**Best news of the week**
Last Sunday, it was announced that KT McFarland is stepping down as National Security Adviser. Slowly Trump's people are either realizing they are not fit for power, or being removed from office. Hopefully the dominoes will all drop on him.
Read the article at the New York Times.
Monday:
Another judge ruled that Voter ID Laws are created to disadvantage minorities in Texas. This is the second ruling of this sort in Texas in two months.
Read the article at the Associated Press.
The Pope has a free laundromat opened for Rome's Poor.
Read the article at CNN.
The Maryland General assembly passed bill that will help to keep drugs at reasonable prices.
Read the article at the Baltimore Sun.
The UK provides millions to help build electric batteries for vehicles.
Read the article at Reuters.
Roman citizens provide food to migrants despite the city's attempt to keep them out.
Read the article at Reuters.
Kenya is cooking with solar power, even when it is not sunny.
Read the article at Reuters.
Tuesday:
The Indian Parliament passes bill to prevent HIV and AIDS discrimination.
Read the article here.
A Small-town Iowa editor wins a Pulitzer for taking on big farming corporations in his state.
Read the story at the Associated Press.
Friday:
The Washington state Legislature passes a bill allowing women to get their contraception for 12 months at a time, instead of only one-month doses.
Read the story at King 5 News.
A new 3D patch can help mend scarred heart tissue.
Read the article here.
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.
So my initial plan this week was to do China, however, it has been a crazy week and I am mentally and physically drained, so I didn't want to tackle a group that had such an immense history in the US, and with such a huge impact on our culture. They will come back around, though, because they are fascinating, and well worth talking about. So I went with the next Asian American group I had planned for instead. (Still ended up kicking my ass, though.)
American Immigrant Highlights: Filipino
Filipino Americans are Americans of Filipino descent, also called Fil-Ams or Pinoy. Pinoy is a term used particularly for those Filipinos who live in the US, over those who are of Filipino-American descent in the Philippines. Filipinos have been coming to America since the 16th century, though they didn't begin coming in large numbers until the early 20th century, when the country was ceded by Spain to the US in the Treaty of Paris, which was an agreement that gave much of the remaining Spanish Empire to the US. They did not let the Philippines go for free, though. The US paid $20 million to Spain for the country. The US formally recognized Philippine independence in 1946. Because of the Immigration act of 1924, immigration from the Philippines reduced specifically in the 30s except for those serving in the US Navy, and it wasn't until the 1964 reform came about that their numbers began to increase once more.
According to the 2010 US Census, there were 3.4 million Filipino Americans, which makes them an estimated 1.1% of the total US population. They are the US's second largest Asian ancestry group after Chinese Americans. They are also the largest population of Overseas Filipinos. The largest populations of Filipinos in the US are in Hawaii, California, New York, and Illinois. Filipinos are one of the top ten largest US immigrant groups, and they have the highest rate of assimilation with the exception of their cuisine. This has led to them being seen as a nearly invisible immigrant group.
Because they were under Spanish rule for over 300 years, many Filipinos have adopted Hispanic names and are considered Asian Latinos. However, they have also been influenced by other cultures. In addition to Filipino and Spanish surnames, there are also Japanese, Indian and Chinese surnames in the Filipino community. These influences have also influenced language, and Filipinos have many languages. Filipino and English are the official languages in the Philippines. There is also a strong Chinese tongue, called Philippine Hokkien. Then there is Tagalog, which is a combination of Filipino, English, and Spanish. It is the fifth most-spoken language in the US. It is so heavily used in California that many of California's public announcements are also translated into Tagalog. There are many other language spoken by Filipinos, but those are the largest four languages in the community.
During World War II, 250,000 to 400,000 Filipinos served in the US Military. These soldiers were promised the benefits all American soldiers were due, however after the war was over, the benefits were denied them, and it was only after decades of fight with the US government that they were given even part of those benefits. By that time, more than 30,000 had immigrated to the US formally, and were already receiving some of their benefits. But finally the US Senate introduced a bill providing a one-time payment of at least 9,000 US Dollars to those still owed who were not US Citizens, and 15,000 US Dollars to eligible US Citizens. In 2012, the Social Security Administration announced that non-resident Filipino World War II veterans could claim some social security benefits, though they would lose them if they visited the US for more than a month, or immigrated to the US.
