Anyone paying attention to the Supreme Court of the USA?

 

It is finally dawning on many how important the Supreme Court is for citizens. Apparently, for decades Republicans have been busy working on ensuring that the Supreme Court is packed with conservative justices. Who knew that!  They have used outside conservative groups, like the Federalist Society, to nominate justices at every opportunity. The liberal counterpart for the Federalist Society is the American Constitution Society. At least until recently this group had not been very active or very successful in nominating justices. The explanation of Democrats for this lack luster effect is that the Democrats are a very heterogenous group compared to the Republicans.

Liberal democrats were either busy dealing with other priorities or entirely unaware of what was happening with the Court. Irrespective of the reason, currently the Court is heavily packed with conservatives. The situation was made worse in the last six years with the appointment of three conservative justices. It did not have to be this way if the Supreme Court was not politicized. In 2015 when Justice Scalia passed, the Republican Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell was against confirming a justice before the federal election in 2016. This resulted in the confirmation of Gorsuch, the first of the three most recent conservative justices.  This was followed by Kavanaugh replacing Kennedy.  Finally,with Ginsburg's passing the republicans succeeded in confirming Barrett. With this confirmation the Republicans succeeded in establishing a conservative court for years to come. 

Liberal activists have finally risen to play a role in the next court appointment. How did they do it? For months they had a mobile display urging Justice Breyer to step down. Whether it was because of the liberal activism or because Justice Breyer thinks he will not be effective in the current conservative court he has announced his retirement from the court. It is also possible that he would like to retire giving Biden the opportunity to appoint a Justice. If Ginsberg had stepped down when liberals suggested that she step down, Obama and the democrats would have appointed a Justice and helped maintain the judicial balance in the country. 

There are now some rumblings that could affect Justice Thomas. There is concern that Justice Thomas's wife Ginni Thomas is involved in activities that are a threat to the activities of the Supreme Court. Apparently Ginni Thomas is a staunch conservative and may have an influence on the decisions made by her husband Clarence Thomas. A recent article by Jane Mayer in the NewYorker discusses this in great detail. If this is indeed the case, Justice Thomas may have to retire/step down to maintain the stature of the highest court in the land.

Immigrants as citizens

 

There are many reasons for migration into the United States.  Often we hear about migration from Central America.  The majority of immigrants from countries in this region migrate to the United States to escape threats to their life as well as economic reasons. Economic reasons are only one reason for immigration into the US from other parts of the world.  Other reasons include higher education and opportunities to engage in exciting academic, business and other employment opportunities. Many of these immigrants are laser focused on their personal goals and fail to be fully engaged as citizens. The political turmoil we have faced has exposed this limitation of “responsibility as a citizen” as well as the consequences. The United States is a country of immigrants – a fact that has been lost to the many who feel that opportunities have been taken away from them.  The dearth of domestically trained personnel is a major reason for opportunities for already trained immigrants from abroad (part of the “model minority”).

As for the trained immigrants, many fail to adequately integrate, socially and politically.  Immigrants had to wait for the next generation for this integration. To some extent with the election of 2016 immigrants recognized the need to pay attention to activities in the sphere of politics. With the election of 2020 and the insurrection of 6^th January 2021, many citizens are learning how fragile democracy is and that it is something that needs constant tending and attention. There is also much to learn about the US constitution, the responsibilities of the three branches of the government as well as how elections impact the process of governing. As they say “Elections Matter”.

There is also a good deal to learn about the history to understand the basis for many significant issues that have an impact on elections and the process of governing. Voter suppression and gerrymandering are terms that have been discussed. How many immigrants are aware of how these processes are detrimental to fair elections? How many immigrants are aware of how the Electoral College is stacked against the possibility of electing a President with the most popular votes? Hopefully immigrants are learning the need to be knowledgeable in government and civics and be active participants in the political process. It is important for citizens, native born as well as immigrants, to not only vote but have the knowledge to make informed decision at the voting booth.

Immigrants, many known as “the model minority”, are part of the citizenry and have the responsibility to actively participate in the democratic process.  Before we know, the country will be at the 2022 mid-term elections and the 2024 general elections.  Every one of us has a role to play to prevent what happened in 2016, the ordeal the country went through from 2017 to 2021 culminating in the insurrection on 6^th January 2021. The period between elections is important for educating oneself on historical facts (to understand why things are the way they are), critical issues facing many in the country who may not be as fortunate as those considered the model minority as well as how all of us can help in maintain a healthy democracy.

