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☆ Opinion | There’s Still Overwhelming Cultural Pressure to Get Married and Have Kids
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-16 | by ( Jessica Grose | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Personally, I don’t care whether candidates for higher office are married — I don’t think it has anything to do with their ability to lead. (Even Donald Trump, with his divorces and reputation as a womanizer, could be photographed with his beautiful current wife and brood of kids.) And on the other: People Without Kids (PWOKS: self-absorbed, entitled, attention whores, grumpy about life’s inconveniences even though their life is easy). I read this piece on two levels, the cultural and the personal. As for the cultural, I think when people get into their 30s and 40s and aren’t married and don’t have kids, they’re often judged in the “Departed” style.

Persons: Martin Scorsese, he’s, ”, “, Tim Scott, —, won’t, Donald Trump, Allison P, Davis, aren’t, don’t, they’re, it’s Organizations: Washington Post, Republican, White House Locations: United States

☆ China considering ban on clothing that ‘hurts feelings’ of nation
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-11 | by ( Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

The wording of the draft amendment is reminiscent of language used by Beijing to rein in free speech at home or to hit back at perceived slights by foreign countries and businesses. Several legal scholars have also questioned the implicit vagaries of the proposed amendment and the absence of specific guidelines. “State power directly interferes in the field of individual citizens’ daily clothing, which is obviously an overreaching intervention,” she wrote on Weibo. In the wake of this month’s draft amendment, one Weibo user questioned whether cosplayers or kimono-clad employees of Japanese restaurants might fall afoul of the proposed rules. “Why don’t we wear Chinese tunic suits or Hanfu?” he asked.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN —, ”, Mark Schiefelbein, Tong Zhiwei, ’, Lao Dongyan, meanwhile, Lao Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, country’s Public, AP, East China University of Political Science, Law, Twitter, Beijing’s Tsinghua University Locations: China, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Weibo, today’s China, Japan, Suzhou

☆ Fighting With Your Partner? Use These 4 Phrases.
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-28 | by ( Jancee Dunn | More About Jancee Dunn | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Making these assumptions can escalate an argument and distort the issue, Real said. When you find yourself in a storytelling spiral, pause and remind yourself that you care about the person who has upset you, Real said. “Share only the facts — ones a camera could record,” he said. The key to this statement, and the feedback wheel overall, is its brevity, Real said. “The stories we tell ourselves are informed by our internal landscape of wounds and tender spots and traumas and patterns,” she said.

Persons: Real, Janet Hurley —, ”, Alexandra Solomon, “, It’s, ” Real Organizations: Northwestern University

☆ A Fight to Save Soldiers, From the Lab to the Battlefield
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( Tom Mueller | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Charles Barber’s “In the Blood” treats a consequential topic, and contains moments of real insight, drama and humor. Trouble is, Barber opens with several omissions and slights that left me on edge for the balance of the book. Barber begins his story about catastrophic bleeding and the urgent search for a cure, appropriately enough, in the savage battle for Mogadishu in 1993. More glaringly, the Army Rangers described on the raid actually played a supporting role to commandos from Delta Force, which Barber never mentions. Yet I wanted to trust this book, because it tells an important story in vivid, engrossing terms.

Persons: Charles Barber Reading, Charles Barber’s “, Barber, Mohamed Aidid’s, Aidid Organizations: U.S . Army, Army Rangers, Delta Force, millenniums, Navy Locations: Mogadishu, Somali, Bethesda

☆ If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say, Don’t Be a Reference
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-02 | by ( Roxane Gay | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +4 min

I’m beginning to feel pretty isolated in a workplace I used to feel was quite congenial. Salaries aren’t high, but we get a 2-to-1 match on our retirement plan contributions, which is significant. HR blames the company that administers our retirement plan and says it is working on a fix. Unless they chase that payment, your former colleagues will never see that money, which I’m sure the organization knows. You have to calibrate how upset you get about this and how much you escalate the issue, with how much you care.

Persons: I’m, we’d, It’s, they’ll, Roxane Gay

☆ Elon Musk says a cage fight with Mark Zuckerberg 'might actually happen' – and admits it could go badly for him
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-25 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk said a cage fight with Mark Zuckerberg "might actually happen." Speaking in a Twitter space, Musk admitted the fight could go badly given his lack of experience. Speculation that Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg could actually get in a ring and fight each other just won't go away. Since Musk appeared to jokingly challenge the Meta CEO and amateur jiu-jitsu fighter to a cage fight last week, momentum has gathered pace. "I spend my time according to what is needed and I don't usually have to fight people," Musk said in the interview.

