| A Star-Spangled stunt | | When Vice President Pence walked out of Sunday's 49ers-Colts game after several players kneeled during the national anthem, the feeling was "that's his right." But the White House said Monday that Pence's attendance at the game was "long planned," and that Pence and President Trump had agreed he would leave if there were protests. Critics called the trip a "publicity stunt" and slammed the VP for taking an expensive trip at taxpayer's expense to make a political point. White House adviser Kellyanne Conway defended Pence, saying he's "standing up for the flag." (Pence hasn't served in the military but both his dad and son have). USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour points out Pence went to the game knowing the 49ers players would kneel: "This was not a heartfelt expression of political dissent, as the player protests have been." | | Harvey Weinstein: Who knew? Depends. | | Two of the most lauded women in Hollywood made statements Monday about newly unemployed Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. "Not everybody knew" about the sexual harassment claims, said Meryl Streep , condemning the producer's behavior. Judi Dench echoed that she was "completely unaware" of the "horrifying" offenses. Had they seen Rose McGowan's tweet Saturday stating: "Ladies of Hollywood, your silence is deafening"? Jessica Chastain, meanwhile, said stop "demanding only women speak up. What about the men?" One man not shying away is John Oliver, who called out Weinstein's excuse of "it was a different time." While "not everybody knew" about Weinstein, everyone knows a Weinstein — at least that's the premise behind this disturbing Twitter thread that went viral. | | New Kim on the block | | Kim Jong Un has struggled with sibling rivalry, but the North Korean leader appears to be playing nice with his little sister. Kim Yo Jong, 28, got a promotion Sunday and was made an "alternate member" of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, making her only the second woman after her aunt to join the bureau. Although nepotism helped get Kim Jong Un where he is today, he hasn't always put family first — he executed an uncle and is believed to have ordered the assassination of his half brother, Kim Jong Nam, in Malaysia earlier this year. And the North Korean leader's older brother was last seen two years ago at an Eric Clapton concert in London. | | About that racially insensitive Dove ad | | Dove apologized over the weekend following outcry over advertising it published to Facebook that many considered racist. The three-second video, posted and subsequently taken down Saturday, showed a black woman removing a brown T-shirt to reveal a white woman underneath, suggesting Dove Body Wash had cleansed her. "Dove is committed to representing the beauty of diversity," the company said on Facebook. "In an image we posted this week, we missed the mark in thoughtfully representing women of color and we deeply regret the offense that it has caused." This isn't the first time Dove's advertising has missed the mark. |  | | In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. In 2017, his holiday may be sinking, fast | | Native American groups say Columbus Day (that's today) embraces Western colonialism, pays tribute to a man who promoted the trans-Atlantic slave trade and is responsible for the genocide of indigenous people. Italian Americans see the move to scrap the holiday, which has grown in recent years, as an affront to their ethnic heritage. In an age of toppling controversial statues, what happens to Columbus — the statues, the day, the parades? Many places have retooled Columbus Day to mark the date without honoring the man. The Bahamas, where Columbus landed, call it Discovery Day. South Dakotans call theirs Native American Day. Several cities celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day. The holiday sounds ripe for reassessment. | | This is a compilation of stories from across USA TODAY. | |
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