grips with the past. No nation can fully
understand itself or find its place in the world if it does not look with clear eyes at all the glories and disgraces of its past. We in the United States acknowledge such an injustice in our history.
The internment of Americans of Japanese ancestry was a great injustice, and it will never be repeated." In 2001, Congress authorized the ten detention sites are to be preserved as historical
landmarks: "places like Manzanar, Tule Lake, Heart Mountain, Topaz, Amache, Jerome, and Rohwer will forever stand as reminders that this nation failed in its most sacred duty to protect its
citizens against prejudice,greed, and political expediency".
But Strict Scrutiny is Not Panacea
But it must also never be forgotten that at that crucial hour of need for constitutional protection, strict scrutiny failed Fred Korematsu, just as judicial review failed Dred Scott and Homer
Plessy before him. Thus is strict scrutiny no panacea. Will such failure occur again today?
The late Supreme Court Chief Justice, William H. Rehnquist wrote in his 1998 book All the Laws But One – Civil Liberties in Wartime, "An entirely separate and important philosophical
question is whether occasional presidential excesses and judicial restraint in wartime are desirable or undesirable. In one sense, this question is very largely academic. There is no
reason to think that future wartime presidents will act differently from Lincoln, Wilson, or Roosevelt, or that future Justices of the Supreme Court will decide questions differently than their
predecessors." (page 124).
More recently, on February 3, 2014, the late Justice Antonin Scalia told law students at the University of Hawaii at Manoa that "the Supreme Court's Korematsu decision upholding the
internment of Japanese Americans was wrong, but it could happen again in war time." Again during October 2015 Justice Scalia told law students at Santa Clara University that Justice
Jackson's dissenting opinion in Korematsu was the past court opinion he admired most, adding "It was nice to know that at least somebody on the court realized that that was wrong."
The Civil War Habeas Corpus Cases
At the start of the Civil War in 1861 John Merryman, a lieutenant in the Baltimore County Horse Guards, a state militia, participated in the destruction of several bridges north of
Baltimore to prevent Federal troops from Pennsylvania from marching into Baltimore to provide security from rioting. Federal troops arrested and detained Merryman inside Fort
McHenry. After the refusal of a writ from the district court, Chief Justice Roger Taney riding circuit (not as a member of the Supreme Court but he was the same jurist who wrote the
Dred Scott decision a few years before the start of the war) issued a second writ of habeas corpus which was delivered to the Union General commanding in Maryland who under
orders from President Lincoln again refused to bring the prisoner to the court. A writ of habeas corpus is a judicial order commanding a jailer to bring a prisoner out of detention and
into the court to be heard. In Ex parte Merryman, Justice Taney, still sitting as a federal circuit judge, issued an opinion that only Congress could suspend habeas corpus, but the
President refused to release Merryman and the Union army continued to make arrests. As the Civil War raged, in March 1863, the United States Congress passed the Habeas Corpus
Suspension Act.
In 1864 Lambdin P. Milligan and others were arrested, tried, and sentenced to hanging by a military commission in Indianapolis for inciting rebellion using secret organizations, and aiding
the Confederacy. The death warrants were commuted by President Andrew Johnson and lawyers filed for habeas corpus. On April 3, 1866, Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase handed down the
Court's decision, upholding the writ of habeas corpus and that the military commission did not have the jurisdiction to try and sentence Milligan; the Civil War had ended on May 9, 1865.
Milligan was released and went home to practice law; he sued for damages asking for thousands of dollars and the jury awarded him five.
Interestingly, the Milligan Court described three kinds of military jurisdiction: one to be exercised both in peace and war; another to be exercised in time of foreign war without the
boundaries of the United States, or in time of rebellion and civil war within states or districts occupied by rebels treated as belligerents; and a third to be exercised in time of invasion or
insurrection within the limits of the United States, or during rebellion within the limits of states maintaining adhesion to the National Government, when the public danger requires its exercise.
The Guantanamo Habeas Corpus Cases
Now we are at a point in this article to finally discuss the Supreme Court cases dealing with the post 9/11 operation of the detention "camps" at Guantanamo Bay. The leading cases are
(1) Rasul v. Bush (2004) holding that the federal courts had jurisdiction over Guantanamo, and that foreign citizen a.k.a. alien detainees had a right via a petition for habeas corpus to
challenge their detention; (2) Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2004) holding that United States citizens detained as suspected enemy combatants had the right to due process via habeas corpus,
(3) Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, (2006) holding that the Bush Presidency did not have constitutional authority to create separate military commissions in Guantanamo outside from the existing
federal and military justice systems, and (4) Boumediene v. Bush (2008) invoking Marbury v. Madison. held that the Guantanamo detainees were entitled to the protection of the
United States Constitution, this being a very signal and wide-ranging ruling that affirms the power of judicial review, and by a vote of 5-4 held that the Military Commissions Act of 2006
was an unconstitutional suspension of that right.
Since the days of Ex Parte Merryman, and if one prefers even going back to the days of Marbury v. Madison, the federal judiciary is ultimately dependent on the good offices of the Executive
Branch to see to the execution of its orders, writs, and mandates. The United States Marshal necessarily stands in awe and under the shadow of the power of a General of the United States
Army - Justice Taney's did when he was refused admittance into the fort. The situation facing the habeas corpus petitioners at Guantanamo is that the United States Congress has added further
complexity by passing the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 and the Military Commission Act of 2006. The Guantanamo camps remain in operation presently although on February 23, 2016,
President Barack Obama sent a plan to Congress for the closure of the Guantanamo camp. On January 30, 2018, President Trump just before the State of the Union address, signed an
executive order to keep the Guantanamo camps open indefinitely to detain "bad dudes," potentially to hold American supporters of ISIS. Mr. Trump as a candidate for President had also
rather glibly quipped that he wants to bring back water-boarding or worse and his executive appointments have also echoed that view.
Is Strict Scrutiny Panacea?
It is noteworthy that the Guantanamo habeas corpus decisions are silent as to "strict scrutiny." And the civil rights cases that utilize strict scrutiny are actions against the several states
under the Fourteenth Amendment. In Korematsu, the action was directed at the United States and the application of strict scrutiny found in favor of Executive Order 9066.To complete our
discussion, I come back again to the late Justice Scalia. His address in Hawaii in 2014 went on as follows: “But you are kidding yourself if you think the same thing will not happen again.
Inter arma enim silent leges … In times of war, the laws fall silent. That’s what was going on — the panic about the war and the invasion of the Pacific and whatnot, that's what happens.
It was wrong, but I would not be surprised to see it happen again — in time of war. It’s no justification but it is the reality.”
Inter arma enim silent leges! This is a Latin dictum that goes back to ancient Rome. A corollary maxim is "salus populi suprema lex esto" which can be translated as "the safety of the people
is the supreme law." We know from Korematsu, there is an actual limit to strict scrutiny - history has shown that with a threat to national security, or indeed national survival of the magnitude
of Pearl Harbor that limit is crossed. In this century, after the 9/11/2001 attacks, that limit was fortunately never tested because no general internment of any suspect group was instituted
by the President except for the institution of the camps at Guantanamo Bay. The group of habeas corpus decisions from Guantanamo (Rasul, Hamdi, Hamdan, and Boumediene) are rather
different from Hirayahashi, Korematsu, and Yasui (to be distinguished from In re Endo which was a habeas corpus case).
A Hypothetical Nightmare Scenario
However, with the increased instability in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, fears of another terror style attack inside the United States more massive than 9/11 continue unabated. In the
age after Hiroshima-Nagasaki, one nightmare scenario is the deployment of a dirty bomb in a big city and the resulting contamination of many square miles of urban space and many people
say in 2017. A worse scenario is the actual detonation of a nuclear weapon. Salus populi suprema lex esto! A newly elected President fresh from defeating his female opponent imposes
nationwide Korematsu style measures in the name of national security [a.k.a. national emergency thereby enabling him to spend military resources without Congressional approval to build a wall
along the Mexico border - author's note 2/24/2019]. How will strict scrutiny fare in the face of these hypothetical facts? Will the judicial review rationale that is based on habeas corpus rather
than strict scrutiny that is written in Rasul prove prophetic or these words fail to afford constitutional relief for those who are innocent but happen to be members of the suspect class?
Will the law stay silent? /FN2/ But then, thanks to the Magna Carta of King John of England, we still have the Great Writ of Habeas Corpus!
An Op-Ed by Charleston C. K. Wang, March 1, 2016, updated August 27, 2020.
FN1 - We see a doppleganger of this judicial power in King v. Burwell (2015) where our current Chief Justice John G. Roberts invoked Marbury v. Madison to exercise the power to decide
jurisdiction over a tax question, but having done so ruled against the petitioner and to the chagrin of the opponents of the Affordable Care Act.
FN2 - In another twist of judicial irony, on June 2, 2018, the United States Supreme Court repudiated the 1944 Korematsu v. United States when passing upon Trump v. Hawaii, wherein the
Court in a close 5-4 decision upheld the President's executive authority to impose a travel ban essentially against persons from select Muslim countries. Justice Sotomayor, joined by
Justice Kagan wrote in a spirited dissent: "The United States of America is a Nation built upon the promise of religious liberty. Our Founders honored that core promise by embedding the
principle of religious neutrality in the First Amendment. The Court’s decision today fails to safeguard that fundamental principle. It leaves undisturbed a policy first advertised openly and
unequivocally as a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” because the policy now masquerades behind a façade of national-security concerns." [Emphasis added].
Justice Sotomayor also noted that the majority merely "redeploys the same dangerous logic underlying Korematsu and merely replaces one 'gravely wrong' decision with another."
Justice Breyer, joined by Justice Kagan also wrote a separate dissent. Paradoxically, the majority decision was founded on the application of the easiest to pass "rational basis review,"
and not "strict scrutiny" (and hence all the more reasons to set aside Korematsu)!
Strict scrutiny as a form of judicial review is taught in law schools and practiced in the United States courts today. Strict scrutiny is the most rigorous standard applied by the federal judiciary to
balance the power of government on one hand and the vindication of a constitutionally protected right on the other. While the "levels of judicial scrutiny" may be traced to a footnote in \the
U. S. Supreme Court decision, United States v. Carolene Products Co. (1938), the actual articulation of strict scrutiny as a standard of judicial review occurred in the World War II Japanese-
American internment case of Korematsu v. United States (1944).
Similarity to Dred Scott and Plessy
This writer would respectfully suggest that Korematsu today can be thought of as a twentieth century case that resounds with the footsteps of Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) and Plessy v. Ferguson
(1896). Dred Scott, most civil rights and civil liberty observers will recall, is that infamous Supreme Court decision which enunciated the principle of "once a slave, always a slave," and rejecting
Missouri's "once free, always free" judicial standard. This Taney Court decision squandered the opportunity to abolish slavery from within the judicial forum and was an ignomious failure that led
to and was bloodily repudiated by fire and steel in the Civil War (1861-65). Plessy is the post-Civil War decision of the Supreme Court which upheld the "separate but equal" underpinnings of
im Crow, a decision that lingered until the beginning in the 1950's when the Supreme Court begain to look at civil rights in a new light, and culminating in the Civil Rights legislation of the 1960's.
Taken together, Dred Scott and Plessy represent two landmark failures of the high court to mete justice in what we now know as civil rights. Presently, add to them Korematsu v. United States
as we shall now revisit.
Fred Korematsu Decides to Challenge Internment
Korematsu, albeit with 20-20 hindsight, similarly failed to protect the liberty interests of those American citizens of Japanese ancestry who were relocated into camps by Executive Order 9066
after the attack by imperial Japanese forces on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Fred Korematsu was a Japanese-American man who decided to stay in San Leandro, California and knowingly refused
to obey the order of the United States government. He was arrested and convicted regardless of his argument that E.O. 9066 violated the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
(no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law). There was no question of Korematsu's loyalty to the United States. During the course of the litigation,
charges had been leveled that United States Solicitor withheld from the Court naval intelligence reports exonerating the Japanese Americans of spying and other acts of disloyalty
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed the conviction. The Supreme Court granted certiorari.
In the famous 6–3 decision, the Court found for the government and rejected Korematsu's constitutional challenge. Six of the eight Roosevelt appointees sided with the President.
A Justice Roberts of a previous century, entered a vigorous dissent which must be remembered:
"This is not a case of keeping people off the streets at night, as was Hirabayashi v. United States, nor a case of temporary exclusion of a citizen from an area for his own safety or that of the
community, nor a case of offering him an opportunity to go temporarily out of an area where his presence might cause danger to himself or to his fellows. On the contrary, it is the case of
convicting a citizen as a punishment for not submitting to imprisonment in a concentration camp, based on his ancestry, and solely because of his ancestry, without evidence or inquiry
concerning his loyalty and good disposition towards the United States. If this be a correct statement of the facts disclosed by this record, and facts of which we take judicial notice, I need
hardly labor the conclusion that Constitutional rights have been violated."
This the lone Justice appointed by a Republican President was joined by Justice Frank Murphy who passionately wrote:
"I dissent, therefore, from this legalization of racism. Racial discrimination in any form and in any degree has no justifiable part whatever in our democratic way of life. It is unattractive in any
setting, but it is utterly revolting among a free people who have embraced the principles set forth in the Constitution of the United States. All residents of this nation are kin in some way by
blood or culture to a foreign land. Yet they are primarily and necessarily a part of the new and distinct civilization of the United States. They must, accordingly, be treated at all times as the
heirs of the American experiment, and as entitled to all the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution."
The third dissent came from Justice Robert Jackson although he rather honestly conceded that "military decisions are not susceptible of intelligent judicial appraisal." came from Justice
Robert Jackson although he rather honestly conceded that "military decisions are not susceptible of intelligent judicial appraisal." But he added:'But once a judicial opinion rationalizes such
an order to show that it conforms to the Constitution, or rather rationalizes the Constitution to show that the Constitution sanctions such an order, the Court for all time has validated the
principle of racial discrimination in criminal procedure and of transplanting American citizens. The principle then lies about like a loaded weapon ready for the hand of any authority that can
bring forward a plausible claim of an urgent need.' After World War II ended, Justice Jackson was appointed by President Harry Truman and served as the Chief United States Prosecutor at the
Nuremberg Trials which convicted certain Nazis of war crimes, crimes
against humanity, and crimes against peace.
Thus Came and Then Comes Strict Scrutiny
As noted above, it was in Korematsu that the United States Supreme Court laid claim to the power to exercise judicial strict scrutiny and demand the government show a "compelling interest"
when its action applies to a "suspect classification," such as race or national origin. This maneuver recalls Marbury v. Madison (1803) through which the Marshall Court formulated the basis
for the exercise of judicial review and judicial supremacy in the United States. Should it be surprising that Marbury also left the petitioner for writ of mandamus, William Marbury, without a
remedy as was the fate of Fred Korematsu one and a half centuries later?/FN1/
Korematsu did however give the United States Supreme Court the opportunity to establish the doctrine of strict scrutiny which can be viewed as the twentieth century refinement of the judicial
review of old according to Marbury. Fred Korematsu can derive some comfort in knowing that since that first articulation of strict scrutiny, this modern doctrine has gone on to provide relief to
many civil rights (suspect class) claimants, to include the petitioners in such famous cases as inter alia (1) Brown v. Board of Education (1954), (2) Griswold v. Connecticut (1965),
(3) Loving v. Virginia (1967), (4) Roe v. Wade, (1973), and (5) quite recently United States v. Windsor, (2013).
Redress for Fred Korematsu and Other Internees
Coming back to Fred Korematsu and the infamy of the internment of Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor which drew the United States into World War II, it was not until the 1980's that the
Korematsu, Hirabayashi, and Yasui cases would be reopened by petitions for coram nobis, proceedings that will eventually void the convictions of the 1940s. These petitions, however, ar
e docketed in the lower federal trial courts and may not have appellate stature and precedential authority. Nevertheless a "cure" after nearly half a century! Leadership for redress was
provided by the Japanese American Citizens League.