Persons: Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Musk, Zuck, Dana White, Zuckerberg, Ashlee Vance, Insider's Hasan Chowdhury, Cage, Zuck's, Vance Organizations: Morning, Twitter, UFC, Bloomberg Locations: Europe, Thai

Musk was the biggest shareholder in both companies at the time of the deal and Tesla shareholders alleged he pushed the carmaker's board into the deal to bail out the billionaire's investment in the struggling rooftop solar company. The state's highest court said that while a judge on the Delaware Court of Chancery erred in some portions of his analysis, his overall premise still supported his determination that Tesla paid a fair price for SolarCity. They also argued that Slights determined after a 10-day trial in 2021 that Musk meddled in the deal but failed to hold him liable. Shareholders wanted to force Musk to return the Tesla stock he received in the takeover, which at one point was worth $13 billion. The Delaware Supreme Court said that the Slights' ruling was not "pitch perfect" but did not have to be and noted the "total collapse" of the shareholders' theory that SolarCity was insolvent.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Tesla, Randall Baron, Joseph Slights, SolarCity, Slights, Tom Hals, Mark Porter Organizations: Tesla, Delaware Supreme, Shareholders, Thomson Locations: SolarCity, Delaware, Wilmington , Delaware

☆ Yogi Berra: ‘It Ain’t Over’ documentary reassesses baseball great’s remarkable career and life
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Don Riddell | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

CNN —Yogi Berra famously said “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over,” but one of the greatest careers in baseball history might have been over before it had even begun. He was injured during the attack, he pulled bodies out of the water, and he learned that in comparison to war, baseball would be easy. In a file photo -- September 28, 1955 -- Jackie Robinson (R) is safe under an attempted out by Yankee catcher Yogi Berra, on a steal home from third. I don’t think anything that anyone said or wrote took any of that joy away from him. I don’t think Grandpa meant to be a civil rights activist,” explained Lindsay, “He just did the right thing.

Persons: Yogi Berra, Berra, ”, Lindsay, “, Bob Costas, Granny Hamner, Don Larsen, Billy Crystal, Yogi, ” Berra, Joe Di Maggio, Mickey Mantle –, Jackie Robinson, Frank Kellert, Larry Berra, Barack Obama, Alex Wong, ” Lindsay, ’, ‘ we’re, ’ ”, “ There’s, grandpa, ESPN’s, he’d, Grandpa, you’ve, Jon Matlack, Robinson, “ Grandpa, Jackie, Kathy Willens Organizations: CNN, Yankee, Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Yankees, AP, Life Magazine, Bettmann, American, Observers, Dodgers, Getty, White, Mets, ” New York Yankees Hall of Fame, Toronto Blue Jays, Steinbrenner, “ Locations: Normandy, American, New York, Washington , DC, Europe, ”, Tampa , Fla, Maryland

☆ Under Xi Jinping, China's military has become an untouchable nationalist symbol
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-26 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

Yue’s alleged transgression: “uglifying” and “insulting” China’s military, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Under Xi, China passed a law in 2018 to ban the slander of national “heroes and martyrs,” a crime punishable by up to three years in prison. To outsiders, it may appear puzzling that China’s military, the largest and one of the most powerful in the world, would be so easily offended by a seemingly tame joke. Xi has staked his legitimacy on returning China to its former greatness, and a strong and powerful military plays a key role in driving that nationalist agenda. He has also ramped up China’s military posturing, sending fighter jets and warships to the Taiwan Strait and around the disputed islands with Japan.

☆ How to identify the 12 stages of burnout before it gets out of control
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Melody Wilding | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

She describes the 12 stages of burnout, a model developed by psychologist Herbert Freudenberger. There are actually 12 stages of burnout. Stage 1: Excessive ambitionThe first of the 12 stages of burnout begins in a seemingly harmless way – with enthusiasm toward your work. Stage 12: Full burnout syndromeFull Burnout Syndrome occurs when you reach a breaking point. Take a moment to reflectWhich of the 12 stages of burnout do you see yourself in?

☆ BMW’s Mini apologizes after meltdown over ice cream at Shanghai auto show
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Hong Kong CNN —BMW has landed in hot water in China over tubs of ice cream. The luxury German automaker’s Mini Cooper unit had to apologize repeatedly after being accused of discrimination against Chinese visitors when handing out free ice cream at the Shanghai auto show this week. Reserved for staffOn Friday morning, Mini China issued another apology, saying the Westerners in the videos who got the ice cream were its staff members. The company said it handed out 300 tubs of ice cream per day to visitors at its booth on Tuesday and Wednesday. It called for the public to be more understanding of the two female Chinese workers who handed out the ice cream, saying they were young and inexperienced.

