Happy birthday, astronaut Jessica Watkins!

Jessica Watkins, born May 14, 1988 in Gaithersburg, Maryland, went into space aboard the SpaceX Crew-4 Crew Dragon spacecraft Freedom as mission specialist.  She launched in April 2022 to the International Space Station and participated in Expeditions 67 and 68.  She spent over 170 days in space before returning to Earth.

Happy birthday, taikonaut Fei Junlong!

Chinese astronaut Fei Junlong, born May 5, 1965, has been in space twice.  

His first mission was aboard Shenzhou 6 as commander in October 2005.  The spaceflight lasted almost 5 days before he returned to Earth.

His second mission was aboard Shenzhou 15 as commander launched in November 2022 to the Tiangong space station.  Fei Junlong performed 4 EVAs during the mission.  He spent about 6 months in space before returning to Earth in June 2023.

Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Wataru Misaka, first Asian American to play in the NBA

Wataru Misaka, born December 21, 1923 in Ogden, Utah, grew up poor and in a bad area of the city, but graduated from Ogden High School.  He led the basketball team to a state championship title in 1940, and a regional title in 1941. 

This was at a time when Japanese Americans were being forced into internment camps.  He attended Weber College and helped lead its basketball team to two championships and was named Most Valuable Player of 1942. 

He enrolled at the University of Utah and played during their 1943-1944 season.  He was drafted to serve in WWII and rose to the rank of staff sergeant.  He returned after two years and rejoined the team at the University of Utah. 

He was selected by the New York Knicks in the 1947 Basketball Association of American and played in three games and scored seven points in the 1947-1948 season.  He was cut from the team mid-season.  

He completed a degree in engineering from Utah.

He passed away in November 2019 in Salt Lake City.  

Remembering Ruth Buzzi (1936-2025)

One of the funniest ladies ever, Ruth Buzzi, born July 24, 1936 in Westerly, Rhode Island, passed away yesterday at 88. She studied at the Pasadena Playhouse for the Performing Arts with Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman.  

She gained fame for her work on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, where she performed a variety of roles and received a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress - Television.

She was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards. 

She battled Alzheimer's Disease and passed away from complications after a stroke.

GOP eases limits on seven major air pollutants: Party over People

Once again, the GOP has put party and profits over people.  The Republican-led Senate approved to overturn an EPA rule that limited some of the most hazardous air pollutants emitted by heavy industry. 

For the first time in the 55-year history of the Clean Air Act, Congress has weakened the rules on emitting seven pollutants.

Republican Senator John Curtis introduced the resolution, saying it “disincentivized” companies to deploy new technology to reduce pollution. He said the rule passed by the Biden Administration “shut the door on progress”.

Of course, Lee Zeldin, Environmental Pollution Agency Administrator, who lives in a fantasy world, said it won’t have adverse impacts on health or the environment.

Just FYI, here are the seven pollutants named in the resolution and their impacts on health.

Alkyllead compounds – Most common are tetraethyllead and tetramethyllead used as gasoline additives.  Neurotoxins, more toxic than inorganic forms of lead.  Lead adversely affects almost every organ of the body.

Polycyclic organic matter (POM) – A class of compounds that includes hundreds of chemicals including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH).

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.healtheffects.org/system/files/SR16-Polycyclic_Organic_Matter.pdf

Mercury – Seriously?

Hexachlorobenzene – Shown to cause death, systemic, neurological, developmental, endocrine, and immunological toxicity in humans. One of the “dirty dozen” chemicals outlawed by the Stockholm Convention in 2001.

chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp90-c2.pdf

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) – Manufacturing was banned in 1979.  Possible carcinogen.

https://www.epa.gov/pcbs/learn-about-polychlorinated-biphenyls#healtheffects

 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzofurans (TCDF) – 100% fatal if swallowed,  allowed to come in contact with skin, or inhaled.

https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/2_3_7_8-Tetrachlorodibenzofuran#section=Safety-and-Hazards

2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin – Linked to liver injury, dysbiosis, and heart defects

https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/2_3_7_8-Tetrachlorodibenzofuran#section=Associated-Disorders-and-Diseases

 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senate-votes-to-overturn-epa-rule-limits-7-hazardous-air-pollutants-clean-air-act/

 

 

Happy birthday, astronaut Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger!

Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, born May 2, 1975 in Colorado Springs, Colorado, went into space in 2010. She graduated from Fort Collins High School and attended Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, graduating in 1997.

She was selected by NASA in 2004.  She went into space aboard Discovery (STS-131) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in April 2010. She returned to Earth after 15 days in space.

Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Patsy Mink, first Asian American woman elected to Congress

Patsy Takemoto Mink, born December 6, 1927 on Maui in Hawai'ian territory, graduated from Maui High School in 1944 and attended the University of Hawai'i at Manoa for two years before transferring to the University of Nebraska. She experienced racism and worked to eliminate segregation policies, but illness forced her to return to Hawai'i to complete her studies.

She applied to twelve medical schools but was rejected by all of them.  She applied to the University of Chicago Law School in 1948.  Unable to find employment after graduation, Mind returned to Hawai'i with her husband and daughter in 1952. She opened her own law practice in 1953 and became a member of the Democratic Party.  

The next year she was elected to the territorial House of Representatives, making her the first Japanese-American woman to serve in the House.  Two years later, she became the first woman to serve in the territorial Senate.

In 1962, she was elected to the new Hawai'i State Senate and became the first Asian-American woman to serve in a state legislature.  In 1964, she ran for federal office and won a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Mink served until her death in 2002.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patsy_Mink