| 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 |
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 Monday evenings, 5 - 6 PM. MONDAY 1/17/2011 CHINA AT THE WHITEHOUSE 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 with Mary Joan Reutter 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 on the internet streaming audio by clicking here, |
| THE ASIAN AMERICAN HOUR on WAIF 88.3 FM Cincinnati IS NOW A WEEKLY PRIME-TIME SHOW EVERY MONDAY EVENING 5 - 6 P.M. Informing the People of Cincinnati (and Beyond) since 6/7/2001. Listen via internet streaming audio by clicking here, asianamericanhour@wangnews.net |
| ARTHUREX DEBUTS ON YOUTUBE ORIGINAL AND COVER SONGS CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENJOY |
To read old "First Page News," click here
| Your breath is sweet. Your eyes are like two jewels in the sky. Your back is straight, your hair is smooth on the pillow where you lie. But I don't sense affection. No gratitude or love. Your loyalty is not to me but to the stars above. One more cup of coffee for the road. One more cup of coffee 'fore I go to the valley below. BOB DYLAN. |
| WANG NEWS SERVICE An Independent Source of News & Views |
GOT NEWS?
GOT
OPINION?
Send your information,
photographs, or
comments to
WANGNEWS for
consideration to be
published in WANG
NEWS SERVICE.
To send, use this
email address:
news@wangnews.net
GOT
OPINION?
Send your information,
photographs, or
comments to
WANGNEWS for
consideration to be
published in WANG
NEWS SERVICE.
To send, use this
email address:
news@wangnews.net
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Mary Ellen O'Connell
Photocredit: Mary Joan Reutter
YPIMgReach out to the
decision-makers, opinion-
agents of Greater
Cincinnati and the World.
ADVERTISE with
WANG NEWS SERVICE.
For terms and conditions,
you are invited to inquire
by email:
advertise@wangnews.net
decision-makers, opinion-
agents of Greater
Cincinnati and the World.
ADVERTISE with
WANG NEWS SERVICE.
For terms and conditions,
you are invited to inquire
by email:
advertise@wangnews.net
| V More Photonews to come. Visit www.wangnews.net again and soon! V V |
| Current U. S. Eastern Time: |
| LIFE IN THE TURN LANE Beverly Jones, January 8, 2011 MAY WE PAUSE TO REFLECT In these perilous time the positive trends highlighted in this essay are not cancelled by tragedies like today’s shooting, but co-exist. There are glimmers we may be on our way to a more humane society even in the midst of this very recent tragedy. We have distances that separate families and friends, our technological addictions and distractions and our high tech, non-personal medical treatment, and now the Arizona shooting of a Congressional Representative . Even so, apparently some of us have the will to connect the rest of us to newer, healthier, more just ways of being together in this world. Amen. Along with Don’t Ask; Don’t Tell legislation, I am hearing and cringing at stories some courageous gay people are telling us. They let us know about the shame and isolation they have felt because of society’s difficulty with their sexual orientation. Portia DeRossi, who played Nell Porter on 89 episodes of Ally McBeal has written of her ordeal trying to hide her lesbian sexual orientation, which led to life-threatening eating disorders During a TV interview, she described how all the “little” slights associated with her sexual orientation added up to a mental state which produced bulimia and anorexia. The most poignant, I think, was her description of her well-meaning mother who said she supported and loved Portia, but her “life-style” was her private business; she shouldn’t talk about it outside the family. Portia explained that the hurt was her mother’s conflicting message since she spoke openly and proudly of her sons, Portia’s brothers, and their family oriented “life-style”. A current movie, nominated for an Academy Award, adds weight to our human dignity scale. The King’s Speech shows in detail the shame and hurt of Queen Elizabeth’s father, King George VI, because of reactions to his stuttering. I was moved by the compassionate, awed silence of the audience. Hurt, shame, anger and the coping behaviors people create to deal with these determining feelings are not our society’s water-cooler conversation. Now that this pain is no longer out of sight it, it is no longer out of my mind. How could I not know the level of pain people suffer at our ignorance? How is it that I and my silence have become accomplices to the soul- shattering experiences of many of our gay, as well as black brothers and sisters? Let’s face it – to anyone who’s not “white” and “straight”. It’s the burden of the majority, I guess. I’m sorry. I didn’t know what it feels like. This sounds like testimony during South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. A book written about the atrocities of those