Are we getting close to the end of the quarantine?

 

 

What does it feel like to be done with quarantine? Can we see the light at the end of the tunnel? I recall the day, a year ago, when California went into shelter at home status.

We are not quite done with quarantine.  However, many who have had the two doses of the vaccine have started to step out of quarantine but with the required precautions (mask wearing, social distancing and hand hygiene). The unknowns about the nature of the pandemic were frightening. The rate of hospitalization and deaths were the most impactful of factors creating concern. I can recall how shopping was a cumbersome chore a year ago, with everyone trying to avoid the infection.  Now it has become second nature to take all the required precautions to prevent transmission. The effect of vaccines, in minimizing severity of the disease, as well as greater knowledge on how to treat the disease has been helpful in reducing the concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic to some level.

After a year of quarantine and working from home it is liberating to be able to get back to working in the normal surroundings in the midst of other individuals.  The mere experience of driving and observing the changing scenery is exhilarating.

Getting back to work, outside home, is only one small step.  Having spent one year without social gatherings one wonders when that slice of life will be back. It is likely that for the fore seeable future, it will have to be very small gatherings, outdoors and short visits.

Yet another aspect of life affected by the pandemic has been travel.  Those of us who were starting to take holiday trips greatly miss the travels.  We will likely have to take baby steps towards travelling and holidaying once again.  The first steps will have to be domestic trips, not involving air travel.  This can then be followed by air travel to domestic destinations and finally international travel.  This will all depend on absence of resurgence of the infection. By then populations would have attained herd immunity and things will be back to normal around the world.

COVID-19 swept through the world and dealt a serious blow to life as we know. COVID-19 taught us about pandemics, viral transmission, novel methods to develop vaccines, how vaccines are tested, public health strategies to prevent transmission and the chaos a pandemic can create in individual lives and the world over. With appropriate attention let us hope that we can slowly get back to life as we knew before the pandemic.

Wh

January 2017 to January 2021

 

It started with the Women’s March in Washington DC and ended with the insurrection at the Capitol. The intervening years have been unbelievable for many reasons.

 To start with the Trump win came as a surprise to all.  If only those eligible to vote in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, the past four years would have been significantly different in many respects. The shock of the election outcome was so jarring that it resulted in spontaneous growth of activism.  The activism led to the defeat of many Republican House members. It paved the way for flipping the House seat from the Republicans to the Democrats in Orange County, California.

With Trump’s win it is was easy to identify many who are naïve to think that Trump was a business man who was good for capitalism in the country.  There are a number of issues with this acceptance. One of them is that so many were willing to take Trump on face value – that here is a business man who was going to make them wealthier.  They were prepared to ignore the many red flags. 

It was concerning to see the chaos the country had to endure.  It is pretty much like the last four years did not exist.  But they cannot be ignored.  The last four years showed how precariously close democracy came to destroyed.  This is not hyperbole. One shudders to imagine what would have happened if the 2020 election resulted in a Trump win. It would be very difficult to bring the country back after another four more years of lies, conspiracy and incompetence.

How did we survive four years of chaos?  Fortunately, we had a job to be engaged in which kept our minds engaged. There were so many outrageous happening that distressed many in the country.  One of them was the action of ICE.  Parents with children, who were citizens, were deported.  It is unimaginable, what the children would go through when they would return from school one day and be told that their father or mother was arrested by ICE and deported and that they would not be able to see them.

Another cruel action was separating children from their parents at the border. It is difficult to understand not only how they could come up with an order that would separate children from parents but also how those who carried out the orders did so. It was one of the many cruel of actions.

Not until the period of 2016 to 2020 did many of us become aware of white supremacy. They are a very dangerous group of people that have been laying low and finally arose with support of a demagogue head of the state. Who took seriously the topic of conspiracies and fringe groups until the insurrection?  Now we know how dangerous all these can be.