Despite their numbers, Filipino food is not a well-known cuisine in this country. Because there are so many influences in Filipino history, they have a tendency to adopt other food influences into their diets. One of the more recent trends in food that comes from Filipino culture is matcha, a concentrated powder form of Japanese green tea that is used in pastries, drinks, and many other things. Another Filipino influence is ube, which is a purple yam that has begun to be used in many pastries and drinks and is used in many other ways as well. Other well-known Filipino foods include Pancit (Filipino noodle dishes), Sisig (a pork dish), Kare-kare (an oxtail and peanut butter stew), Pinakebet (a stir-fried sort of vegetable dish), Dinaguan (aka "pork blood stew"), Lechon (a charcoal-roasted pig dish), Adobo, Lumpia (the Filipino version of spring rolls), Tocino (cured pork sliced and grilled, with a sweet marinade), Sinigang (a meat and vegetable soup).
Notable Filipino Americans:
- Charles Klapow – choreographer for High School musicals and other films
- Ruth Elynia S Mabanglo, Ph.D. – Professor of Philippine Literature, University of Hawaii
- Baldomero Olivera, Ph.D. – Professor of Biology, University of Utah, first Fil-Am member of the US National Academy of Sciences
- Lynda Barry – comic strip cartoonist and novelist
- Ernie Chan – comic artist for Marvel and DC comics
- Don Figueroa – comic artist for IDW Publishing and Dreamwave Entertainment
- Van Partible – creator of Johnny Bravo
- Whilce Portacio – created Bishop of the X-Men, co-founder of Image Comics
- Tony DeZuniga – co-creator of Jonah Hex
- Emil Guillermo – award-winning journalist, writer, and broadcaster, first Filipino American to anchor NPR's All Things Considered
- Jose Antonio Vargas – Pulitzer Prize Winner in Journalism for his work with the Washington Post
- Simeon R Acoba, Jr, JD – former Associate Justice on the Hawaii State Supreme Court
- Jessica Hagedorn, playwriter and author
- Jose Garcia Villa – poet, writer
- Joan Alemidilla – Broadway actress known for her roles in Miss Saigon and Les Miserables
- Robert Lopez – composer, Tony Award Winner, wrote Let It Go for the movie Frozen
- Deedee Magno – actress in the touring and San Francisco cast of Wicked, former mouseketeer
- Caterina Fake – co-founder of Flickr and Hunch
- Fritz Friedman – Senior VP of Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, former State Commissioner for Asian Americans
- Bobby Murphy – Co-founder, Snapchat
- Cristeta Comerford – First female executive chef at the White House
- Peter Aduja – served in the State Legislature in Hawaii, first Filipino American elected in the US
- Thurgood Marshall, Jr – White House senior staff member during the Clinton Administration
- Michele J Sison – US ambassador to the United Arab Emirates
- Phoebe Cates – actress, known for her roles in Who's the Boss and Charmed
- Darren Criss – actor & singer, known for his role in Glee
- Mark Cacascos – actor & martial arts expert
- Nia Peeples – actress
- Lou Diamond Phillips – actor
- Robert Lopez – composer, first Filipino to win an EGOT (winning each of the Oscar, Grammy, Emmy and Tony awards); twelfth person to achieve an EGOT
- Kirk Hammett – lead guitarist for Metallica
- Mike Inez – bassist of Alice in Chains
- Joe Santiago – lead guitarist of the Pixies
- Enrique Iglesias – singer
- Allan Pineda Lindo, aka apl.de.ap – member of the Black Eyed Peas
- Lea Salonga – actress & singer
- Tia Carrere – actress
- Rob Schneider – actor & comedian
This is by no means a complete list. For more interesting Filipino Americans, look at this list on Wikipedia.
Sources
Filipino Americans
Treaty of Paris
What It Means to Be a Filipino-American
Filipino American Food is more than just food from the Philippines
9 Filipino Dishes You Need to Know
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