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Why do abusive men (and the women who support them) behave the way they do?

https://qz.com/india/1669110/metoo-india-gave-me-the-courage-to-talk-about-domestic-violence/

New Delhi, 1990. I am 16, seated in the living room of my paternal grandfather’s home, reading a newspaper. My grandfather pushes open the mesh door and walks in with a package in hand.

“You have got a parcel from your mother,” he said, in an oddly accusatory tone. “Yes, it’s a book of recipes,” I replied. “I’m trying to learn how to cook.”

“You should focus on your studies. Leave the cooking to women. I am sending it to Kuku,” he said, referring to my father’s sister by her nickname.

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HBO’s Invisible Stories on life in Singapore’s public housing shows the city beneath the glitter

https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3018338/hbos-invisible-stories-life-singapores-public-housing-shows

  • Far from the excessive wealth of Singapore’s crazy rich citizens, Invisible Stories shines a light on the lives of how most people in the Lion City live
  • Series creator Ler Jiyuan says it is neither very dramatic nor sensational, with each episode a character study that brings out the life of ordinary people
HBO’s Invisible Stories cast and crew (from left) producer Ler Jiyuan, actress Yeo Yann Yann and actor Devin Pan.

HBO’s Invisible Stories cast and crew (from left) producer Ler Jiyuan, actress Yeo Yann Yann and actor Devin Pan.

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An attempt to make Sichuan red chilli oil辣椒油

https://www.quora.com/q/jlgybnwtgpduqria/An-attempt-to-make-Sichuan-red-chilli-oil%E8%BE%A3%E6%A4%92%E6%B2%B9?filter=&nsrc=2&snid3=4671540215

Each Sichuan family has their own version of chilli oil.

My mom’s was rather simple: use the stone mortar to crush the dried chillies and pour hot oil to it afterwards.

So, I tried to make my own according to certain online recipes.

sesame, Sichuan peppercorn powder, chilli powder, salt

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“Man Becomes the Sex Organs of the Machine World”

“Man Becomes the Sex Organs of the Machine World”

“Man becomes, as it were, the sex organs of the machine world, as the bee of the plant world, enabling it to fecundate and to evolve ever new forms. The machine world reciprocates man’s love by expediting his wishes and desires, namely, in providing him with wealth”.  – Understanding Media (1964), p. 46

By Tristan Eldritch

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How Supermodels Are like Toxic Assets

How Supermodels Are like Toxic Assets

by Ashley Mears

225px-Coco_Rocha_in_Bill_Blass_by_Peter_Som_February_2008,_Photographed_by_Ed_Kavishe_for_Fashion_Wire_Press

(Photo: Coco Rocha in Bill Blass by Peter Som February 2008, Photographed by Ed Kavishe for Fashion Wire Press, and is licensed under creative commons.)

In 2002, a tall and skinny 14-year old girl competed in a dance contest in Vancouver, Canada. There she encountered a modeling agent, who asked her to consider going out for modeling jobs. Today, the 22-year-old Coco Rocha is celebrated as a “supermodel” (however little of its glamazon power the term retains these days), appearing on covers of Vogue and i-D magazines, on catwalks from Marc Jacobs to Prada, and as the star face for Dior, H&M, and Chanel. You might not recognize her name, but the chances are you’ve seen Coco Rocha in the past few years.

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Gendercide – The war on baby girls

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2010/03/04/gendercide

Killed, aborted or neglected, at least 100m girls have disappeared—and the number is rising

IMAGINE you are one half of a young couple expecting your first child in a fast-growing, poor country. You are part of the new middle class; your income is rising; you want a small family. But traditional mores hold sway around you, most important in the preference for sons over daughters. Perhaps hard physical labour is still needed for the family to make its living. Perhaps only sons may inherit land. Perhaps a daughter is deemed to join another family on marriage and you want someone to care for you when you are old. Perhaps she needs a dowry.

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Many Chinese suffer discrimination based on their regional origin

https://www.economist.com/china/2019/04/13/many-chinese-suffer-discrimination-based-on-their-regional-origin

Life is often hard for internal migrants in China, especially those from Henan and the north-east

Apr 11th 2019

THE SCHOOLCHILDREN started to vomit. Some fell unconscious and were whisked into hospital. Angry parents demanded an explanation. The food-poisoning scandal quickly lit up Chinese social media. A kindergarten teacher in the central province of Henan was detained—accused of adding sodium nitrite, which can be toxic in large doses, to the meal boxes of at least 23 pupils late last month.

Most comments online have focused on the evil of the act and have expressed sympathy for the parents. But a surprising number have noted the alleged perpetrator’s home province. “I’m not surprised. Henan people would stoop to anything,” says one commentator on Baidu Tieba, a social-networking site. “Apart from wicked, I can’t think of another word to describe Henan people,” chimes in someone with more than 50,000 followers on Weibo, China’s version of Twitter, who identifies himself as a financial journalist.

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The case for crying at work

https://qz.com/work/1589513/how-to-handle-crying-at-work/

If you’ve ever cried at work, you may be able to relate to the recent Saturday Night Live sketch “PowerPoint.” In it, a pair of receptionists played by Aidy Bryant and Kate McKinnon burst into tears in front of their colleagues at a Microsoft training session as soon as their mock PowerPoint presentation appears on the projector screen. The presentation is, to be fair, not very good. The first page features nothing but layers of empty squares and the desperate lowercase missive, “help.”

“We’re so sorry,” Bryant sobs as the befuddled Microsoft instructors attempt to reassure them. “We made trash, sir,” McKinnon chimes in. “We’re going to be fired and slapped.”

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What your method of brewing coffee says about you

https://www.1843magazine.com/technology/test-drive/what-your-method-of-brewing-coffee-says-about-you

Coffee machines aren’t just conveniences, they’re windows into the soul. Jonathan Beckman pours over the options

When political scientists examine the great divide of our age between nativists and cosmopolitans, they can point to a number of underlying causes: unemployment, class, education. But to my mind, the thing most likely to determine on which side you fall is your favoured hot drink. Recent American populism began with the Tea Party, a movement that memorialised direct action to lower the price of a brew. What unites Brexiteers across England, from golf-club bores in Godalming to trawlermen in Grimsby, is the love of a good cuppa. British patriotism has always come sodden in tea. Yorkshire tea is one of the nation’s great oxymorons – a brand that leads tourists to scour the landscape around Pontefract in search of the famous sub-tropical microclimate.

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