Globally, inequality is falling. You may not have known that, because within countries, inequality is rising. We live in dangerous times. Why? We talked to the man who wrote the book on it.

On Friday, The New York Times profiled some of the Chinese companies that have taken nonsensical branding to its postmodern conclusion, selling products under Western-inspired names like "Biemlfdlkk" and "Marisfrolg."

No pecan pie today? That's because the Chinese middle class ate them all (and pigs were hungry and it was rainy and you are cheap).

Major U.S. retailers including Walmart and Sears have declined to contribute to any compensation funds that would help the families of the more than 1,200 people who died while making their products in Bangladesh last year.

Mustachioed aspic Tom Friedman has written a thousand words in today's New York Times about Paul Simon. The point of the column seems to be, basically, that there's a new documentary about Simon's album Graceland, and also Paul Simon is Tom Friedman's friend.

Chin up, poor lawyers! The humble American attorney has had a hard go of it lately—it officially sucks to be a law student, a young lawyer, or, really, any lawyer, except for the super rich ones.

Watching this ad for a "Chinese boob clamp" that is actually just a corset (Although maybe corsets should be called woman clamps?) I find myself entranced by the recurring image of breasts mushing together, then falling back apart. Faces lighting up with joy, then hanging with shame. Is this what it's like to be a straight man?

Noted Globalization advocate, flip-floppy war monger, and all around pompous blowhard know-it-all Thomas Friedman, author of The World Is Flat, has a ballin' ass house. It leaves a big carbon footprint and it's ugly as sin. But why?

The new "BrandZ" ranking of the world's most powerful brands is out, and it just helps to confirm that it's only a matter of time before China is running everything. China Mobile is the fifth most powerful brand in the world, ahead of names like IBM, Apple, and McDonald's. China's most powerful brands collectively gained more than 50% in value over the past year. And China and other emerging economies are the most powerful drivers of growth for all brands. Russia is also a fast riser. The takeaway: at least we are still killing all these foreigners through our strong American Marlboro brand (#10). Below, the top 25 brands in the world, and their added value to the company, so you can sound smart at your next branding party. Yes, Google is #1:

A correspondent writes to remind Valleywag that new applications for H-1B specialty worker visas will be accepted starting April 1. Management loves immigrant workers who are often cheaper and less prone to sassback. Meanwhile, homegrown developers and engineers see wage competition and job loss, and can get downright xenophobic. Immigrants catch it in the wash and the rinse, facing the prospect of abusive bosses and prejudiced coworkers. Immigration officials will penalize employers trying to game the lottery by submitting multiple applications for the same candidate, while two bills are up in Congress to double or triple the current quota of 65,000.