Coffee shop owner killed in massive explosion

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Some tragic news out of North Carolina, with a family that could use your help... This week, a 61-year-old man was killed in a massive explosion caused by a gas leak in downtown Durham.

Emergency responders were evacuating people in Durham, N.C., when a gas explosion killed 1

Kong Lee, owner of the Kaffeinate coffee shop, was killed Wednesday morning when contractor boring under the sidewalk hit a 2-inch gas line, causing the explosion. Lee was inside the building when it collapsed.

Minutes prior to the explosion, Lee had called his children to let them know he was closing up the shop.

McDonald's employee fired for coffee cup racism

Employee wrote "chino" and drew a racist face caricature on an Asian customer's coffee cup.



Oh look, this shit again. Last week in Chicago, a McDonald's employee was fired after writing "CHINO" and drawing a racist caricature -- referring to an Asian American customer -- on a coffee cup order.

McDonald's worker fired for writing 'chino' on coffee cup

Paul Kim, who is Korean American, was at the McDonald's Kedzie and Foster when he noticed that "CHINO" -- a Spanish slang term for Asian -- was written on his uncle's coffee cup, along with a racist caricature of an Asian face. Yes, those three lines are supposed to be a face.

Kim shared a photo of the cup on Twitter:

Starbucks employee accuses customer of stealing secrets

"If you want steal our stuff for your store in China, go ahead, we're fine with that."



Oh hell no. Did this really happen? During a recent visit to a new premium Starbucks location in Seattle, one Asian American customer says he got the "acrid taste" of racism with his coffee when he was "lectured" by a corporate employee who jokingly suggested he was trying to copy company secrets to use in China.

On a recent visit to Seattle, Yelp user Daniel L. visited the Starbucks Reserve Roastery and Tasting Room, which is described as intended to be a "Willy Wonka experience" for coffee connoisseurs and amateurs alike. Daniel says the coffee was awesome, and he was ready to give it a 5-star review, but then...

Daniel says he and a friend started chatting with a "corporate guy" from Starbucks who pegged them as people in the coffee business, then advised them, "if you want steal our stuff for your store in China, go ahead, we're fine with that." Later, he followed that up with an unsolicited mini-lecture about good, old-fashioned American training, which cannot be copied. "That's something we'll never give to you." Whaaaaaat.

Here's an excerpt from Daniel's Yelp review:

Just another "Asian Guy" getting coffee

Joseph is the latest recipient of a racial receipt


Got this passed along to me from a reader named Joseph, who became the most recent recipient of a racial receipt. What the heck is that? Oh, it's more common than you might realize.

You know when you go to a fast food or coffee joint like Starbucks, and they take your name to identify your order? Sometimes, your servers get lazy with the name-taking, and take it upon themselves to rename you with terms like "Ching" and "Chong." Or maybe they get creative, and bestow a title like "Lady Chinky Eyes." We've seen it happen enough that we can give it a name. The Racial Receipt.

In this case, the cashier working in the early morning hours at Goldberg's Bagel & Deli Company at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport couldn't be bothered with taking Joseph's name, instead going for a much simpler identifier: "Asian Guy." Joseph explains: