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Hobbit actors share perfect response to racial grumblings over 'Rings of Power' casting

They made their statement in Elvish.

lotr supports rop, rop racism
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These hobbits know a thing or two about handling trolls.

The Fellowship of the Ring has banded together once again in the name of solidarity and standing up for what’s right.

In response to racially centered backlash for the diverse casting choices in the new Amazon series “Rings of Power” (a situation disappointingly common for many modern fantasy franchises) the trilogy’s original Hobbits Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan took to social media—about as treacherous as Mordor, some might say—to show their support.

Each actor wore a clothing item displaying a row of elf ears in different skin tones along with a message in Elvish that translates to “You Are All Welcome Here.” The coolest, most LOTR way to rebel possibly ever.



The design was created by LOTR aficionado Don Marshall, otherwise known as “Obscure LotR Facts Guy” on TikTok. On the merchandise website, Marshall noted the exact Elvish language used (Sí de maedyl), which paints a pretty clear picture of this guy’s impressive knowledge base. Fifty percent of the proceeds for every “You Are All Welcome Here” T-shirt and hat go to helping charities that benefit the POC community.

His reaction to seeing the hobbit gang wear his merch is a heartfelt delight for nerds everywhere.

@donmarshall72 Replying to @tara_cards_ I am speechless. Thank you all. The translation was done by @WizardWayKris. The merch is available at the link in my bio! #lotr #hobbits #lordoftherings #tolkien ♬ original sound - DonMarshall72


Wood, Astin, Boyd and Monaghan have certainly reunited before to give us a nostalgic laugh, like their incredibly silly rap video on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” but this homecoming took on a different tone.

“Rings of Power” features people of color in central roles, including Silvan elf Arondir, played by Afro-Latino actor Ismael Cruz Córdova, and his human lover Bronwyn, played by British-Iranian actress Nazanin Boniadi, as well as Princess Disa the dwarf, played by Sophia Nomvete, a Black British actress of African-Iranian heritage.

Since their casting announcement, the actors and the show have received an influx of hateful comments and harassment online. And despite Amazon's claims of streaming records on its debut day of Sept. 2, the Prime Series was the target of “review bombing,” when disgruntled fans inundate the internet with negative reviews based on a social or political reaction rather than to the show’s quality, which distorts and misrepresents how a show is actually being received by audiences.

Members of the current cast have defended each other, calling the claims that a diverse ensemble strays away from Tolkien’s original ideas “nonsense,” but getting support from Frodo, Samwise, Merry and Pippin was next level in terms of denouncing vitriol. For as we know … it takes an army to defeat a horde of trolls.

Tolkien himself, though accused of having racist rhetoric in his novels, was certainly no stranger to defending against bigotry. Back in 1938, Nazis demanded to know if the fantasy author was Jewish (in an attempt to purge anything non-Aryan from German culture). Tolkien clapped back in the classiest way possible, regarding Jewish people as “gifted” and correcting the assumption that Aryans are even of German descent. Tolkien was, after all, a gentleman and a scholar.

With a story that depicts orcs, goblins and other gruesome creatures, it’s tragic to think that something much more monstrous lurks in our everyday life. Though racism is an ugly reality, having a united voice helps overcome that insidious foe. The beauty of fantasy is that it is limitless, going as far as imagination beckons. That is a magic meant for everyone.

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O Organics’ delicious, easy-to-cook homestyle spaghetti recipe helps feed America’s hungry

O Organics is donating a meal for every product purchased at Albertsons stores, up to 28 million meals.

via Two Plaid Aprons

Mei and Kyong and a delicious plate of spaghetti and meatballs.

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When most people think about Korean cooking, they probably imagine the enticing aroma, colors, and flavors of a plate filled with kimchi and bulgogi or a hot bowl of bibimbap. But when cooking influencer Kyong reflects upon his childhood, he has fond memories of his Korean mother cooking him a delicious and easy-to-prepare spaghetti and meatballs recipe.

"My parents were busy running their dry-cleaning business and couldn't call off work or take long breaks like a traditional 9 to 5 job, so there wasn't a lot of time to cook,” he recalled. “So, my mom learned how to make quick-and-easy meals, and her spaghetti and meatballs were my favorites.”

Is there any better example of the American melting pot than a hard-working Korean mother cooking an Italian staple for her family?

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People are helping a dad explain his 'cheap' grocery purchases to his 11-year-old daughter

There's nothing wrong with buying generic products instead of brand names.

via Karolina Grabowska/Pexels

A dad with $5 in his wallet

Even though parents may try to shield their children from tough topics such as economics and social status, they develop their own sense of them as they age. Studies show that children as young as 5 know the difference between being poor, middle-class or wealthy.

By age 11, children are fully conscious of brands and see them as the “dominant feature in their product categorization compared with other perceptual attributes.”

A father was recently embarrassed by his 11-year-old daughter at the supermarket when she called him out for buying generic products instead of brand names. He shared the story on Reddit’s Mildly Infuriating forum, where many commenters shared advice on teaching preteens about household economics.

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1 in 8 kids in the U.S. experiences food insecurity. One simple grocery choice can help.

It's truly a win-win.

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No child should have to worry about getting enough food to thrive.

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When you’re a kid, summer means enjoying the fun of the season—plentiful sunshine, free time with friends, splashing in pools and sprinklers. But not every child’s summer is as carefree as it should be.

For some, summer means going hungry. According to Feeding America, food insecurity affects 1 in 8 children in the U.S., largely because families lose the free or reduced-price meals at school that help keep them fed during the school year.

But back-to-school time doesn’t make food insecurity disappear, either. Hunger is a year-round issue, and with the increased cost of groceries, it’s gotten harder for families who were already struggling to put food on the table.

