**Best news of the week**
Everyone in Washington knows who Tim Eyman is. And most in Seattle would agree that he is one of the worst abusers of the Washington Ballot Measure system. This week, the Washington State Attorney General said that they are suing Eyman for unlawful transactions within his campaigns in this state. Basically, Eyman used campaign funds for personal expenses. It's taken far too long, but it's a step in the right direction.
Watch the video or read the story at King 5.
Monday:
The Lucas Family Foundation has donated $10M to USC to promote Student Diversity.
Read the story here.
Tuesday:
A new MS Drug has been approved by FDA.
Read the news here at NBC News.
The Supreme Court ruled this week that states must use current science in judging intellectual disability in court cases.
Read the story at the New York Times.
Wednesday:
Seattle stands its ground against Sessions.
Read the story at the Stranger.
And in a related article, the whole West Coast Stands against Trump.
Read the article here.
Thursday:
A woman in India invents way to make plastic waste useful.
Read the article here.
Friday:
El Salvador bans Toxic Metal Mining.
Read the article here at the Guardian.
Feel free to link anyone you'd like to this. And if you have any Good News links in the coming week that you'd like to share, feel free to send them my way. I can definitely use more.
American Immigrant Highlights: Poland
Polish Americans are one of the largest immigrant groups in the US today. They are the largest Slavic ethnic group, the second Central and Eastern European group, and the eight largest immigrant group overall. There are an estimated 9.5 million Polish Americans today, representing three percent of the US population. The largest groups of Polish Americans today are in Chicago, New York, New Jersey, and the upper Midwest. New York, Illinois, Michigan, and Pennsylvania have the highest populations of Polish Americans overall.
The first Polish settlers in America came in 1585 to the Roanoke Colony (for more on that see this link). In other words, the Polish have been part of our country since European settlers first came to America. Two early immigrants even led armies in the Revolutionary war.
The main time of immigration for Poles to the US was during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Because Poland's borders have changed so greatly in the past two hundred years, many of the immigrants from that area were recorded as Russian, German, and Austrian by the people recording their entry into the country. Before this period, most of the Poles came as single people or small family groups, and just settled into whatever community they could find, not setting up Polish enclaves the way many other immigrant groups did to be near people like themselves. Because of this, the rate of assimilation at this time was quite high, and they quickly intermarried with other racial groups. From 1870 to 1914, the Poles arrived in two particular groups: the Jews and the Catholics. Each settled into their own groups, setting up highly specialized ethnic communities to keep their cultures strong. Many Polish-American organizations sprang up during this time. After 1914, Polish immigration declined, the largest upsurge since them probably being the wave of immigrants from the area in the 30s and 40s, many of whom were fleeing the region in droves.
As with the Irish, many people looked down on the Polish in America. The hostility grew from a German attitude that considered Polish people to be a lesser people. Much like how they treated other ethnic groups, they were a major focus of Nazi attacks in Germany and surrounding regions. Some of this was due to the large Jewish population in the region, but it also stemmed from a generalized mistrust of anyone who was not directly German. These attitudes came across the Atlantic with immigrants, and though it was more muted here, you can still find the attitude easily in "Polish Jokes." Rather like "Dumb Blonde Jokes," these jokes focused on how stupid and lower-class Polish people supposedly were. Polish American organizations have been fighting since the 60s to challenge these negative stereotypes in America. Slowly the Polish Joke has begun to fade away.
Polish food is well known in the US, particularly kielbasa and more recently pierogis. Kielbasa is a garlic-flavored pork sausage used in many different dishes both whole and cut up. Perogis are a potato dumpling that features as many variations as there are flavours of ice cream, both savory and sweet. Other Polish American cuisine includes sauerkraut, cabbage rolls, cabbage in any form, coffee cake, and potato pancakes. There is also Grzaniec, a mulled wine in a very classic style. Many soups and stews are also popular in this cuisine, especially the very well-known cold remedy, chicken soup, and also a Polish version of Goulash, or as they call it, Gulasz. Their food also features herring many ways. Some Polish food is so integrated into the US that many dishes seem American all on their own, while others still seem exotic and fascinating, especially if you do not live in an area that has a major Polish community.
Notable Polish Americans:
Sorry it's so long this week. I do try to keep them short, but this is after I made cuts. I literally couldn't choose to cut any of these.
- David, Rosanna, and Patricia Arquette, famous acting family
- Christine Baranski, comedian, choreographer, and actress
- Jack Benny, Polish-Jewish comedian
- Jon Bon Jovi, musician and actor, founder and frontman of Bon Jovi
- Nicolas Cage, actor
- Jennifer Connelly, Oscar-winning actress
- Peter Falk, Polish-Jewish actor
- Scarlett Johansson, actress, of Polish-Jewish descent
- Harvey Keitel, actor, of Polish-Jewish descent
- Jenny McCarthy, comedian and actress
- Wentworth Miller, actor
- Zero Mostel, actor, of Polish-Jewish descent
- Paul Newman, actor
- Jerry Orbach, tony-award winning actor, known for his role on Law and Order
- Frank Oz, director, puppeteer for the Muppets
- Jared Padalecki, actor known for his role in Supernatural
- Gwyneth Paltrow, actress, of Polish-Jewish descent
- Paul Rudd, actor, of Polish-Jewish descent
- Live Schreiber, actor, of Polish-Jewish descent
- Ben Stiller, comedian and actor, of Polish-Jewish descent
- Alan Tudyk, actor
- Roger Zelazny, author of fantasy and science fiction
- Samuel Goldwyn, one of the founders of MGM
- Stanley Kubrick, filmmaker
- Aaron Spelling, film and TV producer
- J Michael Straczynski, writer and producer of the Babylon 5 TV series
- Gore Verbinski, director
- Lana and Lilly Wachowski, directors, screenwriters and producers of the Matrix and many other films
- Albert, Harry, Sam, and Jack Warner, founders and leaders of Warner Brothers
- Billy Wilder, director and producer
- Larry King, news show host
- Gloria Steinem, journalist and political activist
- Pat Benetar, musician
- Peter Cetera, singer and musician for Chicago
- Neil Diamond, singer, of Polish-Jewish descent
- Benny Goodman, jazz musician and bandleader, of Polish-Jewish descent
- Gene Krupa, big band drummer
- Liberace, entertainer
- Marilyn Manson, musician
- Axl Rose, singer for Guns N'Roses
- Steven Tyler, singer for Aerosmith
- Liv Tyler, actress
- Keith Urban, Grammy-winning country music singer
- Jon Stewart, news show host, comedian
- Max Factor Sr, founder of the cosmetics company
- Leo Gerstenzang, inventor of Q-Tips
- Alan Greenspan, economist, one-time Chairman of the Federal Reserve
- Reuben & Rose Mattus, founders of Haagen-Dazs
- Martha Stewart, business woman, author
- Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple
- Anne Wojcicki, co-foounder of 23andMe
- Michael Bloomberg, businessman, former Mayor of New York City
- Bernie Sanders, US Senator for Vermont, of Polish-Jewish descent
- Joanna Hoffman, part of the original Macintosh developer team for Apple
- Stephanie Kwolek, inventer of nylon and Kevlar
- Tara Lipinski, Olympic gold medalist in figure skating
This is by no means a complete list. For more interesting Polish Americans, look at this list on Wikipedia.
Sources
Polish Americans
Anti-Polish sentiment
Polish Americans
Recipes for Polish-American Weddings
10 of the Best Polish Foods
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