times is titled A Human Being Died That Night. Maybe they started something – inserting consideration of what it means to be a human being into an institutional ethos. Maybe it will eventually reach Wall Street – on second thought, maybe not. This ethos of “human beings” is already happening in some progressive nursing homes caring for Alzheimer patients. These pioneers have found that interacting with the “patients” as human beings, rather than objects to be “treated” has soothed and calmed this sometimes fractious population. One agency, Beatitudes in Oregon, disregarded typical nursing-home rules for Alzheimer’s treatment and allowed a 96 year old woman, Ms. Nance, “to sleep, be bathed and dine whenever she wanted, even at 2 a.m. She could eat anything, too, no matter how unhealthy, including unlimited chocolate. “ Beatitudes is actually following some of the latest science. Research suggests that creating positive emotional experiences for Alzheimer’s patients diminishes distress and behavior problems. We need research for this? Isn’t it common sense to know someone’s likes and dislikes, that being comfortable, and having the option to choose for oneself can change behavior from belligerent to cooperative? I wish I had this kind of “treatment” from our standard, reductionist medical system, even without having Alzheimer’s. Should standard medicine try it, they might find it positively influences the course of some diseases through the mind-body (human) integration. Mind-spirit-body connections would become more than academic. “In the old days,” Ms. Alonzo, a staff member at Beatitudes, said, “we would find out more about somebody from their obituary than we did when they were alive.” I would like to live where people have the ingenuity to create fake bus stops outside to keep Alzheimer patients from wandering, as a nursing home in Germany did. The residents would wait for nonexistent buses until they forgot where they wanted to go, or agreed to come inside. Sure beats tranquilizing drugs, alarms and restraints. This goes back to Naht Hanh: that understanding creates compassion. It goes forward to the notion that we human beings have an essence beyond our physical bodies, that we will resist all efforts to stomp on that essence, even when our brains don’t work so well. Jesus got it. His message is not for me alone. I need to speak it to Others: “And even the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid: you are of more value that many sparrows.”Matthew 10: 30-31 That’s a prescription I can live with, Alzheimer’s or not. © Beverly Jones 2011 Do Good. Together. 72 days till Spring! References Portia DeRossi: The good news is that she has recovered; she is the partner of Ellen DeGeneres. Her book is Unbearable Lightness. “Giving Alzheimer’s Patients their way, even chocolate”, Pam Belluck, NYTimes, 12-31-10. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/01/health/01care.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=alzheimer's%20treatment&st=cse A Postscript form the Publisher In the aftermath of the shootings in Tucson, Arizona, references to the phrase "blood libel" have found its way into the national debate. This phrase is one that is burdened with ugly religious and racial meaning. Since the Middle Ages, this phrase refers to the false accusation that Jews in Europe murdered Christian children in religious rituals and holidays celebrations. This allegation is a vicious slander by itself against a religious and racial minority and historically has been used to stir up hatred and violence against Jewish communities for centuries. The deliberate injection of this phrase into the debate by a major public figure and also a national newspaper is most unfortunate. The continued misuse and propagation even in ignorance of this phrase in our discussions must stop. The gunman first fired against Gabrielle Giffords and then went berserk and shot down eighteen other bystanders. We know that among the victims are Jews, Christians, and a nine year old girl. Now is the time for deep reflection and national healing. As if the lesson has already been forgotten, now is the time for the responsible use of words. Discuss this tragedy we must but words that are fraught with slander against any religious and racial group must be left out of our discourse. Charleston C K Wang, January 12, 2011 |
GOT RICE?
| Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety - Benjamin Franklin (1759). |
| To read "A Reflection of Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem from the Ground," click here. |
January 2011 Extra
For November 2010 Extra Click Here
For November 2010 Extra Click Here
For Upcoming Sunday
Seminars on Current Issues
at Christ Church Cathedral
in the City of Cincinnati
click here.
Seminars on Current Issues
at Christ Church Cathedral
in the City of Cincinnati
click here.
