SF stuff
First a moment of seriousness. A shocking statistic in Understanding White Privilege sent me hunting for information about high African American infant mortality, and the research which links the personal experience of racism to maternal stress and lower birthweights. You can find a series of postings about this via my melanin tag at kateorman.
From reports all over the place, it looks as though Torchwood will be getting a regular Desi character, played by Rik Makarem. Check out filming report and photo here. (I think the character's last name is probably spelled "Patanchali".)
I stumbled across reports of a 2006 airplane incident and couldn't help wondering if it might have inspired Midnight: Holidaymakers on a Monarch Airlines flight returning to the UK from Malaga, Spain, managed to work themselves into such a state of fear about two of their fellow passengers that many of them refused to fly until the pair were removed. The two travellers were dark-skinned, long-haired, scruffy, were heard talking in Arabic, kept checking their watches, and were wearing warm clothes more suited to Manchester than Malaga. A rumour spread that one of them had said something about having only half an hour to live. Finally, the Captain had them removed by the police.
You will not be surprised to learn that the two men were students from Manchester who had been holidaying after their exams. They were not Middle Eastern, but Asian, and had been speaking in Urdu, not Arabic. They were cleared of all suspicion and flew home the next day. They were very gracious, IMHO, about their fellow passenger's paranoia, but asked for an apology from the airline.
A BBC item, Fear of the unknown, examines the psychology of the Monarch Airlines incident - and explains a lot about the passengers' behaviour in Midnight, too.
Read more:
Mutiny as passengers refuse to fly until Asians are removed
Malaga Jet Mutiny Pair's Shock At Plane Ejection
Passengers explain pair's removal
Lastly, a blast from the past: I found the Black Vulcan FAQ from way back in the early days of Star Trek: Voyager, when some fans on Usenet were freaking out about Tuvok. :)
From reports all over the place, it looks as though Torchwood will be getting a regular Desi character, played by Rik Makarem. Check out filming report and photo here. (I think the character's last name is probably spelled "Patanchali".)
I stumbled across reports of a 2006 airplane incident and couldn't help wondering if it might have inspired Midnight: Holidaymakers on a Monarch Airlines flight returning to the UK from Malaga, Spain, managed to work themselves into such a state of fear about two of their fellow passengers that many of them refused to fly until the pair were removed. The two travellers were dark-skinned, long-haired, scruffy, were heard talking in Arabic, kept checking their watches, and were wearing warm clothes more suited to Manchester than Malaga. A rumour spread that one of them had said something about having only half an hour to live. Finally, the Captain had them removed by the police.
You will not be surprised to learn that the two men were students from Manchester who had been holidaying after their exams. They were not Middle Eastern, but Asian, and had been speaking in Urdu, not Arabic. They were cleared of all suspicion and flew home the next day. They were very gracious, IMHO, about their fellow passenger's paranoia, but asked for an apology from the airline.
A BBC item, Fear of the unknown, examines the psychology of the Monarch Airlines incident - and explains a lot about the passengers' behaviour in Midnight, too.
Read more:
Mutiny as passengers refuse to fly until Asians are removed
Malaga Jet Mutiny Pair's Shock At Plane Ejection
Passengers explain pair's removal
Lastly, a blast from the past: I found the Black Vulcan FAQ from way back in the early days of Star Trek: Voyager, when some fans on Usenet were freaking out about Tuvok. :)