Sharkbites Newsletter

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AUGUST 20, 2022


Hello, everyone!

Troop 3, believed to be the oldest troop west of the Mississippi at 108 years old, continues to thrive in San Francisco’s Chinatown through enduring resilience.


Despite constant racial discrimination and violence, the San Francisco Boy Scout troop was able to form in Chinatown in tandem with the rebuilding of the neighborhood after Chinese leaders organized and lobbied the government, reestablishing itself as a famous location. Troop 3 was able to sell Liberty Bonds during WWI, they served as guides during city conventions and also served as honor guards for former President William Taft during his visit to the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The scouts also distributed flu masks and ran errands for sick members of their community when Spanish influenza arrived in 1918 in San Francisco.

The troop also had trouble figuring out how to earn achievements as Chinese boys in an urban environment, but they made their mark by finding different ways to emulate those experiences to match the badge requirements.

But apart from the language barriers and cultural dynamics that often did not mesh well with the Boy Scout program, Troop 3 members back then used their surroundings to their advantage by learning morse code through a cowbell and planning their own camping trips when their troop leaders died serving in WWII.

To this day, boys in Troop 3 are working hard, and some, like scout leader Lucien Lin, are on their way to becoming Eagle Scouts.

Spotlight 💡

Filipino American Maria Ressa, Nobel Prize laureate and founder of Rappler, will be an advisor on the new leadership panel at the United Nations. She won the Nobel Prize in 2021 for her work in speaking up against the spread of misinformation that threatened freedom of speech, independent journalism and democracy in the Philippines.


The panel, designed to support the United Nations’ Internet Governance Forum, an annual event dedicated to discussing public policy issues on the internet, consists of nine members from all around the world and five ex-officio members. Each advisor serves a two-year term to address “strategic and urgent issues and highlight forum discussions, as well as possible follow-up actions, to promote greater impact and dissemination of IGF discussions.”

Her colleagues include Vint Cerf from the United States, Hatem Dowidar from Egypt, Lise Fuhr from Denmark, Maria Fernanda Garza from Mexico, Toomas Hendrik Ilves from Estonia, Alkesh Kumar Sharma from India, Karoline Edtstadler from Austria, ‘Gbenga Sesan from Nigeria, Lan Xue from China, as well as senior representatives from IGF host countries, the Chair of the Forum’s Multistakeholder Advisory Group, and the Secretary-General’s Envoy on Technology, Amandeep Singh Gill.

Maria Ressa gives a speech at the Noble Peace Prize ceremonies.

Race in America 🌎

The Aklasan Festival, a Filipino punk rock event, is returning after a two-year hiatus in San Francisco.
The word Aklasan means “rise up” in Tagalog.

The founder of the event, Rupert Estanisalo, expressed that the event is a space just for Filipino punks that “looked like me and cared about the issues I cared about that are anti-imperialist, activist and pro-people of color.” As the event returns this year, it will feature 15 bands from across the country.

The festival continues to be the only Filipino punk rock gathering in the country with bands that center their music around narrating the experiences of “being Filipino, working people, and growing up in the belly of the beast, the United States,” says lead singer of Silakbo, Romeo Reyes-Pagdilao. Other bands like Material Support and Moxiebeat also showcase their stories about their working class families, their songs encased in highlighting the struggles of race, class, gender, sexuality, as well as familial death and grief.

Filipino punk rock band, Drama. 

Filipino punk rock band, Drama. 

Image: mockthebells

A string of 26 robberies targeted Asian American businesses across Colorado and Wyoming, and in July 2020, a statewide grand jury indicted three men on 46 counts of burglary and theft.

The robberies took place at the homes of Asian American business owners from Fort Collins and Glenwood Springs in Colorado to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and the losses sustained by these business owners totaled $1.4 million in stolen cash and jewelry.

Investigators explained that the defendants researched the owners before each operation, which helped authorities as they used cell phone records to trace the culprits to specific robberies.

In Other Asian News 🗞

In Tokyo, a transgender woman was denied legal parental status for her children after her transition – which was also recorded on her family register.


Initially, the court only recognized her partner who gave birth to their children as the parents, disregarding the fact that the trans woman herself is a biological parent as well. The high court’s decision explained that there was “currently nothing in Japanese law to recognise her parental rights.” 

After appealing that ruling, the Tokyo high court ruled on Friday that she could only be recognized as the parent of the daughter born before her legal change but not her second daughter, born after that change. 

 

...


In Seoul, the city government plans to roll out a subsidy welfare program to support family members looking after children for long hours of the day. 

As part of their five-year welfare program, the local administration is planning on distributing 300,000 won ($226) a month to 16,000 citizens next year, and as the program expands, to increase it to 49,000 citizens. Depending on the amount of children that a family member takes care of, the subsidy can increase, with two children amounting to 450,000 won ($336) and three children to 600,000 won ($449) for up to 12 months.

Currently, the government is requiring a written pledge and a working plan from eligible applicants, those whose combined household income is less than 150% of the standard median income, and will rescind the subsidy if a family is found to be misusing those funds.

Seoul also plans to operate a service that takes sick and injured children to the hospital in the absence of their parents.

Food and Music 🥘

Manjula Patel is an 85-year-old chef in the U.K. who runs the restaurant Manju's.


Patel dishes up traditional vegetarian fare from the state of Gujarat in west India. She now runs the restaurant with her two sons and daughters-in-law.   “People would sit down, expecting to eat chicken tikka masala. But when we would tell them we only offer vegetarian food, a lot of people would walk out,” Manju's younger son Naimesh says. Kirti, Manju's elder daughter-in-law adds, “On any given day, the menu will have 12 dishes that change constantly, depending on the vegetables that are in season." 

 

...


K-pop superstars BLACKPINK have released their long-awaited comeback song with the music video “Pink Venom.”

The song combines the hallmark hip-hop elements from the group with Korean string instruments. “Pink Venom” is described by Jennie as a song that showcases the group’s contrasts.  Aside from their PUBG collaboration track “Ready For Love,” this is the first major comeback from the group in 22 months since their album, “The Album.” They will perform “Pink Venom” live at their U.S. award show debut at the VMAs on August 28.

BLACKPINK members in their new music video, "Pink Venom."
Image: BLACKPINK

What else is on our minds? 🧠
 

  • Chinese-Canadian billionaire Xiao Jianhua has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for a slew of illegal financial crimes such as bribery and the misuse of funds.   

  • Nike has released a new pair of sneakers inspired by Japanese izakayas. 

  • China has issued its first national drought alert of the year as forest fires loom and searing heat waves affect crops in the Yangtze river basin.

  • Salman Rushdie’s suspected attacker appeared in court on Thursday and pleaded not guilty

  • A new scientific breakthrough has been made in the decomposition of toxic “forever chemicals” thought to be in an estimated 98% of Americans’ blood.

What is your favorite pair of sneakers?

Daniel doesn’t have a favorite pair, but he does like ITZY’s new song, “Sneakers.” I am a generic Nike fan.

BONUS question: Were you a Girl Scout or a Boy Scout?

Daniel wasn’t. But, I was a Girl Scout growing up and I continued to sell cookies throughout high school. 

Sincerely, Mya Sato and Daniel Anderson 

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