In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act, and providing for financial redress of $20,000 for each surviving detainee. In 1992, President George H. W. Bush signed
the Civil Liberties Act Amendments, appropriating an additional $400 million to ensure all remaining internees received redress payments. President Bush issued another formal apology from
the U.S. government on December 7, 1991, on the 50th-Anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor stating "In remembering, it is important to come to grips with the past. No nation can fully
understand itself or find its place in the world if it does not look with clear eyes at all the glories and disgraces of its past. We in the United States acknowledge such an injustice in our history.
The internment of Americans of Japanese ancestry was a great injustice, and it will never be repeated." In 2001, Congress authorized the ten detention sites are to be preserved as historical
landmarks: "places like Manzanar, Tule Lake, Heart Mountain, Topaz, Amache, Jerome, and Rohwer will forever stand as reminders that this nation failed in its most sacred duty to protect its
citizens against prejudice,greed, and political expediency".
But Strict Scrutiny is Not Panacea
But it must also never be forgotten that at that crucial hour of need for constitutional protection, strict scrutiny failed Fred Korematsu, just as judicial review failed Dred Scott and Homer
Plessy before him. Thus is strict scrutiny no panacea. Will such failure occur again today?
The late Supreme Court Chief Justice, William H. Rehnquist wrote in his 1998 book All the Laws But One – Civil Liberties in Wartime, "An entirely separate and important philosophical
question is whether occasional presidential excesses and judicial restraint in wartime are desirable or undesirable. In one sense, this question is very largely academic. There is no
reason to think that future wartime presidents will act differently from Lincoln, Wilson, or Roosevelt, or that future Justices of the Supreme Court will decide questions differently than their
predecessors." (page 124).
More recently, on February 3, 2014, the late Justice Antonin Scalia told law students at the University of Hawaii at Manoa that "the Supreme Court's Korematsu decision upholding the
internment of Japanese Americans was wrong, but it could happen again in war time." Again during October 2015 Justice Scalia told law students at Santa Clara University that Justice
Jackson's dissenting opinion in Korematsu was the past court opinion he admired most, adding "It was nice to know that at least somebody on the court realized that that was wrong."
The Civil War Habeas Corpus Cases
At the start of the Civil War in 1861 John Merryman, a lieutenant in the Baltimore County Horse Guards, a state militia, participated in the destruction of several bridges north of
Baltimore to prevent Federal troops from Pennsylvania from marching into Baltimore to provide security from rioting. Federal troops arrested and detained Merryman inside Fort
McHenry. After the refusal of a writ from the district court, Chief Justice Roger Taney riding circuit (not as a member of the Supreme Court but he was the same jurist who wrote the
Dred Scott decision a few years before the start of the war) issued a second writ of habeas corpus which was delivered to the Union General commanding in Maryland who under
orders from President Lincoln again refused to bring the prisoner to the court. A writ of habeas corpus is a judicial order commanding a jailer to bring a prisoner out of detention and
into the court to be heard. In Ex parte Merryman, Justice Taney, still sitting as a federal circuit judge, issued an opinion that only Congress could suspend habeas corpus, but the
President refused to release Merryman and the Union army continued to make arrests. As the Civil War raged, in March 1863, the United States Congress passed the Habeas Corpus
Suspension Act.
In 1864 Lambdin P. Milligan and others were arrested, tried, and sentenced to hanging by a military commission in Indianapolis for inciting rebellion using secret organizations, and aiding
the Confederacy. The death warrants were commuted by President Andrew Johnson and lawyers filed for habeas corpus. On April 3, 1866, Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase handed down the
Court's decision, upholding the writ of habeas corpus and that the military commission did not have the jurisdiction to try and sentence Milligan; the Civil War had ended on May 9, 1865.
Milligan was released and went home to practice law; he sued for damages asking for thousands of dollars and the jury awarded him five.
Interestingly, the Milligan Court described three kinds of military jurisdiction: one to be exercised both in peace and war; another to be exercised in time of foreign war without the
boundaries of the United States, or in time of rebellion and civil war within states or districts occupied by rebels treated as belligerents; and a third to be exercised in time of invasion or
insurrection within the limits of the United States, or during rebellion within the limits of states maintaining adhesion to the National Government, when the public danger requires its exercise.
The Guantanamo Habeas Corpus Cases
Now we are at a point in this article to finally discuss the Supreme Court cases dealing with the post 9/11 operation of the detention "camps" at Guantanamo Bay. The leading cases are
(1) Rasul v. Bush (2004) holding that the federal courts had jurisdiction over Guantanamo, and that foreign citizen a.k.a. alien detainees had a right via a petition for habeas corpus to
challenge their detention; (2) Hamdi v. Rumsfeld (2004) holding that United States citizens detained as suspected enemy combatants had the right to due process via habeas corpus,
(3) Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, (2006) holding that the Bush Presidency did not have constitutional authority to create separate military commissions in Guantanamo outside from the existing
federal and military justice systems, and (4) Boumediene v. Bush (2008) invoking Marbury v. Madison. held that the Guantanamo detainees were entitled to the protection of the
United States Constitution, this being a very signal and wide-ranging ruling that affirms the power of judicial review, and by a vote of 5-4 held that the Military Commissions Act of 2006
was an unconstitutional suspension of that right.
Since the days of Ex Parte Merryman, and if one prefers even going back to the days of Marbury v. Madison, the federal judiciary is ultimately dependent on the good offices of the Executive
Branch to see to the execution of its orders, writs, and mandates. The United States Marshal necessarily stands in awe and under the shadow of the power of a General of the United States
Army - Justice Taney's did when he was refused admittance into the fort. The situation facing the habeas corpus petitioners at Guantanamo is that the United States Congress has added further
complexity by passing the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 and the Military Commission Act of 2006. The Guantanamo camps remain in operation presently although on February 23, 2016,
President Barack Obama sent a plan to Congress for the closure of the Guantanamo camp. On January 30, 2018, President Trump just before the State of the Union address, signed an
executive order to keep the Guantanamo camps open indefinitely to detain "bad dudes," potentially to hold American supporters of ISIS. Mr. Trump as a candidate for President had also
rather glibly quipped that he wants to bring back water-boarding or worse and his executive appointments have also echoed that view.
Is Strict Scrutiny Panacea?
It is noteworthy that the Guantanamo habeas corpus decisions are silent as to "strict scrutiny." And the civil rights cases that utilize strict scrutiny are actions against the several states
under the Fourteenth Amendment. In Korematsu, the action was directed at the United States and the application of strict scrutiny found in favor of Executive Order 9066.To complete our
discussion, I come back again to the late Justice Scalia. His address in Hawaii in 2014 went on as follows: “But you are kidding yourself if you think the same thing will not happen again.
Inter arma enim silent leges … In times of war, the laws fall silent. That’s what was going on — the panic about the war and the invasion of the Pacific and whatnot, that's what happens.
It was wrong, but I would not be surprised to see it happen again — in time of war. It’s no justification but it is the reality.”
Inter arma enim silent leges! This is a Latin dictum that goes back to ancient Rome. A corollary maxim is "salus populi suprema lex esto" which can be translated as "the safety of the people
is the supreme law." We know from Korematsu, there is an actual limit to strict scrutiny - history has shown that with a threat to national security, or indeed national survival of the magnitude
of Pearl Harbor that limit is crossed. In this century, after the 9/11/2001 attacks, that limit was fortunately never tested because no general internment of any suspect group was instituted
by the President except for the institution of the camps at Guantanamo Bay. The group of habeas corpus decisions from Guantanamo (Rasul, Hamdi, Hamdan, and Boumediene) are rather
different from Hirayahashi, Korematsu, and Yasui (to be distinguished from In re Endo which was a habeas corpus case).
A Hypothetical Nightmare Scenario
However, with the increased instability in the aftermath of the Arab Spring, fears of another terror style attack inside the United States more massive than 9/11 continue unabated. In the
age after Hiroshima-Nagasaki, one nightmare scenario is the deployment of a dirty bomb in a big city and the resulting contamination of many square miles of urban space and many people
say in 2017. A worse scenario is the actual detonation of a nuclear weapon. Salus populi suprema lex esto! A newly elected President fresh from defeating his female opponent imposes
nationwide Korematsu style measures in the name of national security [a.k.a. national emergency thereby enabling him to spend military resources without Congressional approval to build a wall
along the Mexico border - author's note 2/24/2019]. How will strict scrutiny fare in the face of these hypothetical facts? Will the judicial review rationale that is based on habeas corpus rather
than strict scrutiny that is written in Rasul prove prophetic or these words fail to afford constitutional relief for those who are innocent but happen to be members of the suspect class?
Will the law stay silent? /FN2/ But then, thanks to the Magna Carta of King John of England, we still have the Great Writ of Habeas Corpus!
An Op-Ed by Charleston C. K. Wang, March 1, 2016, updated August 27, 2020.
FN1 - We see a doppleganger of this judicial power in King v. Burwell (2015) where our current Chief Justice John G. Roberts invoked Marbury v. Madison to exercise the power to decide
jurisdiction over a tax question, but having done so ruled against the petitioner and to the chagrin of the opponents of the Affordable Care Act.
FN2 - In another twist of judicial irony, on June 2, 2018, the United States Supreme Court repudiated the 1944 Korematsu v. United States when passing upon Trump v. Hawaii, wherein the
Court in a close 5-4 decision upheld the President's executive authority to impose a travel ban essentially against persons from select Muslim countries. Justice Sotomayor, joined by
Justice Kagan wrote in a spirited dissent: "The United States of America is a Nation built upon the promise of religious liberty. Our Founders honored that core promise by embedding the
principle of religious neutrality in the First Amendment. The Court’s decision today fails to safeguard that fundamental principle. It leaves undisturbed a policy first advertised openly and
unequivocally as a “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States” because the policy now masquerades behind a façade of national-security concerns." [Emphasis added].
Justice Sotomayor also noted that the majority merely "redeploys the same dangerous logic underlying Korematsu and merely replaces one 'gravely wrong' decision with another."
Justice Breyer, joined by Justice Kagan also wrote a separate dissent. Paradoxically, the majority decision was founded on the application of the easiest to pass "rational basis review,"
and not "strict scrutiny" (and hence all the more reasons to set aside Korematsu)!
A READER'S RESPONSE:
This is an important message. First, this will help quell the rumors about secret labs. Numerous science fiction media have used
the secret lab troupe for decades. It's time we separated fact from fiction. Second, ironically, it is science fiction that often
comments on politics and science by way of their fictional stories. Writers avoided persecution by saying their work was only
fiction. Third, I wonder how many people realize their statements are laced with bigotry. They fuel the us vs them narratives,
stereotypes, ethnocentrism, and ridiculous manifest destiny claims of a superior race. Fourth, your work identifies corruption
and greed. Why do these markets exist in the current states? Why are billionaires getting richer during a pandemic? Thanks for
sending this,
Quinton, May 4, 2020.
This is an important message. First, this will help quell the rumors about secret labs. Numerous science fiction media have used
the secret lab troupe for decades. It's time we separated fact from fiction. Second, ironically, it is science fiction that often
comments on politics and science by way of their fictional stories. Writers avoided persecution by saying their work was only
fiction. Third, I wonder how many people realize their statements are laced with bigotry. They fuel the us vs them narratives,
stereotypes, ethnocentrism, and ridiculous manifest destiny claims of a superior race. Fourth, your work identifies corruption
and greed. Why do these markets exist in the current states? Why are billionaires getting richer during a pandemic? Thanks for
sending this,
Quinton, May 4, 2020.
SEPTEMBER, 2020 Extra
For August 2020 Extra Click Here
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Mary Ellen O'Connell
Photocredit: Mary Joan Reutter
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THE FACES OF TURKEY
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A REAL UZBEK DYNASTY
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A WIN IN THE U.S. SIXTH CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS. On August 18, 2014 in Nifadev v. Holder, (Case No. 13-3704/4222
6th Cir. 2014), the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that Mikheil B. Nifadev has proven his claim that he
had suffered persecution by reason of his Russian ethnicity at the hands of the security and regular police of Uzbekistan. The
Court vacated the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) in Washington, D.C. which had denied Mr. Nifadev asylum,
and the Court remanded the case with additional instructions to the United States Attorney General, including that the BIA should
determine whether the BIA should also reconsider its denial of Nifadev’s application for withholding of removal and protection
under Convention Against Torture (abbreviated CAT for Convention Against Torture And Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment of the United Nations) in light of the opinion of the Court. The Sixth Circuit opinion essentially and
explicitly held that "[b]ecause the IJ [Immigration Judge] appears to have erred in her determination that Nifadev did not suffer
past persecution and because the IJ clearly misinterpreted Nifadev’s credible testimony regarding the ethnic animus of the
Uzbekistan security officials, we find that Nifadev has made out a credible case of being a refugee under the definitions of
8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(A)." [Emphasis added]. The United States Immigration Court in Cleveland, Ohio, had initially
found Mr. Nifadev and his witnesses to be credible but declined to grant asylum because it erroneously determined that
Mr. Nifadev had NOT suffered persecution. Shown in photograph on the right is Mr. Mikheil B. Nifadev with Charleston
C. K. Wang, Esq. who represented Mr. Nifadev during trial and both appeals. To read complete opinion, please click here.
6th Cir. 2014), the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that Mikheil B. Nifadev has proven his claim that he
had suffered persecution by reason of his Russian ethnicity at the hands of the security and regular police of Uzbekistan. The
Court vacated the decision of the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) in Washington, D.C. which had denied Mr. Nifadev asylum,
and the Court remanded the case with additional instructions to the United States Attorney General, including that the BIA should
determine whether the BIA should also reconsider its denial of Nifadev’s application for withholding of removal and protection
under Convention Against Torture (abbreviated CAT for Convention Against Torture And Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment of the United Nations) in light of the opinion of the Court. The Sixth Circuit opinion essentially and
explicitly held that "[b]ecause the IJ [Immigration Judge] appears to have erred in her determination that Nifadev did not suffer
past persecution and because the IJ clearly misinterpreted Nifadev’s credible testimony regarding the ethnic animus of the
Uzbekistan security officials, we find that Nifadev has made out a credible case of being a refugee under the definitions of
8 U.S.C. § 1158(b)(1)(A)." [Emphasis added]. The United States Immigration Court in Cleveland, Ohio, had initially
found Mr. Nifadev and his witnesses to be credible but declined to grant asylum because it erroneously determined that
Mr. Nifadev had NOT suffered persecution. Shown in photograph on the right is Mr. Mikheil B. Nifadev with Charleston
C. K. Wang, Esq. who represented Mr. Nifadev during trial and both appeals. To read complete opinion, please click here.
Pursuant to the Sixth Circuit opinion, the BIA on January 5, 2015, ordered the Immigration Court to grant asylum to Mr. Nifadev.
To read the BIA order, please click here.
To read the BIA order, please click here.
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| Working the Tan Lines by the Aegean of the Mediterranen Beyond in the mist rises fabled Patmos, May 2012 |
| Working the Tan Lines on the bank of the Dead Sea the Lowest Body of Water on Earth more than 1300 feet below Sea Level April 2010. Somewhere near lie biblical Sodom & Gomorrah. |
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Mr. Nifadev applied for permanent resident status in March, 2017.
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TO RETURN TO FIRST PAGE NEWS, CLICK HERE CLICK TO GO TO >PAGE 1> >PAGE 2> >PAGE 3> >PAGE 4> >PAGE 5> >PAGE 6> >PAGE 7> >PAGE 8> >PAGE 9> >PAGE10> >PAGE11> >PAGE 12> >PAGE 13> >PAGE 14> >PAGE 15> >PAGE 16> Photocredit for this page: Charleston C. K. Wang |
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THE FACES OF TURKEY
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| INFOCUS: CHEMICAL WEAPONS & THE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS IN SYRIA Click on Photo |
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| BE THE CHANGE: CIVIL RIGHTS & IMMIGRATION REFORM IN 2013 |
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A REAL UZBEK DYNASTY
| Four Elders from Uzbekistan in their many colored coats Photocredit: Boris Yusupov |
Bill Bell and Charleston C. K. Wang |
| INFOCUS: UNIVERSAL EDUCATION IN THE WORLD - Example of Malala Yousafzai Click on Photo |
| Charge of Light Brigade-Lord Alfred Tennyson Last of Light Brigade-Rudyard Kipling Recessional (Victorian Ode)-Rudyard Kipling |
| Working the Tan Lines by the Aegean of the Mediterranen Beyond in the mist rises fabled Patmos, May 2012 |
| Working the Tan Lines on the bank of the Dead Sea the Lowest Body of Water on Earth more than 1300 feet below Sea Level April 2010. Somewhere near lie biblical Sodom & Gomorrah. |
Charleston C K Wang Speedo
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| Jesus said “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.” Matthew 19:14 The Holy Eucharist at Christ Church Cathedral in the City of Cincinnati |
TRUMP'S LOVE AFFAIR WITH THE WALL, BASE
PROMISES & DECEPTION (Beware Of Bad, Bad Puns -
something about Chinks and cherry lips kissing thy stones :( )
I fear my Thisbe’s promise is forgot!—
And thou, O Wall, O sweet, O lovely Wall,
That stand’st between her father’s ground and mine.
Thou Wall, O Wall, O sweet and lovely Wall,
Show me thy chink to blink through with mine eyne!
I’m afraid my Thisbe has forgotten her promise!—And you, oh Wall,
oh sweet, oh lovely Wall, you stand between her father’s property and mine,
you Wall, oh Wall, oh sweet and lovely Wall.
Show me your hole to stick my eye up against!
WALL holds up fingers as chink e> oIII
Thanks, courteous Wall. Jove shield thee well for this!
But what see I? No Thisbe do I see.
O wicked Wall through whom I see no bliss!
Cursed be thy stones for thus deceiving me!
THESEUS
The wall, methinks, being sensible, should curse again.
BOTTOM
(out of character) No, in truth, sir, he should not.
“Deceiving me” is Thisbe’s cue.
She is to enter now and I am to spy her through the wall.
You shall see, it will fall pat as I told you. Yonder she comes.
Enter THISBE
THISBE
(played by FLUTE)
O Wall, full often hast thou heard my moans,
For parting my fair Pyramus and me!
My cherry lips have often kissed thy stones,
Thy stones with lime and hair knit up in thee.
PYRAMUS
I see a voice. Now will I to the chink,
To spy an I can hear my Thisbe’s face. Thisbe?
THISBE
My love thou art, my love, I think.
William Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER'S NIGHT DREAM Act 5 Scene 1
PROMISES & DECEPTION (Beware Of Bad, Bad Puns -
something about Chinks and cherry lips kissing thy stones :( )
I fear my Thisbe’s promise is forgot!—
And thou, O Wall, O sweet, O lovely Wall,
That stand’st between her father’s ground and mine.
Thou Wall, O Wall, O sweet and lovely Wall,
Show me thy chink to blink through with mine eyne!
I’m afraid my Thisbe has forgotten her promise!—And you, oh Wall,
oh sweet, oh lovely Wall, you stand between her father’s property and mine,
you Wall, oh Wall, oh sweet and lovely Wall.
Show me your hole to stick my eye up against!
WALL holds up fingers as chink e> oIII
Thanks, courteous Wall. Jove shield thee well for this!
But what see I? No Thisbe do I see.
O wicked Wall through whom I see no bliss!
Cursed be thy stones for thus deceiving me!
THESEUS
The wall, methinks, being sensible, should curse again.
BOTTOM
(out of character) No, in truth, sir, he should not.
“Deceiving me” is Thisbe’s cue.
She is to enter now and I am to spy her through the wall.
You shall see, it will fall pat as I told you. Yonder she comes.
Enter THISBE
THISBE
(played by FLUTE)
O Wall, full often hast thou heard my moans,
For parting my fair Pyramus and me!
My cherry lips have often kissed thy stones,
Thy stones with lime and hair knit up in thee.
PYRAMUS
I see a voice. Now will I to the chink,
To spy an I can hear my Thisbe’s face. Thisbe?
THISBE
My love thou art, my love, I think.
William Shakespeare's A MIDSUMMER'S NIGHT DREAM Act 5 Scene 1
| To read "Confession of a Gentile in Jerusalem: The Paradox of the Five Sheklim Blessing," click here. |
| To read "The Road to Emmaus," click here. |
| MEMBERS OF CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL WITH SUSAN NOONAN, PRESIDENT OF THE FBI CINCINNATI CITIZENS ACADEMY ALUMNI ASSOCIATION AT ITS ANNUAL DINNER, RECEPTIONS BANQUET CENTER OF LOVELAND, 2/5/2020 |
| Charleston C. K, Wang. Esq. Cheryl Eagleson, Susan Noonan, President FBICAAA, Father George Hill, FBI Chaplain |
| Trihealth Pavilion 2015 SWIM THE COAST T-Shirt Awarded Distance Swim THIRTY FIVE (35) MILES March 2015 |
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THE DEPTH OF THE "DEEP STATE"
In the last few years, much has been said about the "Deep State" in these United
States, especially by conspiracy theorists. Most of it is polemics coming from very
high sources, tossed out to advance the political agenda of the perpetrator.
But what is the "Deep State?" Generally, there is no firm or standard definition as
the phrase varies greatly in context - that is time, place, and speaker. For example
the very hip urban dictionary on the internet defines "Deep State" as:
A theorized group of shadowy government figures that allegedly make
ruthless or nefarious executive decisions with no oversight, accountability,
or public record. By the very definition, the existence of the deep-state is
hard to disprove. ... The term is used very informally, likely because its
conspiratorial nature can carry an undertone of paranoia.
The staid Merriam-Webster dictionary defines "Deep State" as:
An alleged secret network of especially nonelected government officials and
sometimes private entities (as in the financial services and defense
industries) operating extralegally to influence and enact government policy.
I propose another definition of the "Deep State:" It is:
Civil servants, especially in the federal government, who have served under
two or more presidents and whose actions are governed by their objective
and good faith understanding of the United States Constitution and other laws
and regulations under the Constitution. These career civil servants are
motivated through their long years of service to the nation to do what they
sincerely believe to be ethical for the welfare of the naion and whose actions
transcends the politics of the day.
The dilemma faced by civil servants that come under my definition is what is one to
do when he or she sees improper, whether unlawful, unethical, or immoral. These
nebulous concepts create the first challenge - what is unlawful? Sometimes, lawyers,
and even judges cannot agree. Then, what is "unethical?" What is "immoral?"
For these reasons, and other reasons which includes fear of retaliation, many in the
"Deep State," especially those at the lower levels of government simply choose to
"run silent, run deep," that is keep quiet and do nothing and live another day maybe
to do something. Because they choose to run silent, we do not know their names
and cannot discuss their concerns.
For a few others, they become "whistleblowers," that is they inform a regulatory, law
enforcement, or oversight agency with the power to investigate. Perhaps, the best
In the last few years, much has been said about the "Deep State" in these United
States, especially by conspiracy theorists. Most of it is polemics coming from very
high sources, tossed out to advance the political agenda of the perpetrator.
But what is the "Deep State?" Generally, there is no firm or standard definition as
the phrase varies greatly in context - that is time, place, and speaker. For example
the very hip urban dictionary on the internet defines "Deep State" as:
A theorized group of shadowy government figures that allegedly make
ruthless or nefarious executive decisions with no oversight, accountability,
or public record. By the very definition, the existence of the deep-state is
hard to disprove. ... The term is used very informally, likely because its
conspiratorial nature can carry an undertone of paranoia.
The staid Merriam-Webster dictionary defines "Deep State" as:
An alleged secret network of especially nonelected government officials and
sometimes private entities (as in the financial services and defense
industries) operating extralegally to influence and enact government policy.
I propose another definition of the "Deep State:" It is:
Civil servants, especially in the federal government, who have served under
two or more presidents and whose actions are governed by their objective
and good faith understanding of the United States Constitution and other laws
and regulations under the Constitution. These career civil servants are
motivated through their long years of service to the nation to do what they
sincerely believe to be ethical for the welfare of the naion and whose actions
transcends the politics of the day.
The dilemma faced by civil servants that come under my definition is what is one to
do when he or she sees improper, whether unlawful, unethical, or immoral. These
nebulous concepts create the first challenge - what is unlawful? Sometimes, lawyers,
and even judges cannot agree. Then, what is "unethical?" What is "immoral?"
For these reasons, and other reasons which includes fear of retaliation, many in the
"Deep State," especially those at the lower levels of government simply choose to
"run silent, run deep," that is keep quiet and do nothing and live another day maybe
to do something. Because they choose to run silent, we do not know their names
and cannot discuss their concerns.
For a few others, they become "whistleblowers," that is they inform a regulatory, law
enforcement, or oversight agency with the power to investigate. Perhaps, the best
known name recently of a whistleblower at a relatively high level is Lt. Col. Alexander
Vindman. While serving in the National Security Council, Col. Vindman publicly
testified in person before the U. S. House of Representatives about the attempt by
President Donald Trump to get the Ukrainian government to investigate a political rival,
former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. The House voted to impeach the
President, but upon acquittal by the Senate, Col. Vindman and his twin brother were
relieved of their assignments to the White House. Traditionally, the whistleblower is
hated as a traitor deserving the highest penalty or admired as a quickly forgotten public
hero.
Then there are fewer others in the "Deep State" who dare to use their own official
powers to investigate the highest office holder. Most of these publicly known names
come from within the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Perhaps the most famous is
James Comey. He was dismissed from his post as Director of the FBI by President
Trump on May 9, 2017. The White House gave shifting reasons for the firing. Comey
insistss he was fired because of his refusal to stop the early stages of the Russian
investigation, that is the involvement of Trump associates in the Russian interference
with the Trump-Clinton election of 2016 (which was further investigated by Special
Counsel Robert Mueller).
Even as I write this opinion, the "Deep State" apparently continues to plague the
White House. I respectfully suggest that Dr. Anthony Fauci is one such person who
has come to the surface to openly contradict President Trump regarding his
position on COVID-19. In 1968, Dr. Fauci joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
as a clinical associate and now serves as head of the National Institute for Allergies
and Infectious Diseases within the NIH. In 2008, he won the Presidential Medal of
Freedom. His public statements based on science and epidemiological data are a
breath of fresh clean air in contrast to the unfounded statements from the President
on the coronavirus. Dr. Fauci's fact based statements to the public vitally
supplement the politicized statements issuing at the higher levels, including the
defensive understatements ab initio of the Surgeon General who was appointed by
the President in 2017. As of now, Dr. Fauci is still at his post.
So you see, the "Deep State" is deeper than what meets the eye. At this juncture of
time, place, and personalities. I am glad that we have a "Deep State" that speaks the
truth or blows the whistle, whether on matters of political wellbeing or public health.
As Greta Thunberg, wise beyond her years, famously said: "Nature doesn’t bargain, and
you cannot make deals with physics,” And King Canute, a Scandinavian of old, could
not stop the rise of the ocean tide by sitting on his throne on the beach.
Postscript: With the emerging coronavirus/COVID-19 emergency, it will be the "Deep
State" federal civil servants - e,g, scientists in the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, researchers in the National Institutes for Health, and commissioned officers
of the Public Health Service who will go forth to objectively assess and control the
epidemic.
An Opinion by Charleston C. K. Wang, Updated March 17, 2020.
Vindman. While serving in the National Security Council, Col. Vindman publicly
testified in person before the U. S. House of Representatives about the attempt by
President Donald Trump to get the Ukrainian government to investigate a political rival,
former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. The House voted to impeach the
President, but upon acquittal by the Senate, Col. Vindman and his twin brother were
relieved of their assignments to the White House. Traditionally, the whistleblower is
hated as a traitor deserving the highest penalty or admired as a quickly forgotten public
hero.
Then there are fewer others in the "Deep State" who dare to use their own official
powers to investigate the highest office holder. Most of these publicly known names
come from within the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Perhaps the most famous is
James Comey. He was dismissed from his post as Director of the FBI by President
Trump on May 9, 2017. The White House gave shifting reasons for the firing. Comey
insistss he was fired because of his refusal to stop the early stages of the Russian
investigation, that is the involvement of Trump associates in the Russian interference
with the Trump-Clinton election of 2016 (which was further investigated by Special
Counsel Robert Mueller).
Even as I write this opinion, the "Deep State" apparently continues to plague the
White House. I respectfully suggest that Dr. Anthony Fauci is one such person who
has come to the surface to openly contradict President Trump regarding his
position on COVID-19. In 1968, Dr. Fauci joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
as a clinical associate and now serves as head of the National Institute for Allergies
and Infectious Diseases within the NIH. In 2008, he won the Presidential Medal of
Freedom. His public statements based on science and epidemiological data are a
breath of fresh clean air in contrast to the unfounded statements from the President
on the coronavirus. Dr. Fauci's fact based statements to the public vitally
supplement the politicized statements issuing at the higher levels, including the
defensive understatements ab initio of the Surgeon General who was appointed by
the President in 2017. As of now, Dr. Fauci is still at his post.
So you see, the "Deep State" is deeper than what meets the eye. At this juncture of
time, place, and personalities. I am glad that we have a "Deep State" that speaks the
truth or blows the whistle, whether on matters of political wellbeing or public health.
As Greta Thunberg, wise beyond her years, famously said: "Nature doesn’t bargain, and
you cannot make deals with physics,” And King Canute, a Scandinavian of old, could
not stop the rise of the ocean tide by sitting on his throne on the beach.
Postscript: With the emerging coronavirus/COVID-19 emergency, it will be the "Deep
State" federal civil servants - e,g, scientists in the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, researchers in the National Institutes for Health, and commissioned officers
of the Public Health Service who will go forth to objectively assess and control the
epidemic.
An Opinion by Charleston C. K. Wang, Updated March 17, 2020.
---===oooOOOooo==--
| KEEP CALM BREATHE ON! Be Safe: Wear Your Mask & Practice Social Distancing |
The Coronavirus Does Not Play Politics
RECENTLY President Trump labelled himself a “War President.” Angela Merkel,
Chancellor of Germany in a rare national television address more subtly said that
"COVID-19 is the biggest challenge since World War II."
But who are we at war against? The new coronavirus which causes the COVID-19
sickness is sub-microscopic genetic material which occurs in nature. The virus
can only replicate inside another living host and causes illness when it invades
the cells of the host. This coronavirus is zoonotic, meaning that it can jump
from one animal species into another, for example from bats to humans.
Viruses have been with us since the first humans and most likely even before
that time. For example for thousands of years the human smallpox virus killed
many people and decimated the Aztecs in Mexico and other native populations in
the Americas in the sixteenth century. Dr. Edward Jenner, during a time when
smallpox was killing many people in the world noticed that milkmaids did not get
smallpox. But they got mild pox-like blisters from cows. This was cowpox. Dr.
Jenner is credited with discovering the smallpox vaccine which helped eradicate
smallpox. Dr. Jenner did this without knowing exactly what a virus was - he did
not have an electron microscope or DNA/RNA technology. But he did know
something about cows and milkmaids. The home of Dr. Edward Jenner is now a
museum where Blossom the Gloucester moo moo cow occupies a place of honor.
