Heat Wave in Northern California and Comcast Outage

Yesterday and Today was and will be another 3-digit temperatures here in Northern C alifornia. My Internet, TV and Land line phone was out for almost 8 hours yesterday . However, my I-pod and cell phone were working. After watering my plants, I had nothing to do so I decided reading the books in my collection. The above photo are two of my favorites-Fear and Full Service.  

Last night was indeed a very warm night. I had some energy to take photos of my front yard featuring my solar lights as well as David E(RIP) room and former Macrine's(RIP) office now my guest room. Here are the photos:

 Here are the Photos of the Guest Room and David E(RIP) former room

 

Stay Cool and stay inside! Have a Productive Summer to you All...

 

Congratulations to Catherine Sandoval on her White House Nomination

 Photo Credit: YouTube

The White House recently announced the nomination of Catherine Sandoval for the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. My congratulations to a well deserved and long overdue nomination. May her Senate Confirmation  be fast and smooth.

Ms Sandoval was Ditas ( my youngest daughter) boss  when she was still working for the State of California. I met Catherine and her husband in our Fair Oaks residence about 2 years ago during the wake celebration of Macrine. Again my congratulations and more Power to you.  Here's the Press Release on her nomination. For other nominations read the site below. 

Catherine J.K. Sandoval, Nominee for Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board

Catherine J.K. Sandoval is a tenured Law Professor at Santa Clara University (SCU) who teaches and conducts research on energy, communications, antitrust, and contract law. A regulatory and legal expert for more than thirty years and a safety leader for more than two decades, her interdisciplinary work advances infrastructure safety, reliability, access, and equity. She directs three institutes at SCU Law. Sandoval served a six-year term as a Commissioner of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), appointed by Governor Brown and unanimously confirmed by the California State Senate. During her prior federal service, she served as Director of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC), Office of Communications Business Opportunities. Former California Governor Davis appointed her to serve as Undersecretary and Senior Policy Advisor for Housing, and previously as Staff Director of California’s Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency. In that capacity she worked with law enforcement including the California Highway Patrol to respond to infrastructure vulnerabilities and hazardous incidents. 

Sandoval hails from a trailer park, the barrio of East Los Angeles, and then Montebello, California, and became the first in her family to earn a B.A. degree. She was the first Latina selected as a Rhodes Scholar, the first tenured Latina Law Professor at SCU Law, and the first Latinx CPUC Commissioner. She served as a law clerk to Judge Dorothy W. Nelson of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She earned a B.A. from Yale University, a Master of Letters from Oxford University, and a J.D. from Stanford Law School.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/06/08/president-biden-announces-key-nominees-19/

 

 

Why Did it Take 35 Years to Develop a Malaria Vaccine?

Answer to the above Question: The parasite’s complex biology played a role in the delay, but experts say there was also a lack of urgency and funding.

 

My interest in Malaria started when I was growing up in the Philippines. My Father was a victim of this disease and his symptoms of chills and fever, I will always remember during the Japanese-American War in the Philippines (1941-1945).  THUS WHEN I joined FDA in 1990, I made sure I will have expert knowledge of drugs that will prevent/treat malaria.  As a result in 1993, I was granted my Expertise GS-14 specializing in Anti-Malaria and Anti-parasitic drug products as shown in the Press Release below( 2nd paragraph).  My interest with drugs for the treatment/prevention of malaria has never stopped even 20 years after my retirement. 

Press Release of My GS-14 Promotion, 1993

https://davidbkatague.blogspot.com/2019/10/drugs-for-treatment-malaria.html  

A malaria vaccine is a vaccine that is used to prevent malaria. The only approved vaccine, as of 2021, is RTS,S, known by the brand name Mosquirix. In October 2021, the WHO for the first time recommended the large-scale use of a malaria vaccine for children living in areas with moderate-to-high malaria transmission. Four injections are required for full protection.

