Rays of Hope

The numbers are staggering.

Quoting CBS News, "The United States reported more than 4 million coronavirus cases in November, which is higher than the total number of cases seen all year by any country in the world except India and Brazil."

Why, in heaven's name, did this have to happen? The US is the richest, most powerful country in the world with access to the best, most advanced health technologies -- or so we thought -- yet it has been brought to its knees by the pandemic.

If the numbers are staggering so are the consequences. One third of the total number of nurses who died of Covid-19 are Fil-Ams; we imagine there are many more Fil-Am frontliners, not just in the health industry, who have gotten the virus.

Covid-19 is a formidable foe, blind and disrespectful to barriers and divisions (race, economic status, political and religious beliefs) created by humans. But, as science and human ingenuity have proven throughout history, it can be defeated. All of us just have to do our part in making it happen. ALL. OF. US.

Our stories this week offer rays of hope for sickness and health.

Critical Care Pulmonologist Learning New Ways To Save Lives, Improve Outcomes
Reprinted from the UNLV Medicine Newsletter

Ana’s Chemo By Bella Bonner

Of Chicken Wings And Chicken Feet: The Traveler In Today’s Trying Times
By Carolina Esguerra Colborn

Fil-Ams Among The Remarkable And Famous, Part 12 By Mona Lisa Yuchengco

The Happy Home Cook: Munggo With Ham By Myrna Montera Lopez

Video of the week: The Marcos Gold Wealth: Is It True?

In The Know

IATF allows balikbayans, foreign spouses to enter Philippines
https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2020/11/28/2059979/iatf-allows-balikbayans-foreign-spouses-enter-philippines/amp 

Filipinos Nix Christmas Gifts, Netflix in Worst Regional Slump
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/filipinos-nix-christmas-gifts-netflix-210000136.html?soc_src=social-sh&soc_trk=ma

Flood adaptive home with floating garage withstands Ulysses onslaught 
https://business.inquirer.net/312260/flood-adaptive-home-with-floating-garage-withstands-ulysses-onslaught?fbclid=IwAR0xFaqLaHgLGCZr9hIRCl9fYR2Fdno4X0oTmTotdbqwSBFbOWCqP4eh4HQ

U.P. just keeps winning at life—with three triumphs reported in just one day
https://news.abs-cbn.com/ancx/culture/spotlight/11/26/20/up-just-keeps-winning-at-lifewith-three-triumphs-reported-in-just-one-day?fbclid=IwAR2UkTdFXQpUxuQqguhT_GebE87eSyzZnBsRpKd8Fu797ItNJMjsj4XolEw

LISTEN: Nicole Scherzinger sings in Tagalog for first time in 'Pangako' cover 
https://www.rappler.com/entertainment/music/nicole-scherzinger-sings-in-tagalog-first-time-pangako-song?utm_medium=Social&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_source=Facebook&fbclid=IwAR2suhyxOC0-Rtowa2tyI02tdGqk_ld1i6dosRc3V6lpjm1xbYzCF3-TIZY#Echobox=1606211284

A Comprehensive List Of Filipino-Owned Small Businesses To Support This Holiday Season
https://www.one-down.com/articles/a-comprehensive-list-of-filipino-owned-small-businesses-to-support-this-holiday-season

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Give Thanks, Check Reality

With the pandemic and other circumstances in the US and the world swirling around us, catching our attention and sometimes increasing our stress levels, the Thanksgiving holiday allows us to pause, search for and embrace our quiet, and take stock of where our lives are heading. It's also a good time for gratitude because no matter how much our lives have been gobsmacked by tragedy and grief this year, there are also reasons to be thankful and hopeful. I say this not as a kumbaya statement but as a reality check, an acceptance of the principle of yin/yang, which states that (simplifying here) that every dark has its bright side.

To keep you company in your moments of reflection (ideally after a gratifying Thanksgiving meal with --and limited to-- the people in your household), here are some notable articles we have published that you might want to Read Again. 

Our Stories This Week

Manila Hotel: The Golden Years By Lou Gopal 

Second Springs By Cathy S. Babao 

Which Comes First, The Chicken, Or The Scruples? By Albert J. Lesaca 

Feeding My Filipino By Lotis Key 

No Turkey For Thanksgiving By Gemma Nemenzo 

The Happy Home Cook: Paksiw Na Lechon (Roast Pork In Homemade Liver Sauce And Vinegar)

Video of the Week: Jose Mari Chan and McDonald’s George Yang

McDonald’s Philippines Chairman and Founder George Yang and legendary Filipino singer Jose Mari Chan star in the McDonald’s commercial which came out during Grandparents’ Day last year. 