There, visitors can come and view her cow horns. Blossom supplied the cowpox
through a dairymaid named Sarah Nelmes that was used in Dr. Jenner's successful
experiment of inoculating eight year old James Phipps. The modern word vaccine
comes from vacca which is Latin for cow.
Smaller than bacteria, the virus first become known when in 1892 two scientists
discovered the tobacco mosaic virus, a virus that infects plants (the plant virus
is not known to infect animals). All types of viruses are and will be part of our
natural environment.
RECENTLY President Trump labelled himself a “War President.” Angela Merkel,
Chancellor of Germany in a rare national television address more subtly said that
"COVID-19 is the biggest challenge since World War II."
But who are we at war against? The new coronavirus which causes the COVID-19
sickness is sub-microscopic genetic material which occurs in nature. The virus
can only replicate inside another living host and causes illness when it invades
the cells of the host. This coronavirus is zoonotic, meaning that it can jump
from one animal species into another, for example from bats to humans.
Viruses have been with us since the first humans and most likely even before
that time. For example for thousands of years the human smallpox virus killed
many people and decimated the Aztecs in Mexico and other native populations in
the Americas in the sixteenth century. Dr. Edward Jenner, during a time when
smallpox was killing many people in the world noticed that milkmaids did not get
smallpox. But they got mild pox-like blisters from cows. This was cowpox. Dr.
Jenner is credited with discovering the smallpox vaccine which helped eradicate
smallpox. Dr. Jenner did this without knowing exactly what a virus was - he did
not have an electron microscope or DNA/RNA technology. But he did know
something about cows and milkmaids. The home of Dr. Edward Jenner is now a
museum where Blossom the Gloucester moo moo cow occupies a place of honor.
There, visitors can come and view her cow horns. Blossom supplied the cowpox
through a dairymaid named Sarah Nelmes that was used in Dr. Jenner's successful
experiment of inoculating eight year old James Phipps. The modern word vaccine
comes from vacca which is Latin for cow.
Smaller than bacteria, the virus first become known when in 1892 two scientists
discovered the tobacco mosaic virus, a virus that infects plants (the plant virus
is not known to infect animals). All types of viruses are and will be part of our
natural environment.
So how does one wage war or even play politics with a virus. Greta Thunberg,
wise beyond her years, recently said: "Nature doesn’t bargain, and you cannot
make deals with physics (in our case, biology).” The viral battlefield ultimately is our
own human body which must fight and defeat the virus, the foreign body. Our own
immune system produces antibodies that recognize and attach to the virus to
neutralize it.
Better yet, all of us can follow social practices to prevent the virus from entering
our own bodies in the first place. While every human being on earth may eventually
have to fight his or her own private war with the virus, prevention will flatten
the time occurrence curve. And give science time to search for a vaccine to
help prevent infection. Remember Dr. Edward Jenner, (and Blosson too) a
pioneer of the vaccination. And time to treat those seriously affected. We must
be mindful and ever thankful of all the health care professionals who are taking daily
risks to help the people who are sick.
This COVID-19 virus will cause economic dislocation and
human suffering, but unlike World War II or any other war
between nations, this war against the coronavirus is an
individual’s war. We must all play our role in preventing
its rapid spread. The good news is that the coronavirus
does not attack our infrastructure and all our homes, cars
and trucks, stores and factories will be there after humanity
has bested this virus (this is where our politicans can help -
to make sure no one loses the home and other personal
assets during this "war"). In the meantime, we must have
spirit to look out for not only ourselves but our neighbors,
near and far. And spring and Easter are coming.
An opinion by Charleston C. K. Wang, March 22, 2020.
wise beyond her years, recently said: "Nature doesn’t bargain, and you cannot
make deals with physics (in our case, biology).” The viral battlefield ultimately is our
own human body which must fight and defeat the virus, the foreign body. Our own
immune system produces antibodies that recognize and attach to the virus to
neutralize it.
Better yet, all of us can follow social practices to prevent the virus from entering
our own bodies in the first place. While every human being on earth may eventually
have to fight his or her own private war with the virus, prevention will flatten
the time occurrence curve. And give science time to search for a vaccine to
help prevent infection. Remember Dr. Edward Jenner, (and Blosson too) a
pioneer of the vaccination. And time to treat those seriously affected. We must
be mindful and ever thankful of all the health care professionals who are taking daily
risks to help the people who are sick.
This COVID-19 virus will cause economic dislocation and
human suffering, but unlike World War II or any other war
between nations, this war against the coronavirus is an
individual’s war. We must all play our role in preventing
its rapid spread. The good news is that the coronavirus
does not attack our infrastructure and all our homes, cars
and trucks, stores and factories will be there after humanity
has bested this virus (this is where our politicans can help -
to make sure no one loses the home and other personal
assets during this "war"). In the meantime, we must have
spirit to look out for not only ourselves but our neighbors,
near and far. And spring and Easter are coming.
An opinion by Charleston C. K. Wang, March 22, 2020.
---===oooOOOooo==--
OF MICE AND COWS
Over 200 years ago, Robert Burns wrote To a Mouse: “The best
laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley.” That observation
still fascinates us today, a time of the virus, human illness, and
economic malaise. Ergo the travails of the stock markets all over
the world. But stay calm and breathe on.
As for cows, I already wrote something about them (see article below) -
how a Gloucester moo moo cow and a milkmaid helped Dr. Edward
Jenner eradicate the smallpox through vaccination. But do not
overlook the potential contribution of the tiny mouse in the current
fight against the new coronavirus and COVID-19.
Some people develop mild or little symptoms after exposure to the
new coronavirus while others become critically ill or even die. Using
the basic principles of virology which go back to smallpox days, the
question then is why some people can fight off COVID-19? Can
the plasma of COVID -19 survivors be used to help those who are
critically ill? A technique can be traced back to over 100 years and
that was used with varying success more recently against the H1N1
pandemic in 2009 and 2013 Ebola epidemic .
Over 200 years ago, Robert Burns wrote To a Mouse: “The best
laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley.” That observation
still fascinates us today, a time of the virus, human illness, and
economic malaise. Ergo the travails of the stock markets all over
the world. But stay calm and breathe on.
As for cows, I already wrote something about them (see article below) -
how a Gloucester moo moo cow and a milkmaid helped Dr. Edward
Jenner eradicate the smallpox through vaccination. But do not
overlook the potential contribution of the tiny mouse in the current
fight against the new coronavirus and COVID-19.
Some people develop mild or little symptoms after exposure to the
new coronavirus while others become critically ill or even die. Using
the basic principles of virology which go back to smallpox days, the
question then is why some people can fight off COVID-19? Can
the plasma of COVID -19 survivors be used to help those who are
critically ill? A technique can be traced back to over 100 years and
that was used with varying success more recently against the H1N1
pandemic in 2009 and 2013 Ebola epidemic .
| The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. |
| Science Officer U.S.S. Moomoocow |
On March 24, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration through an emergency investigational new drug (IND) protocol, gave permission to
researchers and doctors to request the use of plasma from COVID-19 survivors to deliver antibodies to seriously ill patients. This treatment is also
known as convalescent therapy.
At the same time, mice with human immune systems are being recruited to help in the safe development towards plasma therapy and other treatments
and even a vaccine specific to COVID-19. So much for the best laid plans of mice and men often going astray!
Once again, it is worth repeating, that while many politicians see themselves as leading a national war against the coronavirus, this virus does not
attack a society's infrastructure. Once humanity has overcome COVID-19, each and every home, car, truck, shop, and factory will still be here. Our
politicians have the duty to ensure that no citizen loses his or her home, or other important property because of the need to fight the virus.
But the coronavirus does take a toll on the human body and the human spirit. While many protocols other than plasma treatment are in the test phase,
we can have confidence that medical science, given time, will yield one or more treatments and a vaccine against the virus. In the meantime, each and
every one of us must practice social distancing and good hygiene to reduce the spread of the cononavirus and "flatten the curve." And give thanks
to the health professionals, clinical and research, who are on the "front lines" of this "war."
As for the spirit, we must draw upon our inner strength and our faith in that which is good. We must see not only to ourselves, but to our neighbors, near
and far, because humanity and the spirit are in this fight together. Light will overcome darkness. Warmer weather is upon us; spring is here, and Easter
will come soon.
Charleston C. K. Wang, Updated March 29, 2020.
researchers and doctors to request the use of plasma from COVID-19 survivors to deliver antibodies to seriously ill patients. This treatment is also
known as convalescent therapy.
At the same time, mice with human immune systems are being recruited to help in the safe development towards plasma therapy and other treatments
and even a vaccine specific to COVID-19. So much for the best laid plans of mice and men often going astray!
Once again, it is worth repeating, that while many politicians see themselves as leading a national war against the coronavirus, this virus does not
attack a society's infrastructure. Once humanity has overcome COVID-19, each and every home, car, truck, shop, and factory will still be here. Our
politicians have the duty to ensure that no citizen loses his or her home, or other important property because of the need to fight the virus.
But the coronavirus does take a toll on the human body and the human spirit. While many protocols other than plasma treatment are in the test phase,
we can have confidence that medical science, given time, will yield one or more treatments and a vaccine against the virus. In the meantime, each and
every one of us must practice social distancing and good hygiene to reduce the spread of the cononavirus and "flatten the curve." And give thanks
to the health professionals, clinical and research, who are on the "front lines" of this "war."
As for the spirit, we must draw upon our inner strength and our faith in that which is good. We must see not only to ourselves, but to our neighbors, near
and far, because humanity and the spirit are in this fight together. Light will overcome darkness. Warmer weather is upon us; spring is here, and Easter
will come soon.
Charleston C. K. Wang, Updated March 29, 2020.
| Live long & prosper |
| The Bombing of London During World War II |
RECALLING JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES
After a series of financial tremors, stock prices on Wall Street plunged 11%. This
crash occurred on Black Thursday, October 24, 1929. The bear market lasted into
1932 dragging the United States and the world economies into a decade of
impoverishment.
The collapse on Wall Street after the period of ease and speculation known as the
Roaring Twenties induced a panic on Main Street Many people who did not invest
in stocks rushed to withdraw their savings deposits from banks in big cities to small
towns. They demanded the banks give them cash. This led to the many banks closing
their doors. Businesses defaulted on their loans and the desperate banks foreclosed.
One closure let to another. Businesses ran out of money and people lost their jobs.
Quickly the economy was in free fall.
The downward spiral seemed to have no end. The interest rate for borrowing
money fell to very low levels for the times and yet there was no interest or ability
to borrow. By 1932, U. S. industrial production was -46%, foreign trade fell 78% and
unemployment rose 600%.
The bankers and financiers during those dark days were at the end of their
wits, and for some, their lives. It seems there was nothing the captains of American
industry could do to save the country. Despair and hopelessness was the order of
the day.
But, the economist John Maynard Keynes saw more, and in 1936, explained in his
book General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money:
"There is the possibility...that, after the rate of interest has fallen to a certain level,
liquidity-preference may become virtually absolute in the sense that almost everyone
prefers cash to holding a debt which yields so low a rate of interest. In this event the
monetary authority would have lost effective control over the rate of interest. But
whilst this limiting case might become practically important in future, I know of no
example of it hitherto."
This observation is now known in technical economics language as the "Liquidity
Trap." Today, this phenomenon is also called the exhaustion of "Monetary Policy."
Most of the time, once we have identified the problem and have given it a name, the
cure is close at hand. So it was with the liquidity trap.
So here is the Keynesian Solution in the context of the Great Depression: Since
the banks are unable to make loans for both lack of demand for borrowing and a
shocking shortage of money because of the preceding run on financial
institutions, the answer must come from the Federal Government through direct
spending. Unfortunately, perhaps due to a lag in understanding of economics in
those days, this solution was not implemented sooner.
This does not mean the unprincipled or desperate printing of money in the hope of
stimulating consumption, or simply helping the people buy bread, as this will inexorably
lead to spiraling inflation and rapid devaluation of the national currency. This
unfortunate scenario was unfolding in many countries including major nations in Europe.
After a series of financial tremors, stock prices on Wall Street plunged 11%. This
crash occurred on Black Thursday, October 24, 1929. The bear market lasted into
1932 dragging the United States and the world economies into a decade of
impoverishment.
The collapse on Wall Street after the period of ease and speculation known as the
Roaring Twenties induced a panic on Main Street Many people who did not invest
in stocks rushed to withdraw their savings deposits from banks in big cities to small
towns. They demanded the banks give them cash. This led to the many banks closing
their doors. Businesses defaulted on their loans and the desperate banks foreclosed.
One closure let to another. Businesses ran out of money and people lost their jobs.
Quickly the economy was in free fall.
The downward spiral seemed to have no end. The interest rate for borrowing
money fell to very low levels for the times and yet there was no interest or ability
to borrow. By 1932, U. S. industrial production was -46%, foreign trade fell 78% and
unemployment rose 600%.
The bankers and financiers during those dark days were at the end of their
wits, and for some, their lives. It seems there was nothing the captains of American
industry could do to save the country. Despair and hopelessness was the order of
the day.
But, the economist John Maynard Keynes saw more, and in 1936, explained in his
book General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money:
"There is the possibility...that, after the rate of interest has fallen to a certain level,
liquidity-preference may become virtually absolute in the sense that almost everyone
prefers cash to holding a debt which yields so low a rate of interest. In this event the
monetary authority would have lost effective control over the rate of interest. But
whilst this limiting case might become practically important in future, I know of no
example of it hitherto."
This observation is now known in technical economics language as the "Liquidity
Trap." Today, this phenomenon is also called the exhaustion of "Monetary Policy."
Most of the time, once we have identified the problem and have given it a name, the
cure is close at hand. So it was with the liquidity trap.
So here is the Keynesian Solution in the context of the Great Depression: Since
the banks are unable to make loans for both lack of demand for borrowing and a
shocking shortage of money because of the preceding run on financial
institutions, the answer must come from the Federal Government through direct
spending. Unfortunately, perhaps due to a lag in understanding of economics in
those days, this solution was not implemented sooner.
This does not mean the unprincipled or desperate printing of money in the hope of
stimulating consumption, or simply helping the people buy bread, as this will inexorably
lead to spiraling inflation and rapid devaluation of the national currency. This
unfortunate scenario was unfolding in many countries including major nations in Europe.
To be yet wiser, the national government must restart a stagnating economy by
organizing employment for people desperate for work and paying for their work.
This must be implemented gradually over months stretching into years. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt and the U. S. Congress began to institute an extensive series
of public work projects, as well as, financial reforms, and regulations to help bring
the nation out of the Great Depression.
Direct government spending to create jobs and make payroll in aid of an depleted
monetary policy (the liquidity trap or stagnation of the flow of currency) is also
known as "Fiscal Policy." The liquidity trap during the Great Depression has been
verified by many research studies after that terrible decade and federal fiscal policy
is credited in helping America emerge from the Great Depression up until 1941
when World War II came to these shores.
Over the years, Keynesian economics, having been criticized as socialism and
deficit spending, is somewhat faded. But I think Keynes was an English capitalist
who saw clearly the limits of capitalism and was sufficiently liberal to look for an
answer outside the bank vault. At the risk of giving John Maynard Keynes too
much credit, brilliant economist as he was, (he had detractors for his economics
and other reasons as well - he was bisexual and an advocate for women's right
and gender equality) the New Deal beginning in 1932 is a version of the Keynesian
understanding of currency/money liquidity and the economic solution to the
liquidity trap and unemployment.
The liquidity trap was observed once again in the Great Recession of 2008, caused
by an over-extended real estate mortgage market. Now in 2020, we are witnessing
a new liquidity trap. The Federal Reserve has dropped its interest rate to around 0%
but this move had minimum effect in restoring economic confidence on Wall Street,
insofar as it is measured by stock prices.