☆ BMW skids into ice cream melee at Shanghai auto show
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A BMW booth is pictured at the Auto Shanghai show, in Shanghai, China, April 19, 2023. REUTERS/Aly SongSHANGHAI, April 20 (Reuters) - Chinese internet users berated German automaker BMW (BMWG.DE) on Thursday, accusing it of discrimination at the Shanghai auto show amid claims workers at its Mini booth favoured foreign over domestic visitors during an ice cream giveaway promotion. The controversy comes as BMW and fellow German automakers participate in the Shanghai auto show in full force as they fight to stay on top of consumer trends in a country where domestic rivals have been aggressively taking market share. One video showed two Chinese workers telling some local visitors to the Mini stand that the free ice cream had run out, only to offer a tub moments later to a Western attendee. "This has taken away my good feelings towards BMW," said one Weibo commentator.

☆ Kevin McCarthy shared a map of China that includes Taiwan
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Kevin McCarthy shared a map of China that included Taiwan in a tweet criticizing China. The Chinese Communist Party is very sensitive to its claims about Taiwan in Western media. As a result, Beijing has long sought for Taiwan to be shown as part of China — which McCarthy did. But right now, we are dependent on China," McCarthy wrote in a tweet posted on his official account in promotion of HR 1, the GOP's sweeping energy bill. The Chinese Communist Party is extremely sensitive to any language or depiction that undermines its claims to Taiwan.

☆ Ex-Bon Appétit editor Marissa Ross says the wine world ruined her. Now she's back and ready to give it hell.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Anna Silman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +40 min

Her rise was tied to a period of reinvention for the wine world during which natural wine conquered millennial taste buds and became ubiquitous on menus across the US. Marissa Ross, Bon Appétit's wine editor from 2016 to 2020, often posted pictures of herself chugging straight from the bottle — a technique she called "The Ross test." "Natural wine," a nebulous term that generally refers to wine made with minimal intervention and without additives like sulfites, was tentatively entering the American wine world. Many in the wine world took the idea that you didn't have to be educated to know about wine as a personal insult. When she first told BA that she planned to cover only natural wines, Ross said, Rapoport called to try to change her mind.

☆ Bond spat is odd look for Melrose deal machine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

That process will have to decide, for example, whether the demerger constitutes a transfer of “substantially all” the company’s assets or not. The relevant bonds only amount to 130 million pounds. Redeeming them at par, rather than the current traded price, would only cost just over 20 million pounds. For a company that specialises in dealmaking and careful use of leverage, it all seems more trouble than it's worth. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ ‘Spare’ Review: Titled and Entitled
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Joanne Kaufman | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

‘Our royalty is to be reverenced,” the British journalist Walter Bagehot once wrote, “and if you begin to poke about it you cannot reverence it. Its mystery is its life. We must not let in daylight upon magic.” Daylight? Oh, if only. In his score-settling, setting-the-record-straight, ghost-written memoir, “Spare”—perhaps you’ve heard about it, then heard about it some more—Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, spills his tea about his frostbitten penis (spare us), the loss of his virginity ( please, spare us) and his copious youthful drug use and alcohol consumption (who would have guessed?).

But too often, this behavior is an excuse for avoiding the mucky work of maintaining relationships, both personal and professional. Many managers and employees want to escape the unchecked animus they experience online, preferring the workplace feel like a safe cocoon. This year we should all work to reverse the trend and lean in to conflict — and conflict resolution — instead. Perfectionism affects and, in turn, limits the ways we feel safe communicating, which makes perfect sense. The pandemic, not surprisingly, is another culprit, exacerbating students’ experience of relational tension.

According to a complaint, Wu allegedly sent threatening messages to a person who posted a flier on or near the college campus supporting Chinese democracy. Charging documents allege Wu reported the person to the Chinese government and told them its representatives would “greet” their family members. A photo of Xiaolei Wu posted to his Instagram. @aldimeowu/InstagramWu has been suspended from Berklee College of Music, according to a statement from the school Wednesday night. However, the rising nationalist sentiment is by no means representative of all Chinese students overseas.