In The Know

Covid-19 is taking a devastating toll on Filipino American nurses
https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/24/health/filipino-nurse-deaths/index.html

City pens official apology to Filipino community for 1930 race riots 
https://pajaronian.com/city-pens-official-apology-to-filipino-community-for-1930-race-riots/?fbclid=IwAR1Kxj8bMlph0t5THF_tLwVR9Mesy8WZP18TEI2IzpyrqU6VKu0y0bHpOPA 

When love is not enough
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2020/11/asia/hong-kong-filipino-helpers-dst/?fbclid=IwAR28Ta29T7d9MXxGYqkouj5wqmJez3XCCnziejFd2q7lXPBpeEOC0LrgDzk

Fil-Am state lawmaker seeks help for Democrats in Georgia runoffs 
https://usa.inquirer.net/60486/fil-am-state-lawmaker-seeks-help-for-democrats-in-georgia-runoffs

Philippines' richest chip in for COVID-19 vaccines
https://www.rappler.com/business/tycoons-philippines-chip-in-covid-19-vaccines?fbclid=IwAR2UrazfFSKVoFn8aJeprFAlOvj2CQTw3P4LNwZLDImN-Z18wOrQOMZCftY

A Mindanaoan filmmaker tells martial law's 'forbidden memory'
https://cnnphilippines.com/life/entertainment/film/2016/11/22/teng-mangansakan.html?fbclid=IwAR2e645MY_QEgumVC2TzTw5Pbu_8-tTiBaYo3loAZDbrA_tjZ_i1tRQUpnY

65-year-old man plants 10,000 mangroves for 8 years to protect his house from the big waves during typhoon
https://kickerdaily.com/posts/2020/11/65-year-old-man-plants-10000-mangroves-for-8-years-to-protect-his-house-from-the-big-waves-during-typhoon/?fbclid=IwAR00DVsADdRVstLinOTLABN6C1YNcDFRsLtS2dcgnZM9-vFHOiP8b2rkuxE

Why is UP the Bastion of Student Activism?
https://www.reportr.world/news/why-has-up-become-synonymous-to-activism-history-has-the-answer-a4713-20201119?fbclid=IwAR3xgQ2wRelOk2OYUX7V37oeXmobUJxbT_Kp4pMZI9S30Lezz-ZhIvIncK8

Shaken or Stirred? Just Sit Back.

As we move towards a vastly different Thanksgiving holiday this year, let's use this post-election, surging-pandemic week to take a break from high emotions, and to sit back. It's interesting to watch how traditions and institutions work toward resolving the current political uncertainty being spearheaded by a stubborn incumbent and fanned by his spineless ilk. If you need some reading to quell, or enable, your anxiety, I suggest Gabriel Garcia Marquez's book, Autumn of the Patriarch. The title itself is an apt metaphor for this time, along with "the winter of our discontent".

Nevertheless the world continues to turn, with or without our participation. In Positively Filipino this week, James Bond dies, a young Fil-Am comic rises and, as our Motherland heaves from yet another hurricane, regular people carry on the best way they can amidst the pandemic.

Our Stories This Week

Pinoys Love James Bond, And Vice Versa By Men Sta. Ana

[PARTNER] The Typhoon Victims Need Your Help

JR De Guzman Shows Filipinos Are Truly Funny By Anthony Maddela

Covid Guys By Criselda Yabes

The Happy Home Cook: Oriental Beef With Fried Noodles By Nora V. Daza and Nina Daza Puyat

Video of the Week: Fides Enriquez and Chef Cocoy Ventura’s new documentary series, Ilocandia, which features the Ilocos region’s rich culinary tradition.

In The Know

[ANALYSIS] What will a Biden presidency bring to China, Manila, and the Asia Pacific? 
https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/analysis-what-will-biden-presidency-bring-china-manila-asia-pacific?fbclid=IwAR3PRlgwNNjI2Ce1_h-ICVvfsgkMq3RKGdxicT_eD6J3CZMszo-9bjlick0

Things May Get Worse Before They Get Better for the U.S. 
https://fpif.org/things-may-get-worse-before-they-get-better-for-the-u-s/?fbclid=IwAR0DKLpWGt1SIJhski9RPlbDwPcj7b_sXj7hK6N48arU1Zc_gCA2BlIaTdQ

12 Exceptional Filipino Restaurants in SF and the East Bay
https://sf.eater.com/maps/best-filipino-restaurants-food-san-francisco-bay-area-east-bay-oakland

A New ‘Blue’s Clues’ Episode Will Feature Filipino Family Traditions
https://www.vice.com/en/article/7k9bpd/blues-clues-nickelodeon-filipino-family-traditions-lola-grandmother?fbclid=IwAR1vwyhD_b16Y2oWbPaiK30OVkUtjfyrjweNSEKt7w-YP30eU6Y6zUYdc34

Their neighbor allegedly painted a swastika on their driveway. Now they’re getting bullets in the mail.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/11/13/louisville-harassment-couple-swastikas-racial-slurs/

A Whirl Through the Philippines with Jeepney’s Meal Kits
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/11/16/a-whirl-through-the-philippines-with-jeepneys-meal-kits?fbclid=IwAR0gsstldoTVp66WzDELSaIAsqXcCniSD2Q_65KZw2TMhCbKQUhIzInnTgc

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