 The country was the laughing stock of the rest of the work. With a demagogue as the head of the government and a cadre of subordinates – some taking advantage of the circumstance and advancing their agenda and others helpless in changing course. It is genuinely refreshing to have a thoughtful administration in place as of 20^th of January 2021.

Hopefully all have learned a lesson, never to take democracy for granted, even in an “advanced nation”.  The country is made up of citizens, whose insecurities can result in irrational thinking and manifest in dangerous actions.

Guilt in the year of the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic

 

The year 2020 has been a year that is best forgotten.  The pandemic had vastly different effects in the population.  Essential workers are the heroes – having to continue working. Many small businesses had to close and lay off their employees. And then are many who are able to work remotely from home. Working from home comes with its challenges. With schools closed, parents with young children have to simultaneously work as well as help the young ones with remote schooling. In addition, one wonders how many children are missing adequate education because of lack of computers and access to reliable network.

How does the guilt factor come into play? For those of us who do not have young school going children, the thought that there are millions of families that have to deal with a multitude of challenges arouses feelings of guilt.  For many having a job and being able to work generates sufficient guilt. Not having the challenges of having to deal with issues related to school age children, that so many are facing, only adds to the guilt. One may try to reach a colleague over the phone and hear a response to the effect that your colleague is driving home after picking up their child during the middle of the day from the tutor (likely because the regular school is closed).  That is when you feel the guilt that you are not faced with these issues.

There is plenty of information on the disparity that exists in the society. However, personal experience is a unique feeling. I hope the situation changes rapidly so that some of us do not have to feel guilty.

COVID-19 PANDEMIC

My last posting was on October 2009!  What a time to get back to some bloggings! The entire world is reeling under the weight of the corona virus pandemic.  There are so many facets one can discuss about this pandemic.  One of them is the complacency of the developed countries in assuming that infectious diseases did not need attention. Attention and resources were focused on non-communicable diseases like cancer and cardiovascular disorders.  I am no exception to this pattern of thinking. Infectious viruses do not recognize national borders.  With international travel, every country should have paid greater attention to the possibility of a pandemic originating in a far of continent coming to our shores.

Who knew that global surveillance for potential pandemics is an established activity.  So then, why are we in this current situation?  Could it be because of the irresponsibility of heads of states whose primary responsibility is to ensure such activities are adequately addressed.  It clearly seems like they dropped the ball.    The Global Health Security and Biodefense unit, responsible for pandemic preparedness and established in 2015 by Barack Obama’s National Security Advisor Susan Rice, was dissolved in 2018.  This action likely contributed to the current state we are in.

Each one of us have our own personal perspective of what happened to our daily activities.  As for me, on Friday the 13^th of March is when I started working from home.  One fine day all who could work remotely disappeared from the lab and started working from home.  Since then, in the last seven weeks I have gone to the lab only three times for a few minutes tp get reference books and once for less than a couple of hours to relocate my office. I am hoping to start going to work in the lab soon.

Meanwhile, the whole process of shopping has been revamped.  Hardly any visits to Costco.  Donning a face mask when grocery shopping.  Going forward I plan to use a face mask when traveling in planes – which I started a couple of years ago.  Now I will feel comfortable doing so.

Another casualty of this pandemic was the cancellation of a trip to Spain, that I was very much looking forward to.  As I write this blog, I realize that I am off from work because I had taken this week off to for the Spain tour!  But here I am at home in Irvine using the time to collect some Continuing Education Credits (CEU). The Annual Conference of the American College of Medical Genetics which was scheduled for mid-March was converted to a digital conference.  I spend my time off to go over some of the presentations and gather some CEUs!

We were just now starting to do some travelling with plans for travelling at least once a year.  We did Kauai, Peru and Alaska.  And the December 2018 to January 2019 trip to India! Now, I am not sure when we will start travelling again.

Diwali, Pepsico, potato chips and Target

I was pretty amused to see a flyer which said "Share the joy of Diwali" with the symbols of Pepsi and FritoLay. This is advertisment targeting Indians. How about celebrating Diwali with Pepsi and potato chips? What is the role of Indra Nooyi in "Celebrate Diwali with Pepsi and potato chip"? Soon we will be celebrating Pongal, Onam, Vishu, Sankranthi, Holi, and Navratri with Pepsi and potato chips!