☆ What Guns Did to My Childhood
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Mitchell S. Jackson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +10 min

Isn’t a part of childhood feeling insecure and divining ways to resolve those feelings or else abide them? From Mitchell S. JacksonThe presence of gangs — mind you, a predictable symptom of poverty and neglect — led to the prevalence of guns that shaped much of the normal childhood maturing around me as a kid. It surprises me little to none that Black boys are the likeliest to die by guns. These guns alter their lives in significant ways, not in the least by nullifying the childhood grace of feeling the greatest distance from death. Amen, I’ve never had to sit him down for a stern talk on guns or the violence and grieving they reap.

☆ Walmart gunman railed at co-workers in 'death note' before Virginia store shooting
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 25 (Reuters) - A Walmart supervisor who killed six co-workers before turning the gun on himself this week left a rambling note on his cellphone in which he railed against other employees at the Chesapeake, Virginia, store who he felt had mocked and betrayed him. "The gun was legally purchased from a local store on the morning of Tuesday Nov. 22. In his note, Bing made reference to an unspecified work failure on his part and perceived slights from co-workers, who he felt were mocking him. Asked to comment on Bing's note, Walmart said in a statement: "There is nothing that can justify taking innocent lives. The Chesapeake shooting came on the heels of last weekend's massacre in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where a gunman killed five at an LGBTQ nightclub.

☆ China’s Xi attempts to claim diplomatic victory in battle for global influence after summit whirlwind
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Nectar Gan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

Chinese leader Xi Jinping attends the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia on Wednesday. Since taking office, Biden has shored up relations with allies and partners to counter China’s growing influence. In a rare, candid moment caught on camera, Xi chided Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, accusing him of leaking details of a brief conversation between them. He also attended the Group of 20 dinner, where he shook hands and chatted with leaders including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Apart from the Dutch Prime Minister, Xi also invited US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, French President Emmanuel Macron and Italy’s newly elected Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni to visit Beijing early next year.

☆ The stock market could soar 10% on Wednesday in the unlikely event that the Fed hikes rates by only 50 basis points, JPMorgan says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Matthew Fox | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The S&P 500 could soar 10% on Wednesday if the Fed Chairman Jerome Powell turns dovish, according to JPMorgan. The bank said the potential head-spinning rally could happen if the Fed hikes rates by 50 basis points rather than the expected 75. According to JPMorgan's trading desk, the S&P 500 could soar as much as 10% in the unlikely event that the Fed hikes interest rates by only 50 basis points and gives a dovish press conference. The market currently sees an 88% chance the Fed hikes rates by 75 basis points on Wednesday, according to the FedWatch Tool. A 10% surge on Wednesday would send the S&P 500 to 4,258 based on Monday's closing price.

☆ Obama barnstorms Midwest in play to salvage Democrats' 'Blue Wall'
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-30 | by ( Natasha Korecki | Natasha Korecki Is A Senior National Political Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +6 min

MILWAUKEE — Barack Obama did the unthinkable in his 2008 presidential bid, turning out voters in droves to solidify a “Blue Wall,” with decisive wins in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. "Look, listen — hey, hold on, hold on — hold on, hold up — hold on a minute! In both Wisconsin and Michigan, Obama discussed reproductive rights for women. Obama dominated Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania in 2008 and 2012, only for Donald Trump to capture those same states in 2016. The Senate race is tied.

☆ Anti-Xi protest spreads in China and worldwide as Chinese leader begins third term
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Cnn Staff | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

Obtained by CNNCNN spoke with two Chinese citizens who scribbled protest slogans in bathroom stalls and half a dozen overseas Chinese students who put up anti-Xi posters on their campuses. Chen had tried to share the Sitong Bridge protest on WeChat, China’s super app, but it kept getting censored. But as the widespread anti-Xi posters have shown, the rising nationalistic sentiment is by no means representative of all Chinese students overseas. In the day following the protest in Beijing, Jolie saw on Instagram an outpouring of photos showing protest posters from all over the world. But the extensive censorship around the Sitong Bridge protest also betrays its paranoia.

☆ 'There are a lot of miserable women in corporate America': Women leaders have been leaving their jobs and companies in unprecedented numbers, a new report suggests
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Rebecca Knight | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A new report suggests female executives ditched their jobs in unprecedented numbers in 2021. The report suggests women leaders experience a range of microaggressions that undercut their authority and stymie their career progression. For instance, the report indicated that 37% of female leaders had had a coworker get credit for their idea, compared with 27% of male leaders. It also suggested that women leaders were twice as likely as men to be mistaken for someone more junior. Wade Hinton, an inclusion consultant, told Insider he's not surprised by the large numbers of women leaders leaving their employers.

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