| WANGLAW Attorneys & Counselors at Law |
| To read "Confession of a Gentile in Jerusalem: The Paradox of the Five Sheklim Blessing," click here. |
CLICK HERE TO SEE
INDEX OF OP-EDS
INDEX OF OP-EDS
| To view "Into the Heat of the Hebron Cauldon," click here. |
Free
Download
Download
| To view "The Garden of Gethsemane and Church of All Nations," click here. |
| To view "Caesarea Maritima as Known to Saint Paul," click here. |
| SEARCH WANGNEWS |
| SEARCH WANGNEWS |
| From Left to Right - Charleston C. K. Wang, Esq., Professor Mary Ellen O'Connell & Dean Gordon A. Christenson, Emeritus University of Cincinnati College of Law |
| OCTOGENARIAN VOTES ON NOVEMBER 2, 2010 I-Tsen Wang, 84 at the Voting Booth with her son Charleston C K Wang who drove her to the Polling Station on West Kemper Road, Springfield Township,Ohio. |
 |  |  |
Click on Article for Large View
| BUSINESS MANNERS FOR SUCCESS BY MARJA WADE BARRETT IS AVAILABLE FROM THE CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL SHOP AT 318 E. 4th STREET (4th & SYCAMORE) Pick up your copy by visiting the shop on location or via the internet. For more information, please, click here. |
| To view Pilgrimage to Bethlehem, Birthplace of Jesus, click here. |
| 2011 START THE NEW YEAR WITH HOPE Never Despair |
A CURE FOR THE AMERICAN MALAISE
The Malaise
Thanks to all the election finger-pointing and blame-casting at a time when national
unemployment hovers around double digits, a realization dawned on me, one that I thought
best shared after the New Congress is back in business. As a nation, we are infected with a
creeping disease that forebodes more agony unless we confront it for what it is. The malaise is
our addiction to debt. Debt is debilitating us collectively as cities, counties, states, and the
federal government are unable to balance their budgets.
Surely, all this is nothing new to me and to you. The extra realization is that the addiction to
debt does not begin with our governments. It all starts at the personal level because it is the
addiction to individual over-borrowing that contributed to the subprime mortgage banking
crisis which in turn precipitated the last economic recession. This in turn led to worsening
deficits in the budgets of all levels of government. We are so inured to the addiction of debt,
that few politicians have been willing to even discuss the cure. To reduce a deficit, according
to conventional wisdom, one must cut spending or increase income. For the public sector,
increasing income means to increase taxes.
The problem is even more severe as its tentacles reach beyond our national border. We have
run up a chronic deficit in our balance of trade, particularly with China. China thus holds a
surplus of dollars which that creditor nation uses to buy our treasury paper which accounts for
the imbalance in our federal budget. As of June 1, 2010, China (excluding Hong Kong) owned
$868 billion in U.S. Treasuries which is 21% of a total $4.2 trillion held by foreign nations, making
it the largest lender to the U.S. Government.
Our domestic deficits are exacerbated by our internationalized national debt. When an
individual defaults on his or her mortgage payment, the banker has recourse by foreclosing on
the house and forcibly selling it to recover the loan. When our government runs a deficit, we
have the political expedient of authorizing more debt, this being particularly true for the
federal government. But, what happens when a major foreign creditor nation decides to call in
its loan?
Here we enter uncharted waters. No one knows for sure what will happen and when. Will it
lead to a catastrophic loss in the buying power of the dollar, thus unleashing double digit
inflation as prices rise in the U.S.? As the U.S. defaults on her international debt, will flaring
national tempers lead to war between two superpowers? What if China experiences a burst in
its economic bubble and casts about for someone to blame for its misery?
The Cure
These are some bewildering and frightening scenarios. There is however, a happier
alternative. We, as individuals, must once again and at once muster our creativity and
productivity to expand the economic base. We did it during the high-tech boom of the 1990's
and we can do it again. It means taking stock in ourselves, individually and collectively as a
nation with renewed optimism and focused purpose towards generating real value. It means
invoking the will to cure ourselves of irresponsible overspending and financial chimeras. It
means the gritty, tangible, and clever rebuilding of America. It means drawing upon our
demonstrated Yankee prowess for invention through science and innovation through
technology. We must work harder and smarter. The cure is found not with our politicians but
with each and everyone of us as we go about our daily work. It means not mortgaging our
future to another country. And we must do this in a time of peace and never because we are in
a world war.
Charleston C K Wang 1/11/11
References: http://www.treas.gov/tic/mfh.txt http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/NPGateway
The Malaise
Thanks to all the election finger-pointing and blame-casting at a time when national
unemployment hovers around double digits, a realization dawned on me, one that I thought
best shared after the New Congress is back in business. As a nation, we are infected with a
creeping disease that forebodes more agony unless we confront it for what it is. The malaise is
our addiction to debt. Debt is debilitating us collectively as cities, counties, states, and the
federal government are unable to balance their budgets.
Surely, all this is nothing new to me and to you. The extra realization is that the addiction to
debt does not begin with our governments. It all starts at the personal level because it is the
addiction to individual over-borrowing that contributed to the subprime mortgage banking
crisis which in turn precipitated the last economic recession. This in turn led to worsening
deficits in the budgets of all levels of government. We are so inured to the addiction of debt,
that few politicians have been willing to even discuss the cure. To reduce a deficit, according
to conventional wisdom, one must cut spending or increase income. For the public sector,
increasing income means to increase taxes.
