Retired Navy captain apologizes after racial slurs streamed on Facebook
A former member of the U.S. Naval Academy alumni trustees issued an apology Sunday for using racial slurs on social media. Retired Capt. Scott Bethmann was asked to resign as a trustee on Saturday after a live conversation with his wife that was posted on Facebook disparaged admission by the academy of African Americans, Asian Americans and women. The comments were made by Bethmann and his wife, Nancy, while they were watching TV news and discussing the Black Lives Matter movement. They were overheard using the N-word and making other racial comments while accidentally streaming live on Facebook. Gotcha, suckers. Private racism that becomes public is my favorite genre.
Katie Leung Speaks Out For Trans Women Amid J.K. Rowling Backlash
If you were only Twitter over the weekend, you may have seen that "Cho Chang" was trending. Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling stepped in it again, making remarks about transgender women that were widely criticized as transphobic. Twitter was there for the backlash, airing out old grievances about her work -- including the fact that she lazily named Harry Potter's only East Asian character "Cho Chang." I guess we've been holding on to that one for a while. It got so crazy that even Katie Leung, who played Cho Chang in the movies, weighed in on the matter, sort of. "So, you want my thoughts on Cho Chang? Okay, here goes..." she tweeted, before dropping a flurry of links in support of transgender rights. So yeah, I think we know where she stands on what matters.
BTS Fan Army Matches $1 Million Donation to Black Lives Matter
As I've said before, don't mess with K-pop fans -- particularly the massive fan army behind BTS. When news came out Saturday that BTS and their record label Big Hit Entertainment had donated $1 million to support the Black Lives Matter campaign amid worldwide protests against racism and police brutality, their fans decided to match it. And match it they did -- in just over a day.
How to Feed Crowds in a Protest or Pandemic? The Sikhs Know
"Since the coronavirus pandemic has halted religious gatherings in most of the country, including langar, gurdwaras like the Sikh Center of New York, in Queens Village, are mobilizing their large-scale cooking resources to meet the skyrocketing need for food aid outside their places of worship."
Well Played by Beau Sia
"These poems began as an answer. In the face of the undeniable, they became a reckoning. Of the lies that are lived to feel belonging. Of the lies that are told to hide shame. Of the lies that are believed to maintain within illusions. Well Played is a warning to the present, a welcoming of the truth, and a poet working to earn his way."