Research continues with other malaria vaccines. The most effective malaria vaccine is R21/Matrix-M, with a 77% efficacy rate shown in initial trials and significantly higher antibody levels than with the RTS,S vaccine. It is the first vaccine that meets the World Health Organization's (WHO) goal of a malaria vaccine with at least 75% efficacy (Wikipedia).

For Details visit:

https://www.popsci.com/health/malaria-vaccine-2/?utm_source=Newsletter+Subscribers&utm_campaign=62522e0d3e-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_05_27_02_49&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_387276506e-62522e0d3e-515735954#affinity=Health 

Meanwhile enjoy this photo from my album

 Night Light in My Front Yard

 

Top Ten Countries for Filipino Emigrants

With the election of Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., son of the late dictator there are rumors that more Filipinos plan on emigrating to other countries for a better opportunities and better standard of living. There are 10 million Filipinos live abroad and more than 1 million Filipino leave the country each year to work abroad.

Here are the top ten countries for the Filipino Emigrants. It is not surprise that more than 60% of the emigrants favor the US. 

The Philippines has a long history of migration dating back to the 14th century. Today, more than a hundred countries serve as a new home for Filipino emigrants.

Data obtained by the CFO since 1981 show that more than half of the total number of Filipino emigrants are bound to the United States of America at 60%. This may be due to the popular notion in the 20th century that international migration meant moving to the United States and its Pacific territories. The next most popular countries of destination among Filipino emigrants after USA are Canada at 20.12%, Japan at 6.21% and Australia at 5.9%, followed by Italy, New Zealand, UK, Germany, South Korea and Spain.

The above data is for legal immigration. However, in January 2011, the Department of Homeland Security estimate of "unauthorized immigrants" from the Philippines remained at 270,000. By 2017, the number of Filipinos who were in the United States illegally increased to 310,000. These illegal immigrants are called TNT.

TNT is “Tago ng tago”, which means “hiding and hiding”. To live “TNT” in the U.S. means to hide - hide your status, hide from authorities, hide from ill-wishers, so as to evade removal. Here's an article on some true cases of Filipino TNT's.

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/immigration/2021/03/tago-ng-tago-the-untold-story-of-filipino-undocumented-immigrants-in-perpetual-hiding.html

 Meanwhile enjoy this photo from my file;

 

Take Out with Lisa Ling- Food and Tidbits of History of Asian Americans

Ditas alerted me the other day of this documentary of Lisa Ling. I have enjoyed all of Lisa Ling TV documentaries but Take Out is my favorite. The series does not only make me hungry but also reminded me of the struggles Asian-Americans  encountered in the US.  EPISODE 1 is about the history of the first Filipino-American settlement in New Orleans and a must viewed if you have Filipino ancestry in your veins. 

I just finished all 6 episodes of Lisa Ling Take Out a documentary on HBO the other day. Viewing this documentary makes me proud of my roots as an Asian-American, but specifically as a Filipino-American. I recommend this HBO series to all Asian Americans.  It will make you hungry and learned a little bit of history and the struggle of Asian Americans for assimilation to the main stream life in White America.  A TV series worth your time.

"Take Out explores the history of the Filipinos in Louisiana, the Chinese in Northern California, the Vietnamese in Orange County’s Little Saigon, the Bangladeshis in New York, the Japanese in L.A’s Boyle Heights, and the Koreans in Fairfax County, Virginia—and how all of those immigrant groups used food to find their footing in the United States and understand themselves and the people around them". 

 

For complete details visit:

‘Take Out with Lisa Ling’ Is a Delicious Crash Course on Asian America

It’s a food show, sure—but it’s really more of a history lesson that’ll also make you hungry.

By Bettina Makalintal

January 28, 2022

https://www.bonappetit.com/story/take-out-with-lisa-ling 

Episodes

S1 E1 · Mix Mix

Jan 27, 2022

 

Three New Things I Learned Last April

Today is June 1. Time seems to fly fast with three events that affected my life; March 17-Sudden Passing of Youngest son, David E at 59, April 13-Appointment of Ditas my youngest Daughter as Associate Director for Communications, Bureau of Census and May 21- IB Graduation of Carenna, my youngest grand daughter from United World College at Maastrich, Netherlands. In addition, here are the three things I learned last April.  

