I was talking to my friend, Kim, as we sipped cocktails at a bar in Hollywood. She followed my gaze. I nodded. She raised an eyebrow and slurped on her vodka cranberry. Some background might be helpful here.

May 24, , approximately a. So, I go to Home Depot today to get some paint. When I get to the paint station, there is a couple sort of hanging back between the aisle and the station. Another guy is at the station. I smile.

For a day, a weekend, a week, up to even a month or two, Chinese companies are willing to pay high prices for fair-faced foreigners to join them as fake employees or business partners. Some call it "White Guy Window Dressing. And it is, essentially, all about the age-old Chinese concept of face. To have a few foreigners hanging around means a company has prestige, money and the increasingly crucial connections -- real or not -- to businesses abroad.

These are the core obsessions that drive our newsroom—defining topics of seismic importance to the global economy. Our emails are made to shine in your inbox, with something fresh every morning, afternoon, and weekend. If you bring a Western guy … then they really feel important, so if I come in there I almost feel like a God. The Congolese gentleman had been living in India for about a decade. He had recently lost his job and been evicted from his apartment.