Accordingly, during March the U. S. Congress quickly passed two pieces of spending
legislation over $2 trillion. Perhaps, and luckily, the risk of inflation currently is
offset by record low oil prices. Even so, on March 31, President Donald Trump, to
his credit, is consulting with Congress for another $2 trillion in a direct infrastructure
spending package to help heal the economic malaise. Perhaps it is appropriate for
quote Chairman Deng Xiaoping who famously said: "No matter if it is a white cat or a
black cat; as long as it can catch mice, it is a good cat." Meoow.
An opinion by Charleston C. K. Wang, April 1, 2020.
DOES DOSE MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN COVID-19 TRANSMISSION?
When Can America Go Back to Work:
A Question of Dose-Morbidity Threshold and Cost-Benefit Analysis?
There is a time-tested adage in toxicology - "the dose makes the poison." This
principle is the scientific basis for OSHA industrial hygiene regulations/exposure
standards. It is applicable to chemical agents (including carcinogens) and
physical agents (including radiation which also causes cancer).
This concept is also vital in pharmacology and medicine- "the dose determines
the cure."
The question then is dosage of exposure during transmission of the COVID-19
virus and onset of illness one of the factors in severity of subsequent illness?
Stated alternately, ceteris paribus, does virus dose (both concentration
multiplied by time duration of exposure) make a direct difference to
morbidity/mortality? The follow-up inquiry then is - "Is there a threshold level?"
- this question will be critical for public policy in coming days.
Think of it this way - can a human body successfully, through the immune
response, resist a single invading coronavirus unit or its active"molecule"?
10, 1,000, 1 million, 1 trillion? Where does the morbid dose fall - is there a
threshold or not? This threshold question was debated very intensely during
OSHA policy standard setting vis-a-vis carcinogens - the zero exposure
threshold argument based on carcinogenesis from a single molecule was set
aside. This is why OSHAenforces a permissible exposure level for known
carcinogens such as asbestos, benzene, coke oven emissions, etc. albeit
set very low.
Indeed, present technology for COVID-19 testing yields quantitative data on
"load" in samples taken from patients. Currently, virus concentration or "viral
load" can be expressed as "copies per milliliter." Samples extracted from the
upper respiratory tract of COVID-19 positive patients show virus concentrations
ranging from around a low of 4 log ten (range in the 10,000) to 6 log ten (range in
the millions) depending on the age of the patient (published on March 23, 2020 in
Lancet). Comparable reports have appeared, inter alia, in the New England
Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Microbiology).
The availability of quantitative data lends itself to the construction of a classical
"dose-response curve." An earlier article dated February 20, 2020 in the Journal
of Korean Medical Science presents a discussion of "Viral Load Kinetics"
wherein the authors correlate virus concentrations (decreasing) over duration of
illness in two patients.
When Can America Go Back to Work:
A Question of Dose-Morbidity Threshold and Cost-Benefit Analysis?
There is a time-tested adage in toxicology - "the dose makes the poison." This
principle is the scientific basis for OSHA industrial hygiene regulations/exposure
standards. It is applicable to chemical agents (including carcinogens) and
physical agents (including radiation which also causes cancer).
This concept is also vital in pharmacology and medicine- "the dose determines
the cure."
The question then is dosage of exposure during transmission of the COVID-19
virus and onset of illness one of the factors in severity of subsequent illness?
Stated alternately, ceteris paribus, does virus dose (both concentration
multiplied by time duration of exposure) make a direct difference to
morbidity/mortality? The follow-up inquiry then is - "Is there a threshold level?"
- this question will be critical for public policy in coming days.
Think of it this way - can a human body successfully, through the immune
response, resist a single invading coronavirus unit or its active"molecule"?
10, 1,000, 1 million, 1 trillion? Where does the morbid dose fall - is there a
threshold or not? This threshold question was debated very intensely during
OSHA policy standard setting vis-a-vis carcinogens - the zero exposure
threshold argument based on carcinogenesis from a single molecule was set
aside. This is why OSHAenforces a permissible exposure level for known
carcinogens such as asbestos, benzene, coke oven emissions, etc. albeit
set very low.
Indeed, present technology for COVID-19 testing yields quantitative data on
"load" in samples taken from patients. Currently, virus concentration or "viral
load" can be expressed as "copies per milliliter." Samples extracted from the
upper respiratory tract of COVID-19 positive patients show virus concentrations
ranging from around a low of 4 log ten (range in the 10,000) to 6 log ten (range in
the millions) depending on the age of the patient (published on March 23, 2020 in
Lancet). Comparable reports have appeared, inter alia, in the New England
Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Microbiology).
The availability of quantitative data lends itself to the construction of a classical
"dose-response curve." An earlier article dated February 20, 2020 in the Journal
of Korean Medical Science presents a discussion of "Viral Load Kinetics"
wherein the authors correlate virus concentrations (decreasing) over duration of
illness in two patients.
This is not exactly on point for this discussion on dosage response in the
context of transmission from a person with the virus (perhaps pre-symptomatic
or even asymptomatic, not to be ruling anything out) to a virus free person.
Perhaps it is impossible to do controlled studies on the human population but
epidemiological data or animal data may be found if looked for. Such
information may prove vital in future public health policy debates as to when
draconian quarantine can be eased? Under what circumstances is it safe to go
back to work? The question will increasingly be a subject matter of public
discussions in the days to come.
Finally, looming always somewhere out there is the specter of or even need for
cost-benefit analysis? To recap at the risk of over-simplification or even
over-reach, cost-benefit analysis in public health policy-making is a economic
evaluation methodology where the costs of the program or intervention are
compared to the benefits of the intervention, and both costs and benefits
compared in terms of dollars. Efforts at such cost-benefit analysis have always
been plagued by the need to put a dollar value on human life.
An opinion by Charleston C. K, Wang. April 9, 2020. He was a former OSHA
Compliance Officer and a former Board Certified Industrial Hygienist. He also
conducted research on control technology with NIOSH/CDC.
context of transmission from a person with the virus (perhaps pre-symptomatic
or even asymptomatic, not to be ruling anything out) to a virus free person.
Perhaps it is impossible to do controlled studies on the human population but
epidemiological data or animal data may be found if looked for. Such
information may prove vital in future public health policy debates as to when
draconian quarantine can be eased? Under what circumstances is it safe to go
back to work? The question will increasingly be a subject matter of public
discussions in the days to come.
Finally, looming always somewhere out there is the specter of or even need for
cost-benefit analysis? To recap at the risk of over-simplification or even
over-reach, cost-benefit analysis in public health policy-making is a economic
evaluation methodology where the costs of the program or intervention are
compared to the benefits of the intervention, and both costs and benefits
compared in terms of dollars. Efforts at such cost-benefit analysis have always
been plagued by the need to put a dollar value on human life.
An opinion by Charleston C. K, Wang. April 9, 2020. He was a former OSHA
Compliance Officer and a former Board Certified Industrial Hygienist. He also
conducted research on control technology with NIOSH/CDC.
| KEEP CALM BREATHE ON |
| OSHA SAVES LIVES - OSHA LEVEL C PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT (PPE) This full-face air-purifying respirator fitted with HEPA P100 (color coded pink) filter cartridges NOT needed for coronavirus |
ANATOMY OF A NIOSH/OSHA RESPIRATOR
Currently because of the novel coronavirus, there are many stories and photos of
respiratory PPEs (short for personal protective equipment). A vital component is
respiratory protection - the face mask - since the virus is transmitted person to person
though liquid droplets ejected from the mouth and nose of an infected person.
There is a great demand and a shortage of the disposable "N95 mask" (technically a
"filtering facepiece respirator or FFR). The National Institute For Occupational Safety
and Health (NIOSH), a research agency within the Centers of Disease Control and
Prevention, defines the N95 respirators as those "that filters at least 95% of airborne
particles but is not resistant to oil." Ideally, and OSHA has always emphasized that a
respirator should be selected based on test-fitting to the face of the wearer. Test-fitting
is usually is not done on disposable N95 masks, and there always the question of having
a good fit and therefore seal. The user must be trained to properly don the respirator
and field check for seal and leakage before entering the hazardous environment.
To work optimally, an air filtering PPE respirator must have separate exhalation and
inhalation valves. The inhalation valve(s) is designed to open and the exhalation valve
to close when the wearer breathes in - all the contaminated air must now pass through
the filter which is attached to the exhalation valve and is purified by the filter. When
breathing out the opposite happens with the valves - the design allows the moisture
laden breath to pass to the outside the mask directly bypassing the filters. This prevents
the precious filter material from saturating which will occur quickly without the valves.
Since the virus is transmitted in aqueous droplets ejected from the nose and mouth, once
the filter is saturated with water, it becomes permeable to virus laden liquid droplets. More
so on a 95% filter than one with say 99.97% removal efficiency.
The photograph on the right shows the inside of my OSHA issued test-fitted half-face
air-purifying respirator which I used when I was an OSHA Compliance Officer. In the
center of the rubber polymer face-piece is the EXHALATION VALVE. On the left and right
are the INHALATION VALVES that connect to twin filter cartridges. Note that fitted with twin
HEPA P100 filter cartridges which are color coded magenta or "pink." The HEPA P100 is
NIOSH rated for removal of 99.97% of aerosols that include both very fine liquid and solid
particulates. This is the only filter sufficient to protect against asbestos, a deadly
carcinogen that causes lung cancer and mesothelioma.
Currently because of the novel coronavirus, there are many stories and photos of
respiratory PPEs (short for personal protective equipment). A vital component is
respiratory protection - the face mask - since the virus is transmitted person to person
though liquid droplets ejected from the mouth and nose of an infected person.
There is a great demand and a shortage of the disposable "N95 mask" (technically a
"filtering facepiece respirator or FFR). The National Institute For Occupational Safety
and Health (NIOSH), a research agency within the Centers of Disease Control and
Prevention, defines the N95 respirators as those "that filters at least 95% of airborne
particles but is not resistant to oil." Ideally, and OSHA has always emphasized that a
respirator should be selected based on test-fitting to the face of the wearer. Test-fitting
is usually is not done on disposable N95 masks, and there always the question of having
a good fit and therefore seal. The user must be trained to properly don the respirator
and field check for seal and leakage before entering the hazardous environment.
To work optimally, an air filtering PPE respirator must have separate exhalation and
inhalation valves. The inhalation valve(s) is designed to open and the exhalation valve
to close when the wearer breathes in - all the contaminated air must now pass through
the filter which is attached to the exhalation valve and is purified by the filter. When
breathing out the opposite happens with the valves - the design allows the moisture
laden breath to pass to the outside the mask directly bypassing the filters. This prevents
the precious filter material from saturating which will occur quickly without the valves.
Since the virus is transmitted in aqueous droplets ejected from the nose and mouth, once
the filter is saturated with water, it becomes permeable to virus laden liquid droplets. More
so on a 95% filter than one with say 99.97% removal efficiency.
The photograph on the right shows the inside of my OSHA issued test-fitted half-face
air-purifying respirator which I used when I was an OSHA Compliance Officer. In the
center of the rubber polymer face-piece is the EXHALATION VALVE. On the left and right
are the INHALATION VALVES that connect to twin filter cartridges. Note that fitted with twin
HEPA P100 filter cartridges which are color coded magenta or "pink." The HEPA P100 is
NIOSH rated for removal of 99.97% of aerosols that include both very fine liquid and solid
particulates. This is the only filter sufficient to protect against asbestos, a deadly
carcinogen that causes lung cancer and mesothelioma.
The photograph on the left shows the front outside of the same mask. Note the
external port of the EXHALATION VALVE in the lower center of the face-piece and
the twin magenta filter cartridges that connect to INHALATION VALVES which are
hidden from view . These filters are replaceable as needed. The face-piece can
and must be cleaned regularly with soap and water. While all viruses are very
small, the novel coronavirus is transmitted in larger liquid droplets, ergo the
N95 mask.
Presently most of the N95 masks in use against the coronavirus do not have
replaceable filters. So there is no INHALATION VALVE because the mask itself
functions as the inhalation mechanism. The better masks have a built in
exhalation valve and prt which prevent the mask from saturating with condensed
moisture from the wearer's exhaled breath. Of course infected persons should
not be issued masks with an exhalation valve. Such masks also should not be
used in enviromments calling for sterile fields such as the surgical operating room.
Finally, the basic question during this COVID-19 pandemic is why do we wear masks
- to protect ourselves being being infected or to prevent an infected person to
spread the coronavirus to healthy persons?
Even with the simpler disposable N95s, adequate supply is always a concern.
Over time, when the situation stabilizes, the use of a better respirator plus
test-fitting (balanced against the convenience and perceived safety provided by
disposable masks in infectious environments) should be given further research
and review, especially in the context of occupational safety and health. Recall the
old OSHA wisdom - protect the first responders first.
An opinion by Charleston C. K. Wang. Updated April 8, 2020. He was a former OSHA
Compliance Officer and a former Board Certified Industrial Hygienist. He also
conducted research on control technology with NIOSH/CDC.
external port of the EXHALATION VALVE in the lower center of the face-piece and
the twin magenta filter cartridges that connect to INHALATION VALVES which are
hidden from view . These filters are replaceable as needed. The face-piece can
and must be cleaned regularly with soap and water. While all viruses are very
small, the novel coronavirus is transmitted in larger liquid droplets, ergo the
N95 mask.
Presently most of the N95 masks in use against the coronavirus do not have
replaceable filters. So there is no INHALATION VALVE because the mask itself
functions as the inhalation mechanism. The better masks have a built in
exhalation valve and prt which prevent the mask from saturating with condensed
moisture from the wearer's exhaled breath. Of course infected persons should
not be issued masks with an exhalation valve. Such masks also should not be
used in enviromments calling for sterile fields such as the surgical operating room.
Finally, the basic question during this COVID-19 pandemic is why do we wear masks
- to protect ourselves being being infected or to prevent an infected person to
spread the coronavirus to healthy persons?
Even with the simpler disposable N95s, adequate supply is always a concern.
Over time, when the situation stabilizes, the use of a better respirator plus
test-fitting (balanced against the convenience and perceived safety provided by
disposable masks in infectious environments) should be given further research
and review, especially in the context of occupational safety and health. Recall the
old OSHA wisdom - protect the first responders first.
An opinion by Charleston C. K. Wang. Updated April 8, 2020. He was a former OSHA
Compliance Officer and a former Board Certified Industrial Hygienist. He also
conducted research on control technology with NIOSH/CDC.
EXHALATION VALVE^
| INHALATION V VALVES V |
EXHALATION PORT TO VALVE^
FILTER
CARTRIDGE
MAGENTA V
CARTRIDGE
MAGENTA V
FILTER
CARTRIDGE
MAGENTA
V
CARTRIDGE
MAGENTA
V
Will We Ever Learn?
The outcome of these practices is “neighborliness” – “love your neighbor as yourself”. So, here we are, historical, Biblical philosophy come to life for the whole planet in this
Pandemic. Maybe this is our version of the continuing story of humanity. Victor Frankl chose to find meaning in his internment in the barbaric circumstances of Auschwitz during
WWII. My meaning in this crisis is a narrative of an evolutionary phase that humanity is going through. To me this means we’re not adrift, we’re afloat on the sea of history with
beginnings, endings and new beginnings.
Whether or not our new beginnings will make another try at fulfilling this Sinai directive, remains to be seen. Brueggemann points out that in the original story “…in deep ways the
children of the narrative resist the vision” of neighborliness.
Moses chided his resistant listeners, (even when they were leaders of the country??)
Do not be hard hearted or tightfisted toward your needy neighbor. You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be.”
… (Deut 15:7-11)
Where, O where is our Moses?