You have heard of the saying "One is never too old to learn". It applies again to me last April.  I learned a new Tagalog word. I learned a Digital Magazine for non-fiction published monthly and last but not least, I learned of three new Filipino-news magazines that is geared to overseas Filipinos and Filipino-Americans. These items may not be new to some of you, so for those of you who already knew these items my apology. 

1.First, allow me to inform you of the Atavist Magazine. While I was searching for Caregivers(currently, I stopped searching for a caregiver. I found one last week), I found an article titled The Caregivers. I posted a short review of the article in my blogs a few weeks ago. It was a story that touched my heart- a story of love, art, dementia and prison.    

https://planningtovisitthephilippines.blogspot.com/2022/05/the-caregivers-true-story-of-love-art.html

The Atavist Magazine is a monthly publication of long form narrative journalism. It has been nominated for eight National Magazine Awards since its launch in 2011, and in 2015 it won for best Feature Writing with its piece "Love and Ruin," by James Verini. It was the first digital-only publication to receive the award. It was founded by Jefferson Rabb, Evan Ratliff, and Nicholas Thompson. The magazine launched in 2011. In the spring of 2015, the company released its free publishing platform, built with Google's Polymer. Fast Company wrote that the new system "makes it near-painless to create and sell beautifully designed long-form content across multiple platforms."  Many of its stories have been optioned for film/TV projects. The magazine is represented by Creative Artists Agency. The editor in chief is Seyward Darby. The art director is Ed Johnson. 

2. The second item I learned this week was the tagalog word niluklok. I was born and raised as an Ilongo. So my knowledge of Tagalog is limited to what I learned in high school and from daily conversation with my wife for over 62 years. Based on the context of the article, my guess was it meant appointed. The word was in www.abante.com.ph ( see link below*). I was wrong. It meant installed or seated.

* https://mymemory.translated.net/en/Tagalog/English/naluklok

3. The last item I learned last April were the three news sites for Filipino-American News in the Internet. The sites are listed below with the recent article on Ditas Katague Appointment as Associate Director for Communications, Bureau of Census, Department of Commerce.   I am familiar with the US/Philippine Inquirer and the Asian Journal but not of the three listed below.

https://www.abante.com.ph/pinay-niluklok-na-opisyal-sa-us-census-bureau/ 

https://www.goodnewspilipinas.com/filipino-american-ditas-katague-appointed-to-us-census-bureau-communications/

http://www.positivelyfilipino.com/in-brief/tag/Ditas+Katague

Ditas appointment received both National and International News coverage. Here are the sites and FB pages:

Two other sites besides the Bureau of Census that published Ditas recent SES appointment are the Asian Journal (https://www.asianjournal.com/usa/dateline-usa/fil-am-ditas-katague-appointed-associate-director-of-communications-at-us-census-bureau/ )  and the US Inquirer (https://usa.inquirer.net/98432/fil-am-appointed-to-a-top-u-s-census-bureau-post.) These two newspaper I am very familiar with. 

Their is a FaceBook page from the University of Southern California, Sol Price School of Public Policy that also published Ditas appointment. 

https://www.facebook.com/uscprice/photos/a.173066522728027/5408945755806718/?type=3

The the last but most popular site where Ditas appointment was published was the Facebook page of the Filipino-Americans for Biden as follows: It had more than 45 congratulatory messages and 12 shares.

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=307402074868163&set=a.257879296487108 

The original press release of Ditas appointment was published at the Bureau of Census website on April 13.

https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022/ditas-katague-appointed-associate-director-communications.html 

Lastly here's Ditas Certificate of Appointment signed by Secretary of Commerce, Gina Raimondo and Deputy Secretary, Don Graves.

Again, Good Luck Ditas in your new job in Washington DC. I hope this will be your most challenging but rewarding job in your public service career.