The problem is even more severe as its tentacles reach beyond our national border. We have
run up a chronic deficit in our balance of trade, particularly with China. China thus holds a
surplus of dollars which that creditor nation uses to buy our treasury paper which accounts for
the imbalance in our federal budget. As of June 1, 2010, China (excluding Hong Kong) owned
$868 billion in U.S. Treasuries which is 21% of a total $4.2 trillion held by foreign nations, making
it the largest lender to the U.S. Government.
Our domestic deficits are exacerbated by our internationalized national debt. When an
individual defaults on his or her mortgage payment, the banker has recourse by foreclosing on
the house and forcibly selling it to recover the loan. When our government runs a deficit, we
have the political expedient of authorizing more debt, this being particularly true for the
federal government. But, what happens when a major foreign creditor nation decides to call in
its loan?
Here we enter uncharted waters. No one knows for sure what will happen and when. Will it
lead to a catastrophic loss in the buying power of the dollar, thus unleashing double digit
inflation as prices rise in the U.S.? As the U.S. defaults on her international debt, will flaring
national tempers lead to war between two superpowers? What if China experiences a burst in
its economic bubble and casts about for someone to blame for its misery?
The Cure
These are some bewildering and frightening scenarios. There is however, a happier
alternative. We, as individuals, must once again and at once muster our creativity and
productivity to expand the economic base. We did it during the high-tech boom of the 1990's
and we can do it again. It means taking stock in ourselves, individually and collectively as a
nation with renewed optimism and focused purpose towards generating real value. It means
invoking the will to cure ourselves of irresponsible overspending and financial chimeras. It
means the gritty, tangible, and clever rebuilding of America. It means drawing upon our
demonstrated Yankee prowess for invention through science and innovation through
technology. We must work harder and smarter. The cure is found not with our politicians but
with each and everyone of us as we go about our daily work. It means not mortgaging our
future to another country. And we must do this in a time of peace and never because we are in
a world war.
Charleston C K Wang 1/11/11
References: http://www.treas.gov/tic/mfh.txt http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/NPGateway
| Michelle Alexander, Author of "The New Jim Crow" |
| Shown in photo above are from left to right- Robert Harris, incoming Chair of Cincinnati Human Relations Commission (CHRC), Author & Attorney Michelle Alexander, Charleston C. K. Wang, Commissioner CHRC, Judge Nadine Allen, Court of Common Pleas of Hamilton County, Ohio, and Judge-Elect Tracie Hunter, Juvenile Court of Hamilton County, Ohio. Date: 11/18/2010 in Cincinnati Council Chambers. |
| I first heard Michelle Alexander speak at the Cincinnati Human Relations Summit in 2010. Then over the holidays, I finished reading her book "The New Jim Crow - Mass Incarceration in the Age of Color Blindness." I got a message of hope from reading Ms. Alexander because by going through the discomfort of recognizing the disparity along racial lines in the administration of criminal justice across America, particular in conviction, sentencing and incarceration, we can move towards redress of the disparity. The need to re-enfranchise those who have completed their sentences take on particular urgency and this should become the hope of all Americans because we all have needed a second chance during some point of our lives. To read the Book Review by Michelle L. Watts, Ph.D. on "The New Jim Crow," click here. Moving on to another place farther away, I note the hope of a new day in Sudan as the people there vote for a new nation. As of January 13, turnout has reached 60% with 2.3 million people voting. Voting has been mostly peaceful with increased security from the United Nations peacekeepers. An independent south will get 80 percent of Sudan’s oil production (490,000 barrels a day), making it the third- biggest in sub-Saharan Africa with shipment mainly to China, Malaysia, and India. Ironically, the presence of oil has been a major reason for the decades of fighting, civil war, and genocide in Sudan. With progress towards resolution of the North/South divide, hope is renewed for a similar peaceful settlement in Darfur in the west. The quest for a political settlement in Sudan, including Darfur, continues and I am hopeful that 2011 will also bring progress to the people there. The photos below show some of the local events over the past few years to bring peace to Sudan. To read an old WANGNEWS Op-ed on Darfur, click here. |
| VOLUNTEER PHYSICIANS OF MERCY CARE CLINIC: From Left to Right: DR. TARIQ SULTAN, DR. NEMAT MOUSSAVIAN, DR. DAN ROTH |
| CELEBRATE CHINESE NEW YEAR ON FEBRUARY 3, 2011 The Year of the Rabbit 4648 Like the one from Caerbannog, "it's no ordinary rabbit!" |
| PEACE & PROSPERITY FROM WANGNEWS |
This gentleman is Zhong Kui
| Click on Photo to View Photonews on 2010/11 Boar's Head and Yulelog Festival at Christ Church Cathedral in the City of Cincinnati, USA, |