Maybe our Moses is collective. It’s the people cheering on the health workers, the government officials who scour heaven and earth for the protective equipment and ventilators
that our “resistant listeners” neglected to garner. It’s all of us curve-flatteners staying home doing puzzles and writing essays to make some sense of this. I cannot say it better
than Walter, a Cincinnati compatriot in promoting an Economics of Compassion: His Journey To The Common Good says,
“ In, with, and under all of our political and theological claims, there is this holy will, purpose, and presence" that doesn’t quit. It is holiness marked by a severe fidelity.
Our society has been, for much too long, a community With ears that do not hear, with eyes that do not see with hearts that do not comprehe (Isa 6-9; Mark 8:17-18)
And now, perhaps healing,perhaps to arrive at the mountain (with Moses), perhaps to chance the triad of God’s joy (with Jeremiah), perhaps to move through hope to
reconstruction (with Isaiah).
This is all an enormous “perhaps”. But we live in hope.”
Blessed Passover and Happy Easter. And, thank you, Walter.
Beverly Jones Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved. We are doing good. We’re doing it Together.
Notes:
Walter Brueggemann, Journey to the Commaon Good, https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Common-Good-Walter-Brueggemann-ebook/dp/B004ASOYA0
Zoe Milford's A President Sang Amazing Grace - You Tube
The outcome of these practices is “neighborliness” – “love your neighbor as yourself”. So, here we are, historical, Biblical philosophy come to life for the whole planet in this
Pandemic. Maybe this is our version of the continuing story of humanity. Victor Frankl chose to find meaning in his internment in the barbaric circumstances of Auschwitz during
WWII. My meaning in this crisis is a narrative of an evolutionary phase that humanity is going through. To me this means we’re not adrift, we’re afloat on the sea of history with
beginnings, endings and new beginnings.
Whether or not our new beginnings will make another try at fulfilling this Sinai directive, remains to be seen. Brueggemann points out that in the original story “…in deep ways the
children of the narrative resist the vision” of neighborliness.
Moses chided his resistant listeners, (even when they were leaders of the country??)
Do not be hard hearted or tightfisted toward your needy neighbor. You should rather open your hand, willingly lending enough to meet the need, whatever it may be.”
… (Deut 15:7-11)
Where, O where is our Moses?
Maybe our Moses is collective. It’s the people cheering on the health workers, the government officials who scour heaven and earth for the protective equipment and ventilators
that our “resistant listeners” neglected to garner. It’s all of us curve-flatteners staying home doing puzzles and writing essays to make some sense of this. I cannot say it better
than Walter, a Cincinnati compatriot in promoting an Economics of Compassion: His Journey To The Common Good says,
“ In, with, and under all of our political and theological claims, there is this holy will, purpose, and presence" that doesn’t quit. It is holiness marked by a severe fidelity.
Our society has been, for much too long, a community With ears that do not hear, with eyes that do not see with hearts that do not comprehe (Isa 6-9; Mark 8:17-18)
And now, perhaps healing,perhaps to arrive at the mountain (with Moses), perhaps to chance the triad of God’s joy (with Jeremiah), perhaps to move through hope to
reconstruction (with Isaiah).
This is all an enormous “perhaps”. But we live in hope.”
Blessed Passover and Happy Easter. And, thank you, Walter.
Beverly Jones Copyright 2020 All Rights Reserved. We are doing good. We’re doing it Together.
Notes:
Walter Brueggemann, Journey to the Commaon Good, https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Common-Good-Walter-Brueggemann-ebook/dp/B004ASOYA0
Zoe Milford's A President Sang Amazing Grace - You Tube
Reflections On Life In The Turn Lane, .April 10, 2020 by Beverly Jones.
One thing about face masks, smiles don’t show. I was surprised to find that my automatic smile-based
greeting in the grocery store didn’t prompt the usual response. It took me a moment to revert to a
head nod or hand wave as a substitute. Will I forget how to smile?
I’ve already forgotten how to watch TV coverage of my president without reverting to the childhood
ear plugging and la-la-la-ing to drown him out. After that I need the balm of Zoe Milford’s song
“The (My) President Amazing Grace”. My, that seems like a life-time ago.
I’d also forgotten how the old can be new again when I began re-reading Walter Brueggemann’s
Journey To the Common Good. At last! This COVID-19 devastation and disruption has a context. Here
it was, published in 2010 as a response to our previous economic disaster; it’s the connection with
COVID-19 that made sense to me.
Our predicament is the Exodus-Sinai story but with technology: ventilators, refrigerator morgue
trucks and face masks. That this is the week of Passover and Easter, is just too spooky. Anyway,
Walter says;,
“The (exodus) narrative moves out beyond Israel to see that this is the narrative quality of the entire
human historical process.”
OK. I get it! We are in the midst of “the entire human historical process.” What a relief! What really
gives me hope is that the Pandemic legislation that Congress just passed seems to match what Walter
explains as “an uncommon social ethic” arising from that “exodus-Sinai memory”. Here is the historic
recommendation. Compare it to recent relief legislation created by our current Congress:
· *Debts owed by the poor are to be cancelled after seven years, so that there is no permanent
underclass." (Deut. 15-1-18):
· *No interest is to be charged on loans to members of the community." (Deut: 23:10-20)
· *No collateral is to be required on loans made to poor people." (Deut: 24:10-13)
· * "No withholding of wages that are due to the poor. (Deut: 24:14-15) …the economy is to make
regular provision for the needy and the marginalized." (Deut. 24:19-22)
If the last admonition had been followed, we would probably not be seeing the high proportion of
black and Hispanic deaths in this pandemic.
One thing about face masks, smiles don’t show. I was surprised to find that my automatic smile-based
greeting in the grocery store didn’t prompt the usual response. It took me a moment to revert to a
head nod or hand wave as a substitute. Will I forget how to smile?
I’ve already forgotten how to watch TV coverage of my president without reverting to the childhood
ear plugging and la-la-la-ing to drown him out. After that I need the balm of Zoe Milford’s song
“The (My) President Amazing Grace”. My, that seems like a life-time ago.
I’d also forgotten how the old can be new again when I began re-reading Walter Brueggemann’s
Journey To the Common Good. At last! This COVID-19 devastation and disruption has a context. Here
it was, published in 2010 as a response to our previous economic disaster; it’s the connection with
COVID-19 that made sense to me.
Our predicament is the Exodus-Sinai story but with technology: ventilators, refrigerator morgue
trucks and face masks. That this is the week of Passover and Easter, is just too spooky. Anyway,
Walter says;,
“The (exodus) narrative moves out beyond Israel to see that this is the narrative quality of the entire
human historical process.”
OK. I get it! We are in the midst of “the entire human historical process.” What a relief! What really
gives me hope is that the Pandemic legislation that Congress just passed seems to match what Walter
explains as “an uncommon social ethic” arising from that “exodus-Sinai memory”. Here is the historic
recommendation. Compare it to recent relief legislation created by our current Congress:
· *Debts owed by the poor are to be cancelled after seven years, so that there is no permanent
underclass." (Deut. 15-1-18):
· *No interest is to be charged on loans to members of the community." (Deut: 23:10-20)
· *No collateral is to be required on loans made to poor people." (Deut: 24:10-13)
· * "No withholding of wages that are due to the poor. (Deut: 24:14-15) …the economy is to make
regular provision for the needy and the marginalized." (Deut. 24:19-22)
If the last admonition had been followed, we would probably not be seeing the high proportion of
black and Hispanic deaths in this pandemic.
| KEEP CALM BREATHE ON! Be Safe: Practice Social Distancing |
LESSON NOT LEARNED:
WHY HAS CHINA NOT BANNED SELLING WILD
ANIMALS IN "WET” FOOD MARKET?
A “wet” food market is an euphemism traced to the 1970s English
language newspaper Straits Times. At that time I was a child living in
Malaysia and had gone to these markets with my mother. One will
find for sale live seafood displayed in water tanks. And wet sloshy
floors too. The reality also is that some of these markets also sell
live wild mammals.
While there is no evidence that bats, one of the few flying mammals,
are widely consumed in China, there is strong evidence that various
coronavirus that are in bats are transmitted to other larger animals
which end up in a “wet” food market where the virus can jump to
human hosts. The first coronavirus epidemic, SARS-1, spread through
the civet or palm cat sold as human food during the spring of 2003.
Fortunately, this outbreak did not spread outside China. Because
SARS-1 was limited and quickly controlled, the “wet” food markets
continued business as usual. Lesson not learned.
In late 2019, Wuhan, a city in Central China on the Yangtze River,
became the epicenter of SARS-2 or COVID-19. In 2020, COVID-19
has become a pandemic affecting millions of people everywhere in
the world. Again, this new coronavirus has been traced to horseshoe
bats.
There are currently circulating suspicion that this new coronavirus
had leaked from a virology laboratory also in Wuhan. Even far more
on the fringe is the premise that the U. S. military had brought the
virus into Wuhan. These speculations notwithstanding, the zoonotic
theory remains the most plausible, i.e. this cornavirus is a naturally
occurring mutation that had jumped from bats into humans through
intermediary animals. The chief intermediary animal suspect is the
pangolin, an endangered ant-eater also sold in “wet” food markets
including the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market in Wuhan.
Granted the scientific investigation into the etiology of COVID-19 is not
concluded, the old lesson is still being missed. After the first failed
lesson of SARS-1 and the current scourge of SARS-2, there are signs
that the “wet” food markets are ready to resume business as usual.
WHY HAS CHINA NOT BANNED SELLING WILD
ANIMALS IN "WET” FOOD MARKET?
A “wet” food market is an euphemism traced to the 1970s English
language newspaper Straits Times. At that time I was a child living in
Malaysia and had gone to these markets with my mother. One will
find for sale live seafood displayed in water tanks. And wet sloshy
floors too. The reality also is that some of these markets also sell
live wild mammals.
While there is no evidence that bats, one of the few flying mammals,
are widely consumed in China, there is strong evidence that various
coronavirus that are in bats are transmitted to other larger animals
which end up in a “wet” food market where the virus can jump to
human hosts. The first coronavirus epidemic, SARS-1, spread through
the civet or palm cat sold as human food during the spring of 2003.
Fortunately, this outbreak did not spread outside China. Because
SARS-1 was limited and quickly controlled, the “wet” food markets
continued business as usual. Lesson not learned.
In late 2019, Wuhan, a city in Central China on the Yangtze River,
became the epicenter of SARS-2 or COVID-19. In 2020, COVID-19
has become a pandemic affecting millions of people everywhere in
the world. Again, this new coronavirus has been traced to horseshoe
bats.
There are currently circulating suspicion that this new coronavirus
had leaked from a virology laboratory also in Wuhan. Even far more
on the fringe is the premise that the U. S. military had brought the
virus into Wuhan. These speculations notwithstanding, the zoonotic
theory remains the most plausible, i.e. this cornavirus is a naturally
occurring mutation that had jumped from bats into humans through
intermediary animals. The chief intermediary animal suspect is the
pangolin, an endangered ant-eater also sold in “wet” food markets
including the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market in Wuhan.
Granted the scientific investigation into the etiology of COVID-19 is not
concluded, the old lesson is still being missed. After the first failed
lesson of SARS-1 and the current scourge of SARS-2, there are signs
that the “wet” food markets are ready to resume business as usual.
There is folk belief that various wild animals including pangolin meat
and scales have medicinal properties. Cultural dietary habits may die
hard, but there must be a limit to eating wild animals. The hemorrhagic
fever labelled the Ebola epidemic (2013-2016) which at its onset killed
90% of persons infected has been traced to “bushmeat,” another
euphemism for wild animals. Again that virus was successfully brought
under control and another lesson was missed.
Again, consumers may feel the need to eat wild animals and if such
behavior is resistant to the lessons of epidemics and pandemics,
then the central government of the country must take measures to
protect the health of their citizens and their neighbors. Laws against
the selling and consuming of animals caught in the wild must be
permanently put in place and enforced now. The idea is not to ban
"wet" food markets per se, but to prevent the sale of wild animals at
such markets and to better regulate the wholesomeness of
"domesticated animals" sold there.
Even so, the risk of viral pandemics, such as the H1N1 flu pandemic of
2009 which was traced to a triple mutation of bird, swine, and human
flu viruses, inevitably will continue, but "domesticated" farm raised
animals can be subject to health inspections. Health and food agencies
everywhere must improve their vigilance and preparedness. There is
no excuse to ignore the deadly lesson currently being meted out by
COVID-19.
An opinion by Charleston C. K. Wang. Updated April 26, 2020.
THE OSHA FULL-FACE RESPIRATOR
Recently in a USA TODAY April 15, 2020 news photo of the medical staff of HonorHealth in
Phoenix, Arizona with a coronavirus ventilator patient that recovered after treatment with
extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) at that hospital. The members of the
healing team were wearing full-face respirators! This is a quantum improvement over
the N95 mask.
On the right are two photos of the inside and outside of an OSHA full face air-purifying
respirator I used as personal protective equipment while I was working at a hazardous
waste treatment and emergency response company. It is fitted with the magenta
P100 filter cartridge. Such a set-up falls into the upper end of the OSHA Level C
personal protection which is required in hazardous environments presenting known
contaminants.
As you can see, such a full-face respirator is built on a half-face respirator but has an
additional clear face piece that protects the eyes. Contaminants including the
coronavirus can enter through the eyes as well as the nose and mouth (but not through
the skin against which Level B protection is necessary).. The full face respirator
dispenses with the use of face-shields or goggles for eye protection, which otherwise
must be worn such as with N95 masks.
As with the half-face respirator, the full-face has exhalation and inhalation valves built
into it. The drawbacks of this respirator are the same as the half-face with the added
burden and discomfort during prolonged use. However the benefit is that it offers far
greater and more consistent protection than both the half-face respirator and the N95
mask.
While not presently required to protect workers in known coronavirus presence, the
full-face OSHA respirator is a time-tested control technology that has saved the lives of
people working in workplaces that are contaminated with hazardous agents.
An opinion by Charleston C. K. Wang. Updated April 18, 2020. He was a former OSHA
Compliance Officer and a former Board Certified Industrial Hygienist. He also conducted
research on control technology with NIOSH/CDC.
Recently in a USA TODAY April 15, 2020 news photo of the medical staff of HonorHealth in
Phoenix, Arizona with a coronavirus ventilator patient that recovered after treatment with
extra corporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) at that hospital. The members of the
healing team were wearing full-face respirators! This is a quantum improvement over
the N95 mask.
On the right are two photos of the inside and outside of an OSHA full face air-purifying
respirator I used as personal protective equipment while I was working at a hazardous
waste treatment and emergency response company. It is fitted with the magenta
P100 filter cartridge. Such a set-up falls into the upper end of the OSHA Level C
personal protection which is required in hazardous environments presenting known
contaminants.
As you can see, such a full-face respirator is built on a half-face respirator but has an
additional clear face piece that protects the eyes. Contaminants including the
coronavirus can enter through the eyes as well as the nose and mouth (but not through
the skin against which Level B protection is necessary).. The full face respirator
dispenses with the use of face-shields or goggles for eye protection, which otherwise
must be worn such as with N95 masks.
As with the half-face respirator, the full-face has exhalation and inhalation valves built
into it. The drawbacks of this respirator are the same as the half-face with the added
burden and discomfort during prolonged use. However the benefit is that it offers far
greater and more consistent protection than both the half-face respirator and the N95
mask.
While not presently required to protect workers in known coronavirus presence, the
full-face OSHA respirator is a time-tested control technology that has saved the lives of
people working in workplaces that are contaminated with hazardous agents.
An opinion by Charleston C. K. Wang. Updated April 18, 2020. He was a former OSHA
Compliance Officer and a former Board Certified Industrial Hygienist. He also conducted
research on control technology with NIOSH/CDC.