So what can be done—or more specifically, what can the average person do—to help?

The good news is that one simple choice at the grocery store can help ease the burden a bit for those experiencing food insecurity. And the even better news is that it’s also a healthy choice for ourselves, our families and our planet. When we’re out on our regular shopping trips, we can simply look for the O Organics versions of things we would already buy.

But wait—aren’t we all feeling the pinch at the checkout stand? And isn’t organic food expensive? Here’s the thing: Organic food is often much more affordable than you might think. The cost difference between organic and non-organic products keeps narrowing, and many organic and non-organic foods are now almost identical in price. Sometimes you’ll even find that an organic product is actually cheaper than its brand-name non-organic counterpart.

Since 2005, O Organics has helped give health-conscious shoppers more options by making organic food more accessible and affordable. And now, it’s helping those same shoppers take action to fight food insecurity. For every O Organics product you purchase, the company will donate a meal to someone in need through the Albertsons Companies Foundation—for up to a total of 28 million meals.

Look for the O Organics label in every aisle.O Organics

Here’s what that means in real-world terms:

Say you’re throwing an end-of-summer backyard BBQ bash. If you were to buy O Organics ground beef, hamburger buns, ketchup and sea salt potato chips, you’d be donating four meals just by buying those four ingredients. If you added O Organics butter lettuce and O Organics sandwich slice pickles, you’d be donating two more meals, and so on.

And where are those meals going? Albertsons Companies Foundation works with a network of national and local charities fighting hunger, and regional divisions choose organizations to fund locally. So every O Organics product you purchase means a meal on the table for someone in your area who might not otherwise have the nourishment they need.

No kid should have to worry about getting enough food to thrive. We all make conscious choices each time we walk down a grocery store aisle, and by choosing

O Organics, we can make a difference in a child’s life while also making healthy choices for ourselves and our families. It’s truly a win-win.
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Airline CEO works a flight attendant shift and is 'astonished' at how 'challenging' it is

More CEOs should do this.

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“Sometimes, you need to change perspectives in order to gain new insights!”

“Sometimes, you need to change perspectives in order to gain new insights!” is not exactly a sentence one might expect to hear from a corporate exec, but it is a philosophy that led Jens Ritter, CEO of German company Lufthansa Airlines, to taking on a shift as a flight attendant.

In a post shared on LinkedIn, Ritter detailed his experience of working as additional cabin crew for a flight heading to Riyadh and Bahrain, taking care of passengers in business class.

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Cat decided a delivery driver was her new dad by clinging to his leg and refusing to let go

This is the Cat Distribution System at work, and it shall not be questioned.

dretontheborder | TikTok

A cat picks her new owner in the most unmistakable way.

If you've never heard of the Cat Distribution System, then you probably don't own a cat, or you do, but you acquired your cat in a normal, non-weird way. You know, like at an animal shelter or from some nice lady on social media who had a box of kittens. Some people do get cats that way, and it's one thousand percent a valid way to attain cat parent status.

But some lucky folks get cats through the Cat Distribution System (or CDS for short). Is this system real? The only people who know this are cats. They're also the ones that run the system, so the rules and the way in which you attain your purr machine may be a bit wonky. You may wake up with an unknown cat in your bed even though all of your windows are closed, or you just may be like this delivery driver.

The driver was out picking up orders when a cat came out of the CDS and jumped on the man's leg as he attempted to get back to his car. Thanks to his dash cam, you get to see CDS at work, and so did his mom. The video currently has over 2.8 million views on TikTok.

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Woman 'rats out' her neighbor when she realizes the ATV in their yard is stolen. Was she right?

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Woman tells on neighbor for stealing ATV. Was she right?

Sometimes we see things happen that seem a little weird. Sometimes they go beyond weird and look suspicious, and then we are presented with the decision to do something about it or ignore it.

Mandi, a woman on TIkTok, found herself in a situation where she had to decide if she wanted to mind her own business or spill the beans when two and two started equaling four with her neighbors. In a video, she says she noticed her neighbor pulling a "side-by-side" into their backyard late at night. The situation seemed suspicious, so she checked her local Facebook page to see if anyone posted about something being stolen.

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Mom makes ‘Toy Story’ doll hearing aids out of nail acrylic to match her son’s

Woody has never looked so dapper.

The Columbus Dispatch|Facebook

Mom gives 'Toy Story' doll hearing aids to match her son's.

Representation is something you don't even think about if you've always had it, which can make the need for representation feel unnecessary to some. But kids look for themselves in their television shows, dolls and neighborhood, and seeing people who look like them or have other similarities is vital to their confidence and imagination.

Seeing themselves represented helps kids feel connected to the world around them, so many parents attempt to do whatever they can in order to provide their children with the representation they need. Mom Wendy Wuu took it upon herself to make sure her 5-year-old son saw a part of himself in his favorite doll, Woody, from "Toy Story."

In a video uploaded to social media, you can see the mom molding something clear and malleable into Woody's ear. Turns out this creative mom was using fingernail acrylic to mold the shape of the doll's inner ear...well as much of an inner ear as a doll can have.

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Adam Sandler sends Jennifer Aniston flowers on Mother's Day even though she doesn't have kids

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via Glyn Lowe PhotoWorks/Wikimedia Commons and Brett Cove/Wikimedia Commons

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Aniston revealed their closeness in an anecdote she shared in WSJ Magazine. "Aniston, who does not have children and has spoken openly about her struggles with fertility treatment, says Sandler and his wife [Jackie Sandler] send her flowers every Mother's Day,” the profile’s author, Ellen Gamerman, writes.

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