Those Were the Days

I  watch a lot of TV Programs, especially news related. I stopped watching 2 programs for what I considered as not honest. However, whatever is happening in the TV Network nowadays, I want to go back and watch those 2 programs I stopped watching. They are: 

This Week with David Brinkley – ABC News 

It used to come on Sundays at 8 am. We had one TV at home. My kids wanted to watch their favorite cartoon at that time. I was an idiot and at that age I did not understand the kids’ enthusiasm for cartoon. I refused and watched This Week with David Brinkley. And made sure, my son and daughter watch that program also. 

(Side Bar. My daughter’s teacher gave a home work assignment to her students to write a paper “which TV show she likes to watch”. My daughter wrote a paper “Why I hate to watch This Week with David Brinkley”. Her teacher thought she is an out of the box thinker and gave her an A. I think she still has that paper with her) 

Then on a Sunday, there was a guest at This Week with David Brinkley. He was George Will. He is a conservative columnist. He came on the show and praised President Ronald Reagan’s speech as to how great it was. Later the information came out that President Reagan’s speech was written by George Will. 

I stopped watching This Week with David Brinkley. 

60 Minutes – CBS News 

I religiously used to watch 60 Minutes on CBS News every Sunday at 7 PM. I loved the reports from Mike Wallace, Morley Safer, Roger Mudd, and Ed Bradley. 

(Side Bar: Once Roger Mudd said that one of his forefathers was involved in the killing of President Abraham Lincoln. Samuel Mudd was aiding John Wilkes Booth. Such plain truth speaking reporters.) 

I stopped watching 60 minutes late last year. They interviewed Kamala Harris. She replied to a few questions. It was shown in the trailer. When the actual show was broadcast, her answers were changed in favor of her. They did a reshoot with the same questions and told her what to reply. 

I stopped watching 60 Minutes.

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.