Wednesday morning news drop
Inflation rate spikes to highest level in a decade, at 3.7% in July sharply higher prices for furniture, shelter were major factors in increase. (CBC)
American CEOs make 351 times more than workers. In 1965 it was 15 to one Rather than address stagnant wages for hourly workers and yawning inequality, corporations are blaming a ‘labor shortage’ (The Guardian)
The Pret Index: Wall Street Latte Sales Approaching Bear Market Sales of cappuccinos and tuna baguettes are close to entering a bear market in downtown Manhattan, in London’s business district and in Paris. The setback comes as major financial services firms push back return-to-office plans, with the delta variant having driven the average number of new Covid-19 cases in New York City up to almost 2,000 a day—a level not seen since April. (Bloomberg)
Why Afghan Forces So Quickly Laid Down Their Arms Opposing Afghan factions have long negotiated arrangements to stop fighting — something the U.S. either failed to understand or chose to ignore. (Politico)
Billions spent on Afghan army ultimately benefited Taliban Built and trained at a two-decade cost of $83 billion, Afghan security forces collapsed so quickly and completely — in some cases without a shot fired — that the ultimate beneficiary of the American investment turned out to be the Taliban. They grabbed not only political power but also U.S.-supplied firepower — guns, ammunition, helicopters and more. (AP)
This Is What Taliban Control Looks Like in 2021 For all the recriminations and finger-pointing about how the Taliban gained control of Afghanistan so rapidly, there is a hard truth that needs to be reckoned with: The Taliban have spent years preparing for the eventual U.S. withdrawal. (New York Times)
Canada’s forests haven’t absorbed more carbon than they’ve released since 2001 Up until the last two decades, our forests had the power to sequester in excess of a hundred megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent each year (Narwhal)
An Audacious Case for an Ancient Building Style: The Courtyard The idea of arranging housing around enclosed central spaces could find fresh applications in crowded urban areas like Manhattan, designers say. (CityLab)
This CM Punk thing is really happening, isn’t it? AEW does everything short of officially declaring his return return of CM Punk and Bryan Danielson. There are a couple hard and fast rules in wrestling: 1. Everyone comes back. 2. Nothing is real until it happens. (Deadspin)
CM Punk’s ‘Pipe Bomb’ 10 Years Later: A Look Back At The 2011 Game-Changing Promo. CM Punk’s Pipe Bomb promo, as it became known in the past decade, quickly turned one of wrestling’s slowest periods into must-watch television, leading to one of the most consequential moments not only in WWE’s storied history, but professional wrestling as a whole. (Cinema Blend)
The Pipe Bomb promo was controversial; WWE cut his mic, it hit a raw nerve, got people talking, and got some wrestling fans excited as a bunch of children in a Mcdonald’s play place. From the UFC to entertainment industry, controversy often creates cash.