Astronauts Back to Earth

NASA launched the Crew-9 Mission last September with just 2 Astronauts. Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore. Their mission was supposed to last for 8 days only. But there was a malfunction in their spacecraft. Therefore, they were stranded there for more than 9 months. (Sounds like the TV show Gilligan’s Island.) (If you want to know more about Gilligan’s Island – Please Google it.) 

Finally, last week ground control sent a SpaceX Crew Dragon Spacecraft to bring both of them back to earth. They successfully splashed down yesterday near Florida. 

Some background. When elected to Office, Trump said his priority is to bring these 2 Astronauts back to earth. He asked Elon Musk to take charge of it because the company SpaceX is owned by him. He sent the SpaceX Crew Dragon Spacecraft to bring them home.

There was wide coverage world wide for their splash down near Florida. Indian press and news media went one step further to give more publicity than necessary. However, there was a big silence in the American press and news media. Only Fox News covered it extensively. We all know Fox News is the only media that is 100% pro Trump. Rest of the networks and print media just barely mentioned this. Why? Just because they do not like Trump, they do not want to cover this news. Plus, most of them never mentioned SpaceX is owned by Elon Musk. Apparently, they thought it will give credit to Trump. 

My question is are they news reporters or opinion makers? We rely on journalists to provide us with accurate and unbiased information. In USA, they behave like opinion makers. They do not want to report about anything that is happening that would look good on Trump.  Exact opposite is Fox News.  Every news reporter in Fox News say that Trump is God and walks on water.

English as the Officlal Language of USA

Almost 250 years (249 to be exact) have gone since USA declared independence. But until now there is no official language for the USA. Trump, with one Executive Order, made English as the official language of the USA. I do not like many things that Trump is doing but this one I have to give him credit. Plus, I do not see any “protest”. 

Members of Congress and Senators in the past (and present) were afraid to bring this subject. They don’t want to antagonize the voters. I have seen voting pamphlets and voting ballots are now issued in several languages depending on the population of that area. In the San Francisco Bay Area, where there are large number of Indians, voting materials are in several Indian languages including Punjabi, Hindi, Bengali, and Tamil. And, of course, Spanish and Arabic. 

There are street signs in English and Spanish. Also, in pharmacies and hospitals. 

After English, Spanish is the second largest language spoken in USA. The population of Spanish speaking people are growing leaps and bounds. 

Majority of the high school students take Spanish as their second language. 

Some politicians tried to make English as the official language. Notable among them was Late Republican Senator from California Mr. Hayakawa. He was a U.S. Senator from 1968 to 1973. He did not get enough support at that time. However, during the recently concluded elections (in November 2024), 30 States have voted to make English as their official language. 

I have been advocating to make English as the official language of the United States for a long time. I know the increase in the population and popularity of Spanish speaking people and I thought someday there would be an agitation to make Spanish as the official language of the USA. 

Epilogue. (Is this the right word to use? I don’t know. I never went to Harvard). I have seen and personally experienced the Hindi agitation in Tamil Nadu when I was a student. Many people died. My thoughts are if Hindi OR English had been declared as the official language of India on August 15, 1947, then everything would have been OK in India.

Wasted Education

Recently there was a famous marriage in Bangalore. The bride has a B. Tech degree in Bioengineering but chose to become a professional Carnatic music singer. 

I have read about a few Tamil movie actresses have medical degrees but decided to be in the movies. 

I have also read many IIT graduates have qualified and became members of the Indian Administrative Service and Indian Police Service. 

My thinking is why do not they have clear thinking about what career they want before joining these professional courses. These professional degrees are “wasted” when someone pursues another career path. These students acquire deep technical expertise in their respective field. But when they choose to have a career in a different field, their highly specific skills may go underutilized. 

It is difficult to get admission into these programs. If after graduating they choose a different career, it means they “took up” a space in the program that could have been offered to someone more committed to use the degree in its intended field. 

It is a waste that the valuable skills and knowledge acquired are not benefiting society.