<< CLEAR
FULL
FACE-PIECE
THAT
PROTECTS
EYES
FULL
FACE-PIECE
THAT
PROTECTS
EYES
< EXHALATION
VALVE
VALVE
| INHALATION V VALVES V |
INNER
FACE-PIECE
THAT
PROTECTS
NOSE &MOUTH >>
FACE-PIECE
THAT
PROTECTS
NOSE &MOUTH >>
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here.
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Sophia"
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Sophia"
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of
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of
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here.
Federal OSHA Needs to Promulgate Uniform Workplace Standards
To Protect U. S. Workers from Coronavirus
As summer approaches, we are getting ready to go back to work. The restarting of U. S. industry and commerce is occurring on a state-
by-state basis. As workers report back to duty, the COVID-19 virus will not take a break. This virus will still be at large and even when a
vaccineecomes available, it will be practically suppressed but probably never eradicated.
Now is the time for OSHA to promulgate uniform workplace safety and health standards to protect American workers from this virus and
other viruses and pathogens of the future. Indeed, since 1970 when President Richard M. Nixon signed the Williams-Steiger Act into
national law, OSHA has been doing just that for half a century.
In the past, OSHA has enacted standards to protect workers from cancer-causing substances such as asbestos, formaldehyde, and benzene.
OSHA also has a well accepted blood-borne pathogens standard as a result encounters with HIV and hepatitis. Drawing from the blood-borne
pathogen experience, OSHA has the wherewithal to issue reasonable and practical standards against the coronavirus, which essentially
transmits as an air-borne aerosol or droplet.
A time tested arsenal of control technology is available off-the-shelf to protect workers from this and
other pathogens transmitted by inhalation and eye penetration. We all have heard of personal protective
equipment (PPE) against the coronavirus – masks, respirators, goggles, faceshields, gloves, etc. Along with
the PPE is test-fitting and training on how to don and doff, maintain, and safely dispose of used equipment
(like the needles and sharps disposal container for blood-borne pathogens).
Workers must be trained and follow safe work practices such as regular washing of hands and keeping
safe distances. Administrative controls such as routine decontamination of work surfaces is effective.
Inexpensive engineered controls such a splastic partition shields are already appearing in public areas
of workplaces. The employer must stock up and ensure PPE availability. Regular screening for
symptoms of infection and more specific viral and antibody testing should also be part of administrative
controls, as is already done for cumulative chemical hazards such as lead and other heavy metals.
Consideration must be given to the cost of all controls, and with careful review, a set of uniform and cost
-effective standards will benefit all American worker and employer who are ready to restart the national economy.
An Opinion by Charleston C. K. Wang. Revised May 21, 2020. He was a former OSHA Compliance Officer and formerly was Board Certified in
Industrial Hygiene. He had also conducted research in control technology against workplace hazards with NIOSH-CDC.
To Protect U. S. Workers from Coronavirus
As summer approaches, we are getting ready to go back to work. The restarting of U. S. industry and commerce is occurring on a state-
by-state basis. As workers report back to duty, the COVID-19 virus will not take a break. This virus will still be at large and even when a
vaccineecomes available, it will be practically suppressed but probably never eradicated.
Now is the time for OSHA to promulgate uniform workplace safety and health standards to protect American workers from this virus and
other viruses and pathogens of the future. Indeed, since 1970 when President Richard M. Nixon signed the Williams-Steiger Act into
national law, OSHA has been doing just that for half a century.
In the past, OSHA has enacted standards to protect workers from cancer-causing substances such as asbestos, formaldehyde, and benzene.
OSHA also has a well accepted blood-borne pathogens standard as a result encounters with HIV and hepatitis. Drawing from the blood-borne
pathogen experience, OSHA has the wherewithal to issue reasonable and practical standards against the coronavirus, which essentially
transmits as an air-borne aerosol or droplet.
A time tested arsenal of control technology is available off-the-shelf to protect workers from this and
other pathogens transmitted by inhalation and eye penetration. We all have heard of personal protective
equipment (PPE) against the coronavirus – masks, respirators, goggles, faceshields, gloves, etc. Along with
the PPE is test-fitting and training on how to don and doff, maintain, and safely dispose of used equipment
(like the needles and sharps disposal container for blood-borne pathogens).
Workers must be trained and follow safe work practices such as regular washing of hands and keeping
safe distances. Administrative controls such as routine decontamination of work surfaces is effective.
Inexpensive engineered controls such a splastic partition shields are already appearing in public areas
of workplaces. The employer must stock up and ensure PPE availability. Regular screening for
symptoms of infection and more specific viral and antibody testing should also be part of administrative
controls, as is already done for cumulative chemical hazards such as lead and other heavy metals.
Consideration must be given to the cost of all controls, and with careful review, a set of uniform and cost
-effective standards will benefit all American worker and employer who are ready to restart the national economy.
An Opinion by Charleston C. K. Wang. Revised May 21, 2020. He was a former OSHA Compliance Officer and formerly was Board Certified in
Industrial Hygiene. He had also conducted research in control technology against workplace hazards with NIOSH-CDC.
WE ALL ARE SURVIVORS
We are survivors all. You and I, each and everyone of us on this
Earth are all survi vors of uncountable epidemics and pandemics
for many thousands of years. All the ancestors of anyone of us
did not succumb to myriad of once nameless disease that
played its part in thinning out the human herd.
As the years progressed, humans began to give names to some
of the deadly infections - for example, the bubonic plague,
smallpox, measles, influenza, HIV, and presently COVID-19. With
the invention of the simple glass lens microscope, scientists
began to link some of these diseases to bacteria.
Bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death, is estimated to
have killed 30-60 % of the population of Europe while it raged.
Locking oneself inside the home away form others did not stop
Black Death because this type of plague bacteria was transmitted
by fleas infesting rats. To survive the plague, people had to fall
back on their own immune system, but the advent of antibiotics
brought just about all the bacteria infections under control. With
the more powerful electron microscope, the virus became the
next frontier of the science of infections. Presently there is no
cure for viral infections, only a vaccine that helps the human
immune system to fight off the virus.
The story of the vaccine is worth retelling. Dr. Edward Jenner,
during a time when smallpox was killing many people in the
world noticed that milkmaids did not get smallpox. But they got
mild pox-like blisters from cows. This was cowpox. Dr. Jenner is
credited with discovering the smallpox vaccine which helped
eradicate smallpox. He did this without knowing exactly what a
virus was - he did not have an electron microscope. But he did
know something about cows and milkmaids. The home of Dr.
Jenner is now a museum where Blossom the Gloucester cow
occupies a place of honor. There, visitors can come and view her
We are survivors all. You and I, each and everyone of us on this
Earth are all survi vors of uncountable epidemics and pandemics
for many thousands of years. All the ancestors of anyone of us
did not succumb to myriad of once nameless disease that
played its part in thinning out the human herd.
As the years progressed, humans began to give names to some
of the deadly infections - for example, the bubonic plague,
smallpox, measles, influenza, HIV, and presently COVID-19. With
the invention of the simple glass lens microscope, scientists
began to link some of these diseases to bacteria.
Bubonic plague, also known as the Black Death, is estimated to
have killed 30-60 % of the population of Europe while it raged.
Locking oneself inside the home away form others did not stop
Black Death because this type of plague bacteria was transmitted
by fleas infesting rats. To survive the plague, people had to fall
back on their own immune system, but the advent of antibiotics
brought just about all the bacteria infections under control. With
the more powerful electron microscope, the virus became the
next frontier of the science of infections. Presently there is no
cure for viral infections, only a vaccine that helps the human
immune system to fight off the virus.
The story of the vaccine is worth retelling. Dr. Edward Jenner,
during a time when smallpox was killing many people in the
world noticed that milkmaids did not get smallpox. But they got
mild pox-like blisters from cows. This was cowpox. Dr. Jenner is
credited with discovering the smallpox vaccine which helped
eradicate smallpox. He did this without knowing exactly what a
virus was - he did not have an electron microscope. But he did
know something about cows and milkmaids. The home of Dr.
Jenner is now a museum where Blossom the Gloucester cow
occupies a place of honor. There, visitors can come and view her
cow horns. Blossom supplied the cowpox through a dairymaid
named Sarah Nelmes that was used to inoculate 8 year old James
Phipps. The modern word vaccine comes from vacca which is
Latin for cow.
The other morbid story about smallpox is that it is one of some
very deadly infections that Christopher Columbus in 1492 brought
to the Americas from the Old World. Because the people on this
continent had not developed any immunity, the onset of these
novel diseases were devastating and contributed to the decline of
many ancient American civilizations. But the maladies did not end
just then.
Syphilis broke out in Italy in 1495 after Columbus had returned.
French troops attacking Naples came down with syphilis.
Naturally, the French called it the "Italian" disease. To the Italians,
it was the "French" disease. When this disease spread across
Europe it acquired new names. During its War for Independence,
the Dutch labeled syphilis the "Spanish" disease. The Russians
called it the "Polish" disease. The Ottomans named it the
"Christian" disease. And so on and so forth and syphilis is
credited with 50 million deaths until the discovery of the first
antibiotic Penicillin. Today, syphilis is no longer the dreaded
disease it once was, but is nevertheless loathed because syphilis
is a sexually transmitted disease.
There are many more historical stories of infections from all over
the world, but no space to tell them here. To conclude, our own
ancestors encountered and survived the diseases before us, and
having survived, we carry a certain degree of resistance to the old
diseases. It is the new mutations that we must be vigilant against,
as both bacteria and viruses mutate to increase their own
survivability.
An Opinion by Charleston C. K, Wang, Updated June 1, 2020.
named Sarah Nelmes that was used to inoculate 8 year old James
Phipps. The modern word vaccine comes from vacca which is
Latin for cow.
The other morbid story about smallpox is that it is one of some
very deadly infections that Christopher Columbus in 1492 brought
to the Americas from the Old World. Because the people on this
continent had not developed any immunity, the onset of these
novel diseases were devastating and contributed to the decline of
many ancient American civilizations. But the maladies did not end
just then.
Syphilis broke out in Italy in 1495 after Columbus had returned.
French troops attacking Naples came down with syphilis.
Naturally, the French called it the "Italian" disease. To the Italians,
it was the "French" disease. When this disease spread across
Europe it acquired new names. During its War for Independence,
the Dutch labeled syphilis the "Spanish" disease. The Russians
called it the "Polish" disease. The Ottomans named it the
"Christian" disease. And so on and so forth and syphilis is
credited with 50 million deaths until the discovery of the first
antibiotic Penicillin. Today, syphilis is no longer the dreaded
disease it once was, but is nevertheless loathed because syphilis
is a sexually transmitted disease.
There are many more historical stories of infections from all over
the world, but no space to tell them here. To conclude, our own
ancestors encountered and survived the diseases before us, and
having survived, we carry a certain degree of resistance to the old
diseases. It is the new mutations that we must be vigilant against,
as both bacteria and viruses mutate to increase their own
survivability.
An Opinion by Charleston C. K, Wang, Updated June 1, 2020.
ARE WE HEADING FOR MARTIAL LAW?
HOW WILL THERE BE JUSTICE FOR GEORGE FLOYD?
Last weekend, the Pentagon, i.e., the United States Department
of Defense, at the suggestion of President Donald Trump was
reported to be readying U.S. military police to send the into
various cities in the several states which are experiencing
protests against the death of George Floyd. Mr. Floyd died in
Minneapolis under the knees of Officer Derek Chauvin while
handcuffed and crying that he could not breathe and begging for
the officer to let him stand up. This officer has since been
arrested and charged with murder and manslaughter. The
horrible event was made apparent by multiple videotapes and
very little doubt is left as to what had happened. The latest
video appears to show 2 other officers also kneeling on
Mr. Floyd.
Protests, some of them violent, erupted in many cities across the
United States to demand justice for George Floyd. President
Trump initially said that the death of Mr. Floyd as "very sad," but
as protests started and escalated, he repeatedly twitted that he
will send in the U. S. military because the mayors and Governors
are not doing enough against "thugs." However, national guards
under the control of various state Governors have been deployed
into affected cities. No Governor has requested the aid of federal
troops and this indicates that they with local police and state
national guard have the ability to protect the people and their
property, maintain law and order, and mete justice.
Another indication is the Congress has not suspended the Writ of
habeas corpus under the Constitution. This means that there is
no rebellion or invasion that the public safety requires the
suspension of the Great Writ. This means that state law
enforcement, though stressed, are functioning and the courts are
open. During the Reconstruction after the Civil War, Congress in
the Civil Rights Act of 1871, after the blood soaked conclusion of
the greatest divide this Nation ever faced and pointing to
post-bellum lawlessness in certain states, briefly gave the
President the power to suspend habeas corpus and President U.
S. Grant promptly did so in nine counties in the state of South
Carolina. This delegation of power has long expired and the
suspension power remains resting with Congress.
HOW WILL THERE BE JUSTICE FOR GEORGE FLOYD?
Last weekend, the Pentagon, i.e., the United States Department
of Defense, at the suggestion of President Donald Trump was
reported to be readying U.S. military police to send the into
various cities in the several states which are experiencing
protests against the death of George Floyd. Mr. Floyd died in
Minneapolis under the knees of Officer Derek Chauvin while
handcuffed and crying that he could not breathe and begging for
the officer to let him stand up. This officer has since been
arrested and charged with murder and manslaughter. The
horrible event was made apparent by multiple videotapes and
very little doubt is left as to what had happened. The latest
video appears to show 2 other officers also kneeling on
Mr. Floyd.
Protests, some of them violent, erupted in many cities across the
United States to demand justice for George Floyd. President
Trump initially said that the death of Mr. Floyd as "very sad," but
as protests started and escalated, he repeatedly twitted that he
will send in the U. S. military because the mayors and Governors
are not doing enough against "thugs." However, national guards
under the control of various state Governors have been deployed
into affected cities. No Governor has requested the aid of federal
troops and this indicates that they with local police and state
national guard have the ability to protect the people and their
property, maintain law and order, and mete justice.
Another indication is the Congress has not suspended the Writ of
habeas corpus under the Constitution. This means that there is
no rebellion or invasion that the public safety requires the
suspension of the Great Writ. This means that state law
enforcement, though stressed, are functioning and the courts are
open. During the Reconstruction after the Civil War, Congress in
the Civil Rights Act of 1871, after the blood soaked conclusion of
the greatest divide this Nation ever faced and pointing to
post-bellum lawlessness in certain states, briefly gave the
President the power to suspend habeas corpus and President U.
S. Grant promptly did so in nine counties in the state of South
Carolina. This delegation of power has long expired and the
suspension power remains resting with Congress.
The suspension of habeas corpus essentially is the declaration of
martial law. Similarly, the deployment into a state without the
request and consent of its Governor of the federal military even
when purported to be in aid of the civil power is tantamount to the
federal imposition of martial law in that state, and opens many old
wounds, or even can be misconstrued as an act of war. More
charitably, it strikes at the heart of federalism and our Constitution.
Furthermore, the use of members of the U. S. Armed Forces for
the enforcement of law inside the USA is prohibited under federal
law. Specifically, the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, in concert with
the Insurrection Act of 1807, as amended, limit the powers of the
Executive Branch in using federal military personnel, including
federalized national guards to execute laws domestically within
the United States. Ironically, Posse Comitatus was passed by
Congress as an amendment to an army appropriation bill
following the end of Reconstruction, and with the Insurrection Act
was subsequently updated, most recently in 2011. Interestingly, it
is a felony offense punishable with up to two years imprisonment
to violate the Posse Comitatus Act.
This does not mean that the federal government is helpless in the
face of the merciless killing of Mr. Floyd. While it normally falls
upon the state government to prosecute the crime of murder, the
U. S. Department of Justice has the option to thoroughly
investigate and prosecute the violation of the civil rights of a
victim of murder so long as there is evidence of racial animus.
