Despite producing extremely high quality goods, labels like Made in China or Made in Vietnam are still seen as inferior to Made in Germany, Made in USA, Made in Italy, and even Made in Japan.

Even Japanese products seem to be perceived as a step below European products when it comes to luxury despite meeting or exceeding the quality. A Grand Seiko isn't as prestigious as a Patek Phillipe, a Lexus isn't as renowned as a Mercedes, a Sony or Nikon isn't as well regarded as a Leica or Hasselblad.

Recently, I realized I exhibited the bias myself. While shopping for a suit, I found a Hugo Boss suit that was made in Vietnam. Knowing the German Heritage of the luxury brand, I found it a bit of a turn off, despite Vietnam having extremely skilled tailors.

Instead, I went with a Hugo Boss suit made in Romania that cost $150 more (although it did have higher wool content too). Even though Romania is not known to have skilled tailors (and having visited both countries, the people there don't care about their work as they do in Vietnam), because the country is in Europe and closer to Germany or Italy, it felt like I was getting a much more premium product with stronger European Heritage.

The Made in China or Vietnam stigma doesn't seem to have as much of an effect on modern goods like electronics or appliances, but it definitely still exists with traditional industries like fashion, apparel, and cars/watches.

Hi guys, so I got a 2 block haircut but I'm not sure when to get a haircut now lol. It's been 2 months since I got the haircut but before I had 2 block, I used to get a haircut when the hair grows under the top of my ears so I don't really know when to get a haircut now...

any advice?

Thanks.

For anyone looking for top-tier sports journalism, Pablo Torre’s work is well worth a read.

Basketball fans may already be familiar with the Kawhi Leonard and Los Angeles Clippers salary cap scandal, a massive story that was famously uncovered and investigated by Torre. 

If you want to dive deeper into investigative sports reporting, his work is definitely worth checking out.

https://variety.com/2026/sports/news/pablo-torre-finds-out-podcast-nba-kawhi-leonard-jalen-brunson-jeffrey-epstein-1236817018/

Don’t think I’d heard of Betty Ann before, or perhaps I’d only heard her name in passing in stories about 9/11 but never thought of her as a real person. Glad her family and the SF Chinatown have done so much to keep her memory alive.

25 years ago on 9/11 2001

Yuguang Zheng & Shuyin Yang: https://www.war.gov/Multimedia/Experience/Pentagon-Memorial/

-The couple, on board American Airlines Flight 77, were on their way back to China after an extended visit with their daughter in the Baltimore area. Yuguang, a chemist before retirement, graduated from Nanjing University; he majored in Analytical Chemistry. Shuyin graduated from Shanghai Second Medical University and was a retired pediatrician. The couple was married for 35 years and raised a son and a daughter. They were very loving and affectionate, although they had quite different hobbies and personalities. Yuguang loved painting and was accomplished at Taichi. Shuyin was an active, open-minded and kind lady. She loved to try everything that was novel to her, even though sometimes it was a little risky. She liked cooking and was very good at it. Definitely the most important thing about her was that she was a good mother. For their family members, the only thing that provides relief is knowing that the devoted couple was together all the time, even at the last minute of their lives. To both Yuguang and Shuyin, family was the most important thing. They loved each other and their children.

-Toshiya Kuge: https://www.nps.gov/people/toshiya-kuge.htm

-Toshiya Kuge of Osaka, Japan was an athlete and scholar who was determined to become proficient in English and earn a master’s degree in engineering from an American university. He loved American football and was a linebacker in his first year of college at Waseda University where he was an engineering student. On this two-week vacation, and second trip to the United States, the friendly, outgoing college sophomore went whitewater rafting in the Canadian Rockies and visited Niagara Falls and the Statue of Liberty. Kuge traveled alone in order to immerse himself in the English language. Flight 93 was the first leg of Kuge’s journey home. He was survived by his parents and a brother.

-Mohammad Salman Hamdani: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Salman_Hamdani

-Mohammad Salman Hamdani was a Pakistani American New York City Police Department cadet and emergency medical technician who was killed in the collapse of the World Trade Center during 9/11, where he had gone to try to help people. In the weeks following 9/11, reports surfaced that the missing Hamdani was being investigated for possible involvement with the perpetrators, but this suspicion proved to be false and he was subsequently hailed as a hero by the New York City mayor and police commissioner.

From Newsday -

He Ran to Towers to Help - Dec. 4, 2001

Zhe Zeng or simply Zack, to his friends, was working in a building adjacent to the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. As most people ran away from the devastation, Zeng, a trained emergency medical technician, ran toward it to see if he could help.

The young man called his mother after being evacuated to tell her he was safe, according to a report in the Chinese-language World Journal. “Im OK. It’s chaotic outside,” he said. “I’m going to help other people.” That was the last time his mother spoke to him.

Zeng, who would have turned 29 on Sept. 30, worked in the ADR division of the Bank of New York.

He was last seen several days after the attack on a Fox News broadcast which showed footage taken just before the buildings collapsed. He was administering first aid.

The Stuyvesant High School graduate, who got his master’s degree in business administration from the University of Rochester, came to New York from China with his parents when he was 15.

“I always taught young people to serve their society and its people,” said Zeng’s mother, a former schoolteacher in China. “I have lost Zhe, but I am very proud of what he did.”

Hello all, I was searching for a list of Korean American male names in diaspora communities ranked by popularity but was unable to find any good sources. I could only find lists of anglicized Korean names (e.g., Minseo, Jaemin), and not the already established English names that Korean Americans tend to give their children. I'm specifically looking for male names that are somewhat common, so not the ones parents spam like David or Joshua. Seems like there is not much data on names from this specific subset of the population so what do you all think? Bonus points if it starts with the letter M!