Perhaps the landmark example of this relief is the prosecution of
Ebens and Nitz, two residents of Detroit for the baseball bat killing
of Vincent Chin in 1982.
However, it must be noted in a racially inflamed America these
days, that both former Officers Liang and Noor are non-white. It
remains to be seen if the Minnesota court and jury can dispense
justice at the coming murder trial for the death of Mr. Floyd when
the defendant is a white police officer. If that system fails, the
United States Government must step in to correct a double
wrong. Under these tinderbox conditions that have been building
up in the last few years, the people's trust in the Government is
paramount and the foremost mission is to defuse tensions and not
fan the embers of division. With the 31st Anniversary of
Tiananmen coming in a few days, all eyes are on America! We
must love our neighbor as ourselves and blessed are the
peacemakers.
martial law. Similarly, the deployment into a state without the
request and consent of its Governor of the federal military even
when purported to be in aid of the civil power is tantamount to the
federal imposition of martial law in that state, and opens many old
wounds, or even can be misconstrued as an act of war. More
charitably, it strikes at the heart of federalism and our Constitution.
Furthermore, the use of members of the U. S. Armed Forces for
the enforcement of law inside the USA is prohibited under federal
law. Specifically, the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, in concert with
the Insurrection Act of 1807, as amended, limit the powers of the
Executive Branch in using federal military personnel, including
federalized national guards to execute laws domestically within
the United States. Ironically, Posse Comitatus was passed by
Congress as an amendment to an army appropriation bill
following the end of Reconstruction, and with the Insurrection Act
was subsequently updated, most recently in 2011. Interestingly, it
is a felony offense punishable with up to two years imprisonment
to violate the Posse Comitatus Act.
This does not mean that the federal government is helpless in the
face of the merciless killing of Mr. Floyd. While it normally falls
upon the state government to prosecute the crime of murder, the
U. S. Department of Justice has the option to thoroughly
investigate and prosecute the violation of the civil rights of a
victim of murder so long as there is evidence of racial animus.
Perhaps the landmark example of this relief is the prosecution of
Ebens and Nitz, two residents of Detroit for the baseball bat killing
of Vincent Chin in 1982.
However, it must be noted in a racially inflamed America these
days, that both former Officers Liang and Noor are non-white. It
remains to be seen if the Minnesota court and jury can dispense
justice at the coming murder trial for the death of Mr. Floyd when
the defendant is a white police officer. If that system fails, the
United States Government must step in to correct a double
wrong. Under these tinderbox conditions that have been building
up in the last few years, the people's trust in the Government is
paramount and the foremost mission is to defuse tensions and not
fan the embers of division. With the 31st Anniversary of
Tiananmen coming in a few days, all eyes are on America! We
must love our neighbor as ourselves and blessed are the
peacemakers.
An Opinion by Charleston C. K. Wang. Updated June 7, 2020. He was a past president of the Cincinnati Human Relations Commission.
| CAVEAT: THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN MORE THAN 5 YEARS AGO BASED ON FACTS AT THAT TIME AND DOES NOT INCORPORATE CURRENT FACTS AND SITUATIONAL CONTEXT . |
| CAVEAT: THIS ARTICLE WAS WRITTEN MORE THAN 3 YEARS AGO BASED ON FACTS AT THAT TIME AND DOES NOT INCORPORATE CURRENT FACTS AND SITUATIONAL CONTEXT . |
| REVISIT BE THE CHANGE : IMMIGRATION & CIVIL RIGHTS CLICK ON PHOTO |
CITY OF SILVERTON TRAIN STATION BY NIGHT, AUGUST 2020
| DO NOT SAY WE DID NOT SAY SO BACK IN 2013! |
Racism is a Public Health Threat to Everyone in Hamilton County and Ohio: Letter Sent to the Commissioners of Hamilton County
I am standing up to say that Racism is a Public Health Threat to Everyone in Hamilton County. Racism as a threat to public health is a long delayed concept
recognition of which will advance the common welfare and public health of every person in Hamilton County. Since the early months of this year, Ohio has been
fighting the scourge of COVID-19 under the strong leadership of our Governor and the wisdom of Dr. Amy Acton.
While people may debate the remedies. there can be no disagreement that COVID-19 is a viral threat against Ohioans and indeed all peoples of the world.
COIVD-19 will destroy victim’s body, if not take his or her life.
Since the onset of COVID-19, the endemic threat of racism is vying to take over COVID-19 as the Number One threat to public health. While COVID-19 manifests
in the physical destruction of the body, racism infests the intellect of the mind. Once racism infests a mind, it will transit and grow in other minds. As the infection
worsens, racism can manifest in acts of physical violence against others of a different race. Ultimately, it can destroy the spirit of a community, a state, if not the
Nation. The new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 will be brought under control once a vaccine becomes available. The plague of racism in the USA is as old
as the founding of this nation and even older. Some has called it the “Original Sin” of the Nation. While slavery is older than written history, the slavery as it was
institutionalized in the Americas is made worse as it is raced based.
Institutionalized race based slavery in the USA ended with Juneteenth after the blood-bath of the Civil War. But then came Jim Crow institutionalized racism.
Today racism continues to infect the minds and destroy the spirit of people in Ohio and every other state of the Union.
Indeed, racism today is reemerging as a renewed political epidemic that has both the covert and overt encourage of prominent politicians. There are eerie parallels
between this reemerging racism and the new coronavirus. Despite the clear evidence of the lethal effects of the new coronavirus, there are people including
ones at the highest levels of government who refuse to wear protective masks and actually use COVID-19 to fan the fires of racial division and race based hatred.
COIVD-19 has early on been labeled the “China virus,” and now it is unashamedly called the “kung flu,” at a recent political rally. There are despicable attempts
to gain political points with racists by scape-goating an innocent racial minority, the Asian American. Recall that in 1982, Vincent Chin was scape-goated by 2
white men as taking their jobs as autoworkers and was beaten to death with a baseball bat in Detroit. Vincent was out celebrating his bachelors party in a strip club.
The race-based abuse of police power and corruption of civil authority as evidenced by the recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many, many others.
Racism has every potential to rise to the top as the next devastating epidemic against public health. Today in 2020, Ohio is at the fork in the road. We can either go
down the road of another racial epidemic or we can take firm measures to cure this pernicious disease.
One potential vaccine against racism that is close at hand. Please declare racism as a threat to public health and welfare in Hamilton County. Thank you.
Charleston Wang, July 7, 2020.
Postscript: On July 16, 2020, the Hamilton County Commissioners approved a resolution declaring racism a public health crisis.
I am standing up to say that Racism is a Public Health Threat to Everyone in Hamilton County. Racism as a threat to public health is a long delayed concept
recognition of which will advance the common welfare and public health of every person in Hamilton County. Since the early months of this year, Ohio has been
fighting the scourge of COVID-19 under the strong leadership of our Governor and the wisdom of Dr. Amy Acton.
While people may debate the remedies. there can be no disagreement that COVID-19 is a viral threat against Ohioans and indeed all peoples of the world.
COIVD-19 will destroy victim’s body, if not take his or her life.
Since the onset of COVID-19, the endemic threat of racism is vying to take over COVID-19 as the Number One threat to public health. While COVID-19 manifests
in the physical destruction of the body, racism infests the intellect of the mind. Once racism infests a mind, it will transit and grow in other minds. As the infection
worsens, racism can manifest in acts of physical violence against others of a different race. Ultimately, it can destroy the spirit of a community, a state, if not the
Nation. The new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 will be brought under control once a vaccine becomes available. The plague of racism in the USA is as old
as the founding of this nation and even older. Some has called it the “Original Sin” of the Nation. While slavery is older than written history, the slavery as it was
institutionalized in the Americas is made worse as it is raced based.
Institutionalized race based slavery in the USA ended with Juneteenth after the blood-bath of the Civil War. But then came Jim Crow institutionalized racism.
Today racism continues to infect the minds and destroy the spirit of people in Ohio and every other state of the Union.
Indeed, racism today is reemerging as a renewed political epidemic that has both the covert and overt encourage of prominent politicians. There are eerie parallels
between this reemerging racism and the new coronavirus. Despite the clear evidence of the lethal effects of the new coronavirus, there are people including
ones at the highest levels of government who refuse to wear protective masks and actually use COVID-19 to fan the fires of racial division and race based hatred.
COIVD-19 has early on been labeled the “China virus,” and now it is unashamedly called the “kung flu,” at a recent political rally. There are despicable attempts
to gain political points with racists by scape-goating an innocent racial minority, the Asian American. Recall that in 1982, Vincent Chin was scape-goated by 2
white men as taking their jobs as autoworkers and was beaten to death with a baseball bat in Detroit. Vincent was out celebrating his bachelors party in a strip club.
The race-based abuse of police power and corruption of civil authority as evidenced by the recent killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and many, many others.
Racism has every potential to rise to the top as the next devastating epidemic against public health. Today in 2020, Ohio is at the fork in the road. We can either go
down the road of another racial epidemic or we can take firm measures to cure this pernicious disease.
One potential vaccine against racism that is close at hand. Please declare racism as a threat to public health and welfare in Hamilton County. Thank you.
Charleston Wang, July 7, 2020.
Postscript: On July 16, 2020, the Hamilton County Commissioners approved a resolution declaring racism a public health crisis.
| CLICK ON PHOTO |
AN ALL AMERICAN WEDDING, 8/21/2020
| John O'Neill Co-Host, 8/24/2020 ASIAN AMERICAN HOUR WAIF 88.3 CINCINNATI 88.3 FM Showing Off Cambodian Fashion |
U. S. District Court for District of Columbia Bars Border Patrol From Screening Asylum Claimants for "Credible Fear."
On August 31,2020, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia barred the Border Patrol (Customs and Border Protection CBP) from conducting "credible fear" interviews
of immigrants under "expedited removal." Persons seeking asylum must be interviewed by "asylum officer" of the USCIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services) for "significant
possibility" of persecution. In January 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ordered Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to conduct screening of immigrants
arrested by the Border Patrol. Before that time, asylum claimants were interviewed by Asylum Officers within the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). DHS is the
cabinet level parent agency of CBP, USCIS, and also ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Judge Leon wrote that this was "poppycock" because "[t]he training
requirements cited in the government's declaration do not come close to being 'comparable' to the training requirements of full asylum officers." The court ruled that CBP
officers were not trained or qualified to evaluate asylum claims. Border Patrol agents are trained to secure and make arrests at the border and to deport immigrants without
documents using expedited removal procedures (no right of appeal or review by a federal judge) and are ill suited to process asylum claims. This decision has set the stage for
another round into the Court of Appeals and possibly the U. S. Supreme Court.
Three Judge Panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Rules that Aliens Detained at Guantanamo Cannot Seek Due Process.
On August 28, 2020, a three judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the D,C, Circuit held that non-U.S. Citizens detained at Guantanamo Bay cannot invoke the Due
Process Clause of the Unitd States Constitution because they are aliens aliens without property or presence in the sovereign territory of the United States. I. Al Hela v. Trump,
(No. 19-5079, D.C. Cir. 2020). Judge Rao writing for the panel relied, inter alia, on the recent decision of DHS v. Thuraissigiam, 140 S. Ct. 1959, 1982 (2020) in which the United
Stats Supreme Court held that a non-citizen apprehended within 25 yards after crossing the southern border cannot use habeas corpus to review the denial of his credible fear
claim for asylum and the "expedited removal" procedures for undocumented immigrants arrested within 2 years of entry without inspection satisfied due process even though
they were denied access to the federal courts.
Al Hela has been detained at Guantanamo since 2004. On 1/30/2020. the Trump Administration by Executive Order has ordered these camps be maintained for the duration of
armed conflict. Judge Griffith, concurring in part and concurring in the judgment noted: “[T]he cardinal principle of judicial restraint” is that “if it is not necessary to decide
more, it is necessary not to decide more.” PDK Labs. Inc. v. U.S. Drug Enf’t Agency, 362 F.3d 786, 799 (D.C. Cir. 2004) (Roberts, J., concurring in part and concurring in the
judgment). With that principle in mind, I concur only in Parts I, II, and III of the court’s opinion. Because we can resolve this case without deciding whether
Guantanamo detainees may ever assert rights under the Due Process Clause, I do not join Part IV."
At this juncture, an en banc review may be sought in the D. C. Circuit, or application for a writ of certiorari may be made in the United States Supreme Court, the same court
that decided Thuraissigiam on June 25, 2020. Nevertheless, Al Hela may run into the headwinds of the spirit of Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723 (2008).
Updated September 1, 2020.
At this juncture, it is also time to revisit the article on Korematsu:,
On August 31,2020, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia barred the Border Patrol (Customs and Border Protection CBP) from conducting "credible fear" interviews
of immigrants under "expedited removal." Persons seeking asylum must be interviewed by "asylum officer" of the USCIS (Citizenship and Immigration Services) for "significant
possibility" of persecution. In January 2020, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) ordered Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to conduct screening of immigrants
arrested by the Border Patrol. Before that time, asylum claimants were interviewed by Asylum Officers within the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). DHS is the
cabinet level parent agency of CBP, USCIS, and also ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). Judge Leon wrote that this was "poppycock" because "[t]he training
requirements cited in the government's declaration do not come close to being 'comparable' to the training requirements of full asylum officers." The court ruled that CBP
officers were not trained or qualified to evaluate asylum claims. Border Patrol agents are trained to secure and make arrests at the border and to deport immigrants without
documents using expedited removal procedures (no right of appeal or review by a federal judge) and are ill suited to process asylum claims. This decision has set the stage for
another round into the Court of Appeals and possibly the U. S. Supreme Court.
Three Judge Panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Rules that Aliens Detained at Guantanamo Cannot Seek Due Process.
On August 28, 2020, a three judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the D,C, Circuit held that non-U.S. Citizens detained at Guantanamo Bay cannot invoke the Due
Process Clause of the Unitd States Constitution because they are aliens aliens without property or presence in the sovereign territory of the United States. I. Al Hela v. Trump,
(No. 19-5079, D.C. Cir. 2020). Judge Rao writing for the panel relied, inter alia, on the recent decision of DHS v. Thuraissigiam, 140 S. Ct. 1959, 1982 (2020) in which the United
Stats Supreme Court held that a non-citizen apprehended within 25 yards after crossing the southern border cannot use habeas corpus to review the denial of his credible fear
claim for asylum and the "expedited removal" procedures for undocumented immigrants arrested within 2 years of entry without inspection satisfied due process even though
they were denied access to the federal courts.
Al Hela has been detained at Guantanamo since 2004. On 1/30/2020. the Trump Administration by Executive Order has ordered these camps be maintained for the duration of
armed conflict. Judge Griffith, concurring in part and concurring in the judgment noted: “[T]he cardinal principle of judicial restraint” is that “if it is not necessary to decide
more, it is necessary not to decide more.” PDK Labs. Inc. v. U.S. Drug Enf’t Agency, 362 F.3d 786, 799 (D.C. Cir. 2004) (Roberts, J., concurring in part and concurring in the
judgment). With that principle in mind, I concur only in Parts I, II, and III of the court’s opinion. Because we can resolve this case without deciding whether
Guantanamo detainees may ever assert rights under the Due Process Clause, I do not join Part IV."
At this juncture, an en banc review may be sought in the D. C. Circuit, or application for a writ of certiorari may be made in the United States Supreme Court, the same court
that decided Thuraissigiam on June 25, 2020. Nevertheless, Al Hela may run into the headwinds of the spirit of Boumediene v. Bush, 553 U.S. 723 (2008).
Updated September 1, 2020.
At this juncture, it is also time to revisit the